[Game] 53/82: Kings vs. Clippers 06 FEB 2026, 7pm PT/10pm ET (Prime Video)

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

These young Kings are playing like the cartoon animal that runs off the cliff and keeps going, because it doesn't know that it's supposed to fall.

 

[The_Jamal]

The GMs might, but the players? Nah. They don't care about a micro chance of helping the Pacers pick get slightly closer to getting traded to the Clippers. And Ty Lue didn't bench his starters so if they thought about it, they didn't do anything.

And the proof of concept on this is that 4th quarter of the Wizards game with dudes like Anthony Gill and Skal closing. You think they care one iota that they're on the floor to hopefully lose the game by their coach and GM? Nope, they want to put the best tape on film possible and look the best they possibly can to stay in this league.

 

[sactowndog]

The GMs might, but the players? Nah. They don't care about a micro chance of helping the Pacers pick get slightly closer to getting traded to the Clippers. And Ty Lue didn't bench his starters so if they thought about it, they didn't do anything.

Ty Lue wouldn’t bench his starters if they want us seeded 1 and Indiana seeded 2.

 

[The_Jamal]

Ty Lue wouldn’t bench his starters if they want us seeded 1 and Indiana seeded 2.

Kawhi 35, Collins 34, Brook 36, Dunn 32. It's a little weird he pulled all of them in a close-ish game with a minute left, but he certainly did not bench the starters.

 

[hrdboild]

Ty Lue wouldn’t bench his starters if they want us seeded 1 and Indiana seeded 2.

You just said the Clippers wanted us to win this game. Did you misspeak?

 

[The_Jamal]

Dev:

14 points (6-9 on 2pt FGA)
4 rebounds
4 assists
1 steal

His 3pt shooting you may ask? What's that?

 

[White_Chocolate]

Dev:

14 points (6-9 on 2pt FGA)
4 rebounds
4 assists
1 steal

His 3pt shooting you may ask? What's that?

A big work in progress haha

 

[Rob-The-Great]

if Carter keeps getting PT and performing, ill gladly forget about Ellis

 

[SacTownKid]

Kings young guys looking decent and an L? This is the way.

 

[BillyStrings]

I really enjoyed this game. The young guys looked great. I can’t get enough of Cardwell…he plays with so much joy!

 

[iowamcnabb]

If this is the plan th rest of the season, and it appears that it is, we will get to see if consistent minutes translates into production. Carter, Nique, Max and Cardwell. Nearly 30 games worth of data

 

[Rob-The-Great]

See, kings fans are not hard to please. Just play the young guys. We want to see effort and hope for the future. Thats it.

That game plan was great, just need a little less of Westbrook and we good.

West isnt under contract after this year. Zero reason to play him. Dee and Zack are until further notice so spot min is fine.

Start Carter next game

 

[Caccia]

Just found out Plowden is 27 and he is an undersize SG, wonder what they see it in him

He is very athletic, plays tight defense.

 

[dude12]

The young guys are way, way more entertaining to watch than the vets. Play hard, share the ball, grow their game.

 

[The_Jamal]

See, kings fans are not hard to please. Just play the young guys. We want to see effort and hope for the future. Thats it.

That game plan was great, just need a little less of Westbrook and we good.

West isnt under contract after this year. Zero reason to play him. Dee and Zack are until further notice so spot min is fine.

Start Carter next game

Gotta balance just enough of the tank commanders to keep losing.

I honestly do not mind how the last few games have played out. Vets are hovering around 18-24 minutes, the young guys are finally getting huge opportunity and USG along with it. More Dev would be great, but I'm not going to complain too much as long as he's over 20 every game going forward.

 

[iowamcnabb]

This might be a bit of a relief for the vets. No pressure to win, no embarrassment in losses. Mentorship is often rewarding. Caviar McNuggets a phone call away. Life is good.

 

[HndsmCelt]

This is essentially like watching preseason 2026 2027. Play the vets for the fans in the first half get the young Bucks sorted out in the second half. And I holy endorse this idea.

 

[BuddyBuckets]

Am I just coping? Why cant cardwell be a starting center? Dude is a tank in the paint. Hes an enforcer. He makes players think before going in the paint. 12/10/3 as a starter. I want to see him play 30mpg rest of the season

 

[BillyStrings]

This might be a bit of a relief for the vets. No pressure to win, no embarrassment in losses. Mentorship is often rewarding. Caviar McNuggets a phone call away. Life is good.

This is such a great take.

 

[sactowndog]

You just said the Clippers wanted us to win this game. Did you misspeak?

Yes sorry. Meant to say it was in their interest draft wise for them to win. My bad.

 

[sactowndog]

Am I just coping? Why cant cardwell be a starting center? Dude is a tank in the paint. Hes an enforcer. He makes players think before going in the paint. 12/10/3 as a starter. I want to see him play 30mpg rest of the season

Because you want time for Max also.

 

[MizzouKing]

Cardwell could be the better of the two young centers.

