Three overtimes! Three missing starters! The Lakers! The Kings won!
It's been a crazy week in Kings land, even by Kings standards but a win over the damnable Lakers makes it all go down like wine.
If you ignore the first half, which was possibly the ugliest 24 minutes of basketball played this century, that was one hell one a game.
Awards Time
Tony Delk Memorial Award- Malik Monk. Coming off of that crazy game for the Hornets last season in which he pretty much won the game for them by himself, Monk is steadily rising up the ranks of historic Kings killers. Had an incredibly efficient night from the field (8-11 overall) en route to 20 points and a TS% of .900 then was pretty much relegated to sit around in the corner and watch Lebron and Russ pound the air out of the ball duty in all three overtimes. Glad they did because the Kings did not seem to have an answer for him.
Cory Joseph Award- No one. Pretty much everyone who played contributed to the win or got injured so early that they couldn't really make an impact one way or another.
Luke Walton Vacuum Cleaner Award- Lebron's late game decision making. With time on the clock and a tie game at the end of regulation, Lebron decided to waste a bunch of time and settle for a bad three point attempt even though he was being guarded by Terence Davis, who is tiny compared to King James. He then preceded to go back to the same well at almost every clutch opportunity through out the rest of the game despite him being one of the most unstoppable drivers in the history of the game.
Shareef Abdur-Rahim Award- DeAndre Jordan. Lob City is in ruins. Starting at center for the Lakers because AD refuses to play the 5 for some reason, DJ spent most of the game lumbering up the court and just generally looking like someone on his metaphorical and literal last legs. I guess it pays to be BFFs with most of the older stars in the league.
WTF Moment of the Game- The whole damn game.
+++Kings @ Grizzlies+++
@FedEx Forum
With this many injuries on the part of the Kings and the Grizzlies missing their best player, it would be a fool's chore to try to breakdown the matchups for today's matinee game (the Kings have been absolutely terrible in these Sunday early start games to start the year by the way).
The Kings come into the game winners of their last two games and 2-1 under Alvin Gentry, who hasn't so much righted the sinking ship so much as made sure that he's put out the grease fire in the galley first before trying to move on to the many cracks in the ship's hull. De'Aaron Fox has started to hit his stride, much to the chagrin of some Kings fans but much to the delight of most of the fanbase.
Meanwhile, the Grizzlies have had a bit of an up-and-down season, contrary to the general narrative around them pre-Ja injury. This season, the Grizzlies have gone full run and gun to the tune of the worst defense in the league to start the year. With the lighting quick Morant out for a little while, I have a feeling that their pace numbers are going to dip a little. Without Ja Morant, the Grizzlies are probably going to be relying on second-year guard Desmond Bane a bit more. Bane's called down a bit after a pretty hot start to the year but is a very good shooter who's expanded his game since being drafted last season.
Jaren Jackson Jr. is finally healthy after an injury plagued first couple of seasons and has been a bit of a mixed bag in his 26.5 minutes per game of action. At 6'11" and with solid lateral agility, he can be a shot blocking terror on defense. One major issue that's continued to present itself in his career is a lack of drive when it comes to rebounding the ball. He's also among the more foul happy players in the league. On offense, Jackson's shown himself to be a solid volume shooter from the perimeter. There was a portion of the Kings fanbase that advocated drafting him in the Bagley year and it's only four years later that both guys are finally healthy enough at the same time to actually play against each other.
Dillon Brooks, Kyle Anderson, and Steven Adams are the vets on this Grizzlies squad and each have given the Kings major issues in the past. The Grizzlies franchise in general has seemed to have the Kings number in recent years and the Kings will have to keep on their toes to win this game, Ja or not.
Final Prediction
Hey hey hey! The Kings finally have some positive momentum again! The Grizzlies are currently having to deal with the loss of their clear best player and the engine of their entire offense. Were the Kings a trustworthy franchise that wasn't prone to complete and total meltdowns, I'd day that this is a game they should win. Since this is the Kings though, I'll just say that this is a game that they can win if they actually take the game seriously. Let's see if Alvin Gentry can get to them in a way that Luke Walton couldn't.
