Everyone gets an A (probably)!
Richaun Holmes (A+++) - 33 minutes, 23 points, 20 rebounds, 2 assist, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 3 fouls, 4 turnover
An absolute grown man game from one of Vlade's few indisputable wins as a GM. Be it because of his ejection last game or lingering anger over the Hornets refusing to give him a contract because they preferred Miles Plumlee for some reason, Holmes played with an aggression that was both unstoppable and contagious. With all of the Hornets tasked with defending him either being very bad (Plumlee) or clearly a wing being asked to guard centers for some reason (everyone else), Holmes was free to run around, through, and above anyone in his path on the way to the team's first 20/20 night since Boogie got traded. Has had some issues holding on to the ball this year and that continued on to tonight. That barely matters, though, when every single possession he gets the ball culminates in either a dunk or aggressive layup over several helpless Charlotte defenders. His first contract with the Kings was a bargain and his new one continues to be, almost entirely because the Hornets refused to offer him a contract for some reason. So... Thank you MJ?
Tyrese knew what's up...
Maurice Harkless (B) - 21 minutes, 10 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 1 foul, 1 turnover
Moe must have seen my game thread post because he came out of the gates on fire (for him) to the tune of 7 points in the first quarter. Did his typical hustle role-player thing but thanks to him hitting those first couple of shots, the Hornets couldn't help off of him onto Holmes or the guards. Played defense on Bridges for a lot of the game (he and Barnes switched off for the most part) and his length seemed to give him more trouble that I thought it would (Bridges just missing shots helped a lot too).
Harrison Barnes (B) - 37 minutes, 14 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assist, 1 steals, 0 blocks, 2 fouls, 3 turnovers
Harrison had a relatively quiet night by his new lofty standards. 14/10/4 is certainly nothing to complain about but Black Falcon did spend a lot of this game largely irrelevant, functioning as a safety valve for that rare occasion that the Hornets defense didn't simply crumble and allow our guards to penetrate or pass it to Holmes. He did still get 6 three pointers, so it is god to see him still sending those shots up whenever he had the chance to.
Tyrese Haliburton (B) - 31 minutes, 14 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steals, 0 blocks, 1 foul, 1 turnover
It's amazing to see Tyrese only had five assists when it felt like he had twenty. Lamelo had the gaudier stat line between the two guards but it felt like Tyrese had the better night of the two sophomore guards for whatever reason. Had a couple of ridiculous no-look passes in this game that probably should have counted as double assists. Tyrese continues to be tentative from the perimeter but one three he did take was from around 30 feet from the hoop. Did get lost on defense several times as he got caught watching the ball rather than watching his man.
De'Aaron Fox (B+) - 29 minutes, 21 points, 3 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal, 0 blocks, 3 fouls, 2 turnover
This was the second solid game in a row from Fox. Not one of those superstar nights like from last season but an in-control, strong performance that came completely in the flow of the offense and with Fox serving as a facilitator more than as a main scorer. Fox hit all seven of his free throws on the night as well so, while his outside shot wasn't working, his mid-range stuff hadn't totally abandoned him. Playing a Hornets team that seemed to be getting the Kings to score as fast as possible so that they could get the ball back to try to do cool stuff and dunk might have been a factor.
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Buddy Hield (A-) - 30 minutes, 26 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 3 fouls, 2 turnovers
Buddy knew that Dell Curry was in the building. How else can you explain the Bahamian's bonkers 18-shot night, 17 of which were threes? Eric Collins and Dell were talking about this on the Hornets' broadcast but Buddy apparently holds the record for most threes in the first five seasons of an NBA career. Looked rough after a blistering hot start to the game but finished absolutely scorchingly as he and Davion teamed up to extend the Kings lead by themselves. The 6th man of the year campaign continues (only fitting the last King to win the award also wore #24).