Interesting is I think the Clippers want us to win this game. The Pacers being the 2 or 3 seed is slightly better for them as it slightly increases their odds of a 5 or 6 pick in the draft.

I'm having visions of this playing out like the 2012 Chinese and South Korean women's badminton teams, who were trying to lose so hard that both teams got disqualified for embarrassing the sport.

 

[The_Jamal]

Am I just coping? Why cant cardwell be a starting center? Dude is a tank in the paint. Hes an enforcer. He makes players think before going in the paint. 12/10/3 as a starter. I want to see him play 30mpg rest of the season

He's dangerously close to being there, which is actually pretty insane considering where he started offensively this year. Had some really tough finishes tonight: a Richaun Holmes push shot, a nice half hook feed from Dev, a PnR finish from Russ. And he's absolutely lethal on the offensive glass, LAC could not put a body on him which is a real form of offensive skill in itself.

The beauty of Cardwell is he just has to be and stay very efficient with his limited touches to justify staying on the floor. His defense, rim protection and rebounding are so good, I don't ever care if he can't be a 15+ PPG guy. He's already over 60% TS (again, madness for where he started) and a 10% USG rate. That'll go up after tonight. 8-10 PPG, 63-65% TS, 11-13% USG, 65-70% FT (this is a big one, so he's viable to be a crunch time player).

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

I am that irrational fan that loved Keon. I have now replaced keon for cardwell. Im prepared to be disappointed next year when hes getting dnps. Love this dudes energy.

It's not irrational at all to love undrafted long shots and later 2nd round picks, that work they're way into a spot that improves the team when they are on the floor. That is the definition of fan favorite

 

[sactowndog]

I'm having visions of this playing out like the 2012 Chinese and South Korean women's badminton teams, who were trying to lose so hard that both teams got disqualified for embarrassing the sport.

Yeah I misspoke but watch the Brooklyn / Washington game tomorrow and it could well look like that.

 

[MizzouKing]

Cardwell is significantly better than Maxime right now. Not a knock on Max, but Cardwell is ready right now to be a starting C. Max has some exciting tools, but there's some growth that's needed there before he's a consistent 25+ MPG guy

They just have different-but complimentary- skill sets. Max has a bit more finesse and can knock down 3's, Dylan has a more brute force and a hook shot.

Also, shout out to the vets who were in good spirits and cheering on the youth in the 2nd half tonight! They seem to feel a connection with the young bucks, and down enough with what the priorities are.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

Am I just coping? Why cant cardwell be a starting center? Dude is a tank in the paint. Hes an enforcer. He makes players think before going in the paint. 12/10/3 as a starter. I want to see him play 30mpg rest of the season

It's not out of the question, if you have real NBA scoring talent at the 1-4 positions with him

 

[HndsmCelt]

It's not out of the question, if you have real NBA scoring talent at the 1-4 positions with him

Was just thinking that if Keegan, Sabonis, Clifford and a true floor general at PG…. Having Cardwell patrolling the paint is an awesome offense

 

[HndsmCelt]

If you are at the game, please give us your honest impressions. We can only see so much watching via streaming.

Ask and you shall receive as I sit here over a post game snack and think about things I would call this the best of all possible losses. Assuming one is OK with losses. Plowden looks confident and pretty much being ready in his limited playtime. Harder rate Hunter as he went out with an injury, but honestly color Me Unimpressed so far. Max seems to be getting back in the groove and definitely was a bargain where we picked him and probably will be starting material at some point in not too few. This future great moves and instincts just undersized underweight in a tad slow in the reflex department. My favorite guy out there of course is Dylan Cardwell. He wa suburb. This number is alone 1515 and I don’t know how many blocks will tell you what the eye also spots and that’s it. This is a guy that has no fear and incredible instinct in quick hands. Whatever limitations this game has the quick hands in quick reflexes will help and continue to grow into being a real legit threat. I don’t think it’s ever been a scoring beast but that’s OK right? He is incredible. Fun to watch. Clifford looks good actually kind of easy to ignore out there this was my big take from the fourth quarter watching these guys play with Malik Mike who they clearly respect and love. These guys like playing with each other and it shows my two cents the one player on that squad that you don’t ever want to lose if you expect those kids to play well is Malik, but that’s just my opinion. Finally the good the band the ugly on Devon Carter and she used to pull some bone head moves and hesitate to shoot. I really appreciate it Dougie putting him back in showing some faith and sure enough in responding. The energy. And defensive focus in that fourth quarter cannot be overstated. I actually kind of felt bad for the people that walked out in the last 2 to 5 minutes because although they did miss a complete comeback what they did miss with some of the best play of the whole night. I’m not gonna bother to talk about the old vets just because I think that’s been hashed out over and over again on this board.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

Was just thinking that if Keegan, Sabonis, Clifford and a true floor general at PG…. Having Cardwell patrolling the paint is an awesome offense

Problem is that Sabonis is not best playing outside the paint. Not a real shooting threat. Could have maybe been an option back in the day when teams were not obsessed with spacing.

Put a good stretch 4 with Cardwell and you've potentially got a front line fit