KingsFans.com Official Gameday Thread
Game 41
Sacramento Kings @ Houston Oilers
By Stephen Tetsu, I'm pretty sure there's something living behind my toilet.Game 41
Sacramento Kings @ Houston Oilers
(Photo Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports)
Victoryyyyyyyyyy! After two games of mindnumbing sadness, our road warriors nutted up and ascended the stairway to victory, slaying the mighty Pelicans that stood before them, bathing in the blood of their feathered foes, and basking in the silence of the seemingly abandoned and forsaken New Orleans Arena. For this was a night of Kings and conquest would be theirs.
But let me tell you what, when I saw IT going into heroball mode at the end of the first half, this was what was going through my pea-sized brain:
But then thankfully Rudy came out of the gates in the third quarter physically unable to miss a shot and things were all better with our lead climbing back up to twenty points after Jeff Withey went Beast Mode and pulled New Orleans within single digits in the second quarter.
This game really wasn't as lopsided as you'd think it was. (Actually it was.) Jumping off to an early lead, the Kings pretty much had their way with a depleted Pelicans team, led by Rudy Gay's career night. I could devote a lot of words to Rudy's night but at this point I'm pretty sure you all know. The man was simply unstoppable, simply demolishing wave after wave of Pelican defenders without ever really forcing the issue.
Meanwhile, Demarcus decide to prove he was better than Anthony Davis at defense too to the tune of 4 blocks, 3 steals, and a couple of taken charges. Davis, who was a relative non factor thanks to the strong work of Jason Thompson, was outplayed by Jeff Withey for the Pelicans who came out on fire in the second quarter presumably because the Kings thought that a random fan had decided to walk onto the court.
Tyreke Evans had no repeat of his last dominating performance against the Kings, instead displaying his patented drive to the hoop and get blocked approach that we all can recall form his tenure in Sacramento. Still, he was New Orleans' best guard on the night, which of course meant Monty Williams gave him less minutes than the struggling Eric Gordon.
It was a good win overall but it came against a team that quite frankly doesn't seem very good at this point in time. And so, on to the next one.
The View From the Other Side: Pelicans Edition
All posts taken from pelicansreport.com
- 3:57 Tonight is the ultimate tank battle between a 14-win and a 16-win team. Who can tank the hardest? We'll find out.
- 4:49 I don't think the Kings are trying to tank. I think they're just bad.
- 4:56 Well we aren't making the playoffs and unless we get in the top five we lose our pick so id say for the long term benefit of this team we do need to lose.
- 5:43 If the Pelicans players, play as hard and as well as they can, then they are showing how good they are. That way, they can be traded for another good player or draft pick. So, I want them to win by playing great, individually and as a team.
- 6:06 Let's tank till 2019!!
- 7:26 Austin Rivers is going to come in and raise the level of play.
Hell, he might need to.
Everyone looks lethargic. And Cousins is playing like he doesn't like us. - 7:26 Reke is useless when the other team has a good big
- 7:29 Arena so empty the city lost interest after all the losing
- 7:31 Bring Thornton home
- 7:32 Man, his mom is exactly...
Wait. She has cancer?!? Way to bury the lead, Jesus. What is this, The Room?
Anyway, she looks precisely like the kinda ladies that wear the ridiculous hats at church and sit in the first row throwing handkerchiefs at the preacher. - 7:33 Thornton can be the Tony Parker to AD's Tim Duncan, bro
- 7:36 Cousins is another exaggerated foul recipient.
AD talks like a man to the ref and gets T'd up. Cousins tries to win a Nighttime Emmy, and nothing? - 7:44 Withey moves great!!! He is ELITE at moving!!!!!
- 7:46 He's elite at moving. Roberts is elite at dribbling. Rivers is elite at throwing the ball anywhere near the rim. SMH. Elite is the most overused term on this board. Forgive me if that post was sarcasm
- 7:59 Cousins Is crazy..you can't win with him
- 8:00 This is why i hate cuz he acts like a *****. I don't understand how u could want a guy like that on your team.
- 8:01 The kings franchise will forever be loser with thus guy
- 8:11 Oh, Evans. How I thinketh thee art awesometh.
- 8:23 Man some of you "fans" have nothing good to say at all even when somebody is playing good still Debbie downing it . Go back and read some of these game day threads it's ridiculous .
- 8:36 Kings broadcasters just said Anthony Davis isn't having an all star year and doesn't deserve it over cousins. Cousins is having the much better year this year.
- 8:38 I know this isn't a popular opinion round these parts but Rudy Gay can play.
- 8:46 Gordon is 0-4. This guy is a complete bum. Someone please offer a burger, French fries, and soda for him. Someone,
- 8:48 WHERE THE **** IS WITHEY?!
- 8:49 I have to stop watching this team til monty is fired
- 8:51 I find myself asking this question way too often: Why do I watch this team?
- 8:58 It's been the same for the past 2 or 3 years with this group. Start off strong then come halftime the other teams makes adjustments and we lose the lead in the third quarter followed by mismanagement of rotations in the 4th to get blown out. Meanwhile, Monty is looking nonchalant and overwhelmed in the background with no answer in sight. It's getting old!
- 9:00 I only watch to see AD get 20/10/3 anyway.
Injuries have ruined this season, may as well loose while there's an excuse. - 9:01 The hornets have quit trying. No hustle.
They do not deserve to be called Pelicans. - 9:02 I don't like Rudy Gay at all, but he's been playing much better as a King. How many of you would accept a Gordon-Gay swap?
- 9:05 I don't know how Kings fans can tolerate Cousins. He's busy moping and didn't realize his team had gotten the ball back.