Davion Mitchell (A-) - 25 minutes, 19 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assist, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 4 fouls, 1 turnovers
We all know how great Davion is on defense but his offense has really picked up after a slow start to the year. Someone on Twitter said that Davion's game reminded them of Hornets-era Kemba, which is scary because prime Kemba who plays All-NBA defense would be a first ballot hall of famer. Great outside shooting, lighting quick first step, extremely aggressive takes to the hoop that only don't wind up as dunks because the other team just takes the foul? It's all there. His defense was pretty awesome too. At this point, almost every single concern about him matching up with size has been alleviated by the fact that he's Davion effin' Mitchell and there's no way he's going to just let you score on him. Tonight saw him body up Miles Bridges and Gordon Hayward, both larger wings who give opposing teams fits. They didn't give Davion fits. Maybe Monte knows what he's doing after all.
Tristan Thompson (C) - 13 minutes, 2 points, 6 rebounds, 0 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 fouls, 2 turnovers
This was a bit of a mixed bag from TT. On the one hand, six boards in 13 minutes is pretty good. On the other hand, the Hornets were pretty much letting anyone in a Kings jersey grab the ball whenever someone missed a shot. Generally looked confused on offense during his stint in the second half as the Hornets started pressuring our young ballhandlers and Buddy and our guards reacted by trying to throw the ball into Tristan, which probably isn't entirely on Tristan. Despite the speed issue, Len might have deserved some run then.
Terence Davis (B) - 17 minutes, 8 points, 2 rebounds, 0 assist, 1 steals, 0 blocks, 1 foul, 1 turnover
It was good to see Terence kind of get his swag back. TD had an early appearance in the first quarter and, as he is ought to do, came out firing. The key difference between this night and every single other performance of his young season? He was making them. Played hard on defense but struggled against Miles Bridges who is, as they say, a load. Had a quiet stretch in the second half but didn't really do anything good or bad. All in all, this is the playable Terence Davis that we were expecting to get when he got re-signed.
Chimezie Metu (inc.) - 3 minutes, 3 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assist, 0 steals, 0 block, 0 foul, 1 turnover
Future trivia question and answer.
Q: Who scored the Kings 22nd three pointer of the night to set a new franchise record?
A: 6'9" apparent wing Chimezie Metu.
Damian Jones (inc.) - 2 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound, 0 assist, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 0 foul, 0 turnovers
Richaun Holmes (A+++) - 33 minutes, 23 points, 20 rebounds, 2 assist, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 3 fouls, 4 turnover
An absolute grown man game from one of Vlade's few indisputable wins as a GM. Be it because of his ejection last game or lingering anger over the Hornets refusing to give him a contract because they preferred Miles Plumlee for some reason, Holmes played with an aggression that was both unstoppable and contagious. With all of the Hornets tasked with defending him either being very bad (Plumlee) or clearly a wing being asked to guard centers for some reason (everyone else), Holmes was free to run around, through, and above anyone in his path on the way to the team's first 20/20 night since Boogie got traded. Has had some issues holding on to the ball this year and that continued on to tonight. That barely matters, though, when every single possession he gets the ball culminates in either a dunk or aggressive layup over several helpless Charlotte defenders. His first contract with the Kings was a bargain and his new one continues to be, almost entirely because the Hornets refused to offer him a contract for some reason. So... Thank you MJ?
Tyrese knew what's up...
Maurice Harkless (B) - 21 minutes, 10 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 1 foul, 1 turnover
Moe must have seen my game thread post because he came out of the gates on fire (for him) to the tune of 7 points in the first quarter. Did his typical hustle role-player thing but thanks to him hitting those first couple of shots, the Hornets couldn't help off of him onto Holmes or the guards. Played defense on Bridges for a lot of the game (he and Barnes switched off for the most part) and his length seemed to give him more trouble that I thought it would (Bridges just missing shots helped a lot too).
Harrison Barnes (B) - 37 minutes, 14 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assist, 1 steals, 0 blocks, 2 fouls, 3 turnovers
Harrison had a relatively quiet night by his new lofty standards. 14/10/4 is certainly nothing to complain about but Black Falcon did spend a lot of this game largely irrelevant, functioning as a safety valve for that rare occasion that the Hornets defense didn't simply crumble and allow our guards to penetrate or pass it to Holmes. He did still get 6 three pointers, so it is god to see him still sending those shots up whenever he had the chance to.
