[Game] Kings @ Pelicans, 10/29/21 5pm Pacific 8pm Eastern

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
#1
2-2!

Awards Time
Tony Delk Memorial Award - Elfrid Payton. Once known as fast dude with truly amazing hair, Payton's long winding journeyman career has somehow landed him a job as the third string point guard for the Suns. With Cam Payne out, Payton had a wildly impactful game, somehow being the one guy thus far in the season who has given Davion Mitchell legitimate issues on defense, which is enough to earn him the TDM despite a strong campaign from first half Ayton.

Cory Joseph Award - Terence Davis. Just a spectacularly awful game from TD to compound a truly baffling start to the season. We all know Davis is better than this but the man has been absolutely unplayable in the mean time.

Luke Walton Vacuum Cleaner Award - The entire Kings team in the first half.

Vlade Divac Memorial Great Draft Pick Award - Jalen Smith, who has the unfortunate honor of getting picked way above where he was mocked in lieu of Tyrese Haliburton and Devin Vassell, two dudes who have looked like bonafide NBA players through their young careers. Through no fault of his own, Smith has spent the majority of his season plus in the NBA either at the end of the bench or in the G-League bubble. The jury's still out on Smith but it's hard to see him ever having the same impact as Haliburton or Vassell will have as wing/guards who are good at basketball.

WTF Moment of the Game - So many candidates to chose from. Be it the Kings coming out flat, making a come back, taking a double digit lead into the last half of the fourth quarter or the the Kings miraculously winning despite have bled all momentum in the waning seconds of the game, there were maybe a half dozen moments that would make even the most stoic man proclaim "WTF?!". The winner would be the Kings storming back out of the half, taking the lead, building the lead, and then nearly losing that lead with mere seconds left on the clock. I know it worked out in the end but- sheesh!


+++Game 5+++
Kings @ Pelicans
@Smoothie King Center


Finally, a game the Kings aren't the outright underdogs for.

The Pelicans have had an interesting offseason to say the least, with a series of moves that mostly served no purpose but to undo the bevy of moves that they made last offseason. Of course, the elephant in the room (not a shot at Zion's weight) is Zion's injury issues. The Kings play the Pelicans twice in the next several weeks and will absolutely not be seeing the 300 pound dunking behemoth in either meeting barring miraculously speedy rehab. That certainly helps the Kings chances because the Pelicans have been pretty awful without him (though they've gotten a little better from game to game).

Gone, also, are Stan Van Gundy (never should have been hired in the first place/fired at the first sign that Zion's family wanted him gone) and Lonzo Ball (unceremoniously shipped to Chicago for Garrett Temple and Tomas Satoransky). Devote Graham wound up replacing Lonzo under the auspices of getting a better off-ball player to play off of Zion (even though that's all Lonzo to a T).

Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart remain as the sole remainders of the Anthony Davis mega-deal though there's a chance that Hart misses tonight's game with a leg issue. Ingram is the Pelicans' best non-Zion player (some may argue he is better than Zion) but has largely fallen to the wayside as questions about his fit with Zion still linger (those questions somehow don't apply to non-floor spacing big man Jonas Valanciunas). Nickiel Alexander-Walker is an intriguing wing-guard who's been starting in an expanded role with Lonzo gone and has been solid in those new minutes though outside shot has largely abandoned him to start the year.

Trey Murphy and Kira Lewis are their first round picks over the last two years and, despite strong summer league showings, have been fine(?) to start the season off the bench.

All in all, there is a general feeling that the Pels are just treading water until the Zion situation gets sorted out and if this sounds familiar, it's because the same thing was commonplace when Anthony Davis was their centerpiece player. This is a game the Kings are favored to win and should win if they're serious about actually being a decent team this season. Then again, dropping the ball after doing something encouraging has been the Kings' forte for the last fifteen years so I'm mostly sure they'll just find a way to screw up again.