Kings 119, Grizzlies 108
It's been a crazy week in Kings land, even by Kings standards but a win over the damnable Lakers makes it all go down like wine.
If you ignore the first half, which was possibly the ugliest 24 minutes of basketball played this century, that was one hell one a game.
Awards Time
Tony Delk Memorial Award- Malik Monk. Coming off of that crazy game for the Hornets last season in which he pretty much won the game for them by himself, Monk is steadily rising up the ranks of historic Kings killers. Had an incredibly efficient night from the field (8-11 overall) en route to 20 points and a TS% of .900 then was pretty much relegated to sit around in the corner and watch Lebron and Russ pound the air out of the ball duty in all three overtimes. Glad they did because the Kings did not seem to have an answer for him.
Cory Joseph Award- No one. Pretty much everyone who played contributed to the win or got injured so early that they couldn't really make an impact one way or another.
Luke Walton Vacuum Cleaner Award- Lebron's late game decision making. With time on the clock and a tie game at the end of regulation, Lebron decided to waste a bunch of time and settle for a bad three point attempt even though he was being guarded by Terence Davis, who is tiny compared to King James. He then preceded to go back to the same well at almost every clutch opportunity through out the rest of the game despite him being one of the most unstoppable drivers in the history of the game.
Shareef Abdur-Rahim Award- DeAndre Jordan. Lob City is in ruins. Starting at center for the Lakers because AD refuses to play the 5 for some reason, DJ spent most of the game lumbering up the court and just generally looking like someone on his metaphorical and literal last legs. I guess it pays to be BFFs with most of the older stars in the league.
WTF Moment of the Game- The whole damn game.
+++Kings @ Grizzlies+++
@FedEx Forum
With this many injuries on the part of the Kings and the Grizzlies missing their best player, it would be a fool's chore to try to breakdown the matchups for today's matinee game (the Kings have been absolutely terrible in these Sunday early start games to start the year by the way).
The Kings come into the game winners of their last two games and 2-1 under Alvin Gentry, who hasn't so much righted the sinking ship so much as made sure that he's put out the grease fire in the galley first before trying to move on to the many cracks in the ship's hull. De'Aaron Fox has started to hit his stride, much to the chagrin of some Kings fans but much to the delight of most of the fanbase.
Meanwhile, the Grizzlies have had a bit of an up-and-down season, contrary to the general narrative around them pre-Ja injury. This season, the Grizzlies have gone full run and gun to the tune of the worst defense in the league to start the year. With the lighting quick Morant out for a little while, I have a feeling that their pace numbers are going to dip a little. Without Ja Morant, the Grizzlies are probably going to be relying on second-year guard Desmond Bane a bit more. Bane's called down a bit after a pretty hot start to the year but is a very good shooter who's expanded his game since being drafted last season.
Jaren Jackson Jr. is finally healthy after an injury plagued first couple of seasons and has been a bit of a mixed bag in his 26.5 minutes per game of action. At 6'11" and with solid lateral agility, he can be a shot blocking terror on defense. One major issue that's continued to present itself in his career is a lack of drive when it comes to rebounding the ball. He's also among the more foul happy players in the league. On offense, Jackson's shown himself to be a solid volume shooter from the perimeter. There was a portion of the Kings fanbase that advocated drafting him in the Bagley year and it's only four years later that both guys are finally healthy enough at the same time to actually play against each other.
Dillon Brooks, Kyle Anderson, and Steven Adams are the vets on this Grizzlies squad and each have given the Kings major issues in the past. The Grizzlies franchise in general has seemed to have the Kings number in recent years and the Kings will have to keep on their toes to win this game, Ja or not.
Final Prediction
Hey hey hey! The Kings finally have some positive momentum again! The Grizzlies are currently having to deal with the loss of their clear best player and the engine of their entire offense. Were the Kings a trustworthy franchise that wasn't prone to complete and total meltdowns, I'd day that this is a game they should win. Since this is the Kings though, I'll just say that this is a game that they can win if they actually take the game seriously. Let's see if Alvin Gentry can get to them in a way that Luke Walton couldn't.
Kings 119, Grizzlies 108