Tyrese Haliburton (B) - 31 minutes, 14 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steals, 0 blocks, 1 foul, 1 turnover
It's amazing to see Tyrese only had five assists when it felt like he had twenty. Lamelo had the gaudier stat line between the two guards but it felt like Tyrese had the better night of the two sophomore guards for whatever reason. Had a couple of ridiculous no-look passes in this game that probably should have counted as double assists. Tyrese continues to be tentative from the perimeter but one three he did take was from around 30 feet from the hoop. Did get lost on defense several times as he got caught watching the ball rather than watching his man.
De'Aaron Fox (B+) - 29 minutes, 21 points, 3 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal, 0 blocks, 3 fouls, 2 turnover
This was the second solid game in a row from Fox. Not one of those superstar nights like from last season but an in-control, strong performance that came completely in the flow of the offense and with Fox serving as a facilitator more than as a main scorer. Fox hit all seven of his free throws on the night as well so, while his outside shot wasn't working, his mid-range stuff hadn't totally abandoned him. Playing a Hornets team that seemed to be getting the Kings to score as fast as possible so that they could get the ball back to try to do cool stuff and dunk might have been a factor.
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Buddy Hield (A-) - 30 minutes, 26 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 3 fouls, 2 turnovers
Buddy knew that Dell Curry was in the building. How else can you explain the Bahamian's bonkers 18-shot night, 17 of which were threes? Eric Collins and Dell were talking about this on the Hornets' broadcast but Buddy apparently holds the record for most threes in the first five seasons of an NBA career. Looked rough after a blistering hot start to the game but finished absolutely scorchingly as he and Davion teamed up to extend the Kings lead by themselves. The 6th man of the year campaign continues (only fitting the last King to win the award also wore #24).
Davion Mitchell (A-) - 25 minutes, 19 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assist, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 4 fouls, 1 turnovers
We all know how great Davion is on defense but his offense has really picked up after a slow start to the year. Someone on Twitter said that Davion's game reminded them of Hornets-era Kemba, which is scary because prime Kemba who plays All-NBA defense would be a first ballot hall of famer. Great outside shooting, lighting quick first step, extremely aggressive takes to the hoop that only don't wind up as dunks because the other team just takes the foul? It's all there. His defense was pretty awesome too. At this point, almost every single concern about him matching up with size has been alleviated by the fact that he's Davion effin' Mitchell and there's no way he's going to just let you score on him. Tonight saw him body up Miles Bridges and Gordon Hayward, both larger wings who give opposing teams fits. They didn't give Davion fits. Maybe Monte knows what he's doing after all.
Tristan Thompson (C) - 13 minutes, 2 points, 6 rebounds, 0 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 fouls, 2 turnovers
This was a bit of a mixed bag from TT. On the one hand, six boards in 13 minutes is pretty good. On the other hand, the Hornets were pretty much letting anyone in a Kings jersey grab the ball whenever someone missed a shot. Generally looked confused on offense during his stint in the second half as the Hornets started pressuring our young ballhandlers and Buddy and our guards reacted by trying to throw the ball into Tristan, which probably isn't entirely on Tristan. Despite the speed issue, Len might have deserved some run then.
Terence Davis (B) - 17 minutes, 8 points, 2 rebounds, 0 assist, 1 steals, 0 blocks, 1 foul, 1 turnover
It was good to see Terence kind of get his swag back. TD had an early appearance in the first quarter and, as he is ought to do, came out firing. The key difference between this night and every single other performance of his young season? He was making them. Played hard on defense but struggled against Miles Bridges who is, as they say, a load. Had a quiet stretch in the second half but didn't really do anything good or bad. All in all, this is the playable Terence Davis that we were expecting to get when he got re-signed.
Chimezie Metu (inc.) - 3 minutes, 3 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assist, 0 steals, 0 block, 0 foul, 1 turnover
Future trivia question and answer.
Q: Who scored the Kings 22nd three pointer of the night to set a new franchise record?
A: 6'9" apparent wing Chimezie Metu.
Damian Jones (inc.) - 2 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound, 0 assist, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 0 foul, 0 turnovers
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