Matchups
Richaun Holmes vs. Jonas Valanciunas
- It's the return of the hand breaker. Jonas gave Holmes and the Kings absolute fits last season, culminating in a nasty game where Jonas broke Chimezie Metu's hand throwing him to the floor after a dunk. This season, we've added tougher big men behind Holmes but Valanciunas is essentially the centerpiece of the Pelicans' offense right now with Zion out. Advantage: Jonas.
Harrison Barnes vs. Brandon Ingram - It's a matchup of both teams' best players. Not sure how much they'll be matched up on each other, with Barnes usually guarding the least deadly of the other team's forwards and Ingram probably doing the same, but this will be a showdown of two of the better forwards in the league (at least to start the season). Ingram is a long versatile scorer who can also facilitate thanks to that time Luke Walton made him play point guard for half a season. Barnes has suddenly turned into one of the most efficient volume scorers in the NBA thanks to Luke's ultimatum that he take at least eight threes per game (probably not an ultimatum but still). Ten year leaps aren't exactly common in pro sports but Barnes has been so efficient under Luke Walton that there is a not insignificant chance that he averages twenty points a game this season. Advantage: Draw.
Moe Harkless vs. Josh Hart/Herb Jones - Josh Hart is questionable due to injury and has only played one game this season. At 6'5", he's a smaller wing (he actually started out as a point guard for the Luke Walton Lakers- apparently, in Luke Walton's system, everyone is a point guard) but he is a hell of a rebounder and a solid player who probably shouldn't have come back to New Orleans (not sure if he got many offers from other teams though). Herb Jones is a rookie and, given his first name, apparently a time traveller from the early twentieth century? Either way, in the matchup of veteran role player guy versus young role player guys, I'm going to have to go with the veteran unless Hart is fully back from his injury. Advantage: Moe.
Tyrese Haliburton vs. Nickiel Alexander-Walker - Nickiel Alexander-Walker is the less heralded cousin of SGA up in OKC. At 6'6" and 200 pounds, he's got legit wing size but isn't quite the shot creator or intense defender that his cousin is. In this short span since the start of the season, he's averaged 15 points a night, despite only hitting on 26% of his threes (he takes 8.6 a game!), and pulling down nearly eight rebounds per game. There is a lot to like from Alexander-Walker but there is also a lot to like from Tyrese Haliburton, who finally stopped refusing to shoot to the tune of two late game threes that helped the Kings win in Phoenix. This is an interesting matchup between two players with very different styles and Tyrese is giving up a good twenty pounds at least but I can't in good faith think that Tyrese is going to get outplayed here. Advantage: Tyrese.
De'Aaron Fox vs. Devonte' Graham - After getting moved by the Hornets to make room for Lamelo in the offseason, Graham has picked up where he left off in his first games as a Pelican, offering three point shotmaking not necessarily in quality but in quantity. While he's a decent facilitator, Graham is never going to be confused for CP3 as a point guard though size-wise he's closer to Paul than to the new age bigger lead guards around the league. De'Aaron has really struggled to start the year but is facing a non-elite guard lineup for the first time in the season and a relatively incompetent offensive one at that. I'm calling it now. Swipa gets out of his funk tonight. Advantage: Fox.
Kings Bench vs. New Orleans Bench - Buddy is either unstoppable or unplayable. There is no in-between. Terence Davis may be the same way. Davion is Davion and I look forward to him defending Brandon Ingram probably. Alex Len and Tristan Thompson at least provide more size and toughness against Jonas this time and probably won't hesitate to clock him if circumstances demand it. The New Orleans bench is fine(?) and pretty much 35-year-old Garrett Temple playing with a bunch of really young dudes who haven't sucked enough to get benched but also have played well enough to demand much attention. Advantage: Kings.
Kings Team vs. New Orleans Nightlife - Probably not a concern for a team led by Davion Mitchell, De'Aaron Fox, and Tyrese Haliburton but always a concern, even in COVID times.


Final Predictions
The Kings should win this and that is why I am very convinced that they won't. Logic tells me that a team missing its star player and under a first-time head coach isn't a great match for a team that has no major injuries to speak of that has beaten two playoff teams from last season and played the Jazz and Warriors tight. And yet my heart is ready to be disappointed. I was conflicted but, at the end of the day, I am a Kings fan, and an optimistic one at heart. Forgive me, for I know I have jinxed us.
Kings 119, Pelicans 107
 
#2
I say we just let Marvin and Zion go one on one. First to score 10 and not get injured wins on behalf of the team.

In fact, we should just start a league where Marvin plays 30mpg every night. If he gets injured, Kings lose. Wonder if we would make the playoffs in that league..
 
#3
While it may seem silly to entertain the notion that game 5 of 82 carries a lot of importance, to the KINGS I believe it does.

IMO it’s super important for the KINGS to stay ahead of the proverbial 8 ball and not fall below .500 early in the season. They need to get out to a fast start. And they can’t afford to do what they did last season after starting out 3-1 to then lose 5 of the next 6 and 9 of 11.

Games like this one are so important in avoiding that type of sinkhole. No Zion. And a 1-4 team that has yet to win at home. They’ll be hungry, for sure. But the KINGS are the better team and need to come out with the right focus and show it.
 
#5
Jonas the Kings bully is going to do his thing, question I have is, is anyone going to step up and handle it
My guess is there’s definitely an imprint on the team especially Metu. We need somebody to dunk on Jonas hard to set the tone and we prolly blow them out if that happens
 
#12
N.O. will come out looking like the harlem globetrotters. A player none of us have ever heard of will go for 30+ while we mope around with floppy body language.

My WTF moment of Kings v Suns goes to PHX making every single shot in the final 2:30 of the 4th.
 
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#16

pathetically low sample, but maybe this is something to lean into for the short-term while Fox gets his offense going. Get him some easier offensive possessions, not rely on him for all the creation for his scoring. We have the playmakers now to do it.
Unfortunately pathetically typical though when Walton is running this kind of up top motion and hand off sets. This team needs to run quick attack pnr's to get the defense moving early, not expect someone to create in the middle or the end of the clock which often times is going to come down to Fox. That extra 5-7 seconds of running guys off pointless pin downs (which just clog the driving lanes more) could be much better used to find those catch and shoot guys on the wing.
 
#17
N.O. will come out looking like the harlem globetrotters. A player none of us have ever heard of will go for 30+ while we mope around with floppy body language.

My WTF moment of Kings v Suns goes to PHX making every single shot in the final 2:30 of the 4th.
Herbert Jones career high upcoming.