- 9:09 Tell Acy he's a basketball player, not a heavy metal lead singer.
- 9:22 Cousins really has the mindset of a 13 year kid. He's even LeBroning. All that's missing is putting it on Vine.
- 9:24 This dude is very drunk...
Or I hope he is...
At least he's making me laugh at something.
Oh God...Aaron Gray's back for revenge!!!! - 9:33 ok new dream lineup, with galo out for the year and denver wanting to go to the playoffs maybe they woul do gordon for galo, or we could do gordon for sanders, yall be the judge, which lineup?
jrue
tyreke
galo
ryno
withey
or
do the sanders trade and sign hamilton
jrue
tyreke
jordan hamilton
ad
Sanders? - 9:46 Well after watching this game tonight it looks like the tank is definitley on which is good. I normally do not like that but with all the injuries this team has our record is not going to improve. I would really love to get a top 3 pick and put Parker with Davis. I just do not think Wiggins is going to be a top 20 NBA player. Parker would just be unreal though. The 2 Chicago kids leading us to a title. I know, I am living in FANTASY LAND but it never hurts to dream right.
- 9:56 something tells me tonights' performance from withey still won't earn him more minutes from this point out. i really don't know what some guys have to do to see playing time. i also don't see there being many happy people in the locker room when everything's so inconsistent. Gordon getting no plays run through him... Tyreke playing less than Roberts... i can see tension building against monty if it hasn't already in the locker room. Evans is no slouch who should be playing under 30 minutes a game. this isn't what he was told in the offseason
- 10:54 Opposing fans are starting to comment on how bad Monty is. Finally feels like the bubble's burst on him, nationally, and hopefully the FO can no longer delude themselves into thinking he's the answer.
- 10:55 He's Keith Smart part II.
("Daddy Like?")
Tonight we face our old friends, the mighty Houston Rockets, a squad against whom our new-look Kings finally started to get rolling. Whether it was a fluke or the fact that we really match up with these guys pretty well is a hard thing to decipher. Considering Houston's recent injury woes in which three of their core rotation guys are either out or questionable for tonight's game, this game should be even more of a win than last time. (Knock on a massive piece of wood here.)
After the Great Rudini's explosion last night against the astounding talent that is Al Aminu, he comes face to face with the hot (not in that way) Chandler Parsons, who is neither Kevin Durant or Aminu although he is somehow leading Demarcus in All-Star voting. Capable of scoring (though it's not like Houston was really lacking in that department anyways) and playing good, if unspectacular, defense on the wings, Parsons is going to at least provide some sort of challenge to Rudy as opposed to Aminu's strategy of just letting Rudy do whatever the hell he wanted in the hope he would eventually get tired. Behind Parsons is Omri Casspi, most recently seen getting posterized by Demarcus, who we all know is the most awesome player to ever lace them up this side of Tel Aviv.
At power forward, the Rockets are in a bit of a conundrum with two-thirds of their ideal big man rotation currently injured. While Terrence Jones remains a game time decision, the Rockets other option is Donatas Motiejunas, a guy who was impressive in Summer League but really fails to provide a lot of the shot blocking and interior presence that Jones provides. But his name is difficult to say so at least he has that going for him.
Recently returned from another injury (seriously, when is he not injured?), Patrick Beverly is the starting point guard for the Rockets. More of a role player type, Beverly provides the outside shooting and defense you need from a guy starting next to one of the biggest defensive black holes in the league. Now placed back in his 6th man role, Jeremy Lin, having cooled off from that streak on the Knicks where everyone suddenly thought he was Asian Michael Jordan, will provide good scoring while not being particularly athletic or good at passing.
At shooting guard, the Rockets of course start a beard that is wearing James Harden. But the beard is good at scoring. Really good. But with great beardiness comes great responsibility and Harden has come out this year and generally proven himself to be utterly terrible at defense. My completely scientific hypothesis is that he's being weighed down by his beard and it's hurting his lateral quickness. But if anyone asks, you didn't hear it from me. Last time we played them, Harden's defense was so crappy that Ben McLemore had one of the best games of his season, helping to negate the man's career scoring night.
The center matchup features a clash of unstoppable force against a moveable object. Don't get me wrong, Dwight Howard's been good and all but not really at the same level as he was in Orlando. Sure he's rebounding at a good clip and getting solid block numbers but his team overall is putting up defensive numbers that would not be out of place for a Keith Smart coached team. The last two times the teams have met, Demarcus has definitely come out on top and if there ever was a night for him to break out of his "slump" it would be tonight.
The coaching matchup was initially hard for me to call until I realized that, even though he's almost seven feet tall and once sported the manliest chest hair in the NBA, Kevin McHale is getting up there in age and has to sit in the Phil Jackson-patented old coach chair. Meanwhile, even though he's smaller, Coach Malone seems like one intimidating dude. Plus he's like twenty years younger than McHale which means he'd totally get bunch more punches in on the dude before McHale would even have a chance to throw a couple of punches in there. And Malone's a Long Island guy so he's got that advantage going for him as well. The clincher? Malone's fists are closer to McHale's groin than McHale's are to his. Did I mention this matchup is about a hypothetical boxing match between the two coaches? No? Well it is. And the clear victor would be Michael Malone.
If the Kings win tonight, it not only improves their record to a respectable 3-3 on the road trip but it further legitimizes the young guns as a team not to be overlooked down the stretch run of the season. And it would pee Dwight Howard off, which is always a net positive.
My prediction? 104-98. The Kings go home happy. Dwight Howard cries over his post-game Happy Meal. A couple birds hatch in Harden's beard.
GO KINGS!
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