[Game] Kings vs. Jazz, 10/22/21, 7pm Pacific, 10pm Eastern

How many times will the announcers get Davion and Donovan's names mixed up tonight?


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Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
#1
1 and 0, baby! Excruciating near-meltdown be damned, we looked like a better team had last season's squad! It also helps that Dame Lillard apparently forgot how to shoot threes before the game. But a win's a win! And now, on to the Jazz!



Awards Time
Tony Delk Memorial Award - Jusef Nurkic. Nurk has been among the more underrated bigs in the league for a good half decade now but I have no idea what he's done to get calls like he's prime Yao out there. Also there was a sequence where he nearly spiked Harrison Barnes into the hardwood and then tried riding Davion Mitchell like a horse the very next time the Blazers had the ball.


Jason Hart-Andres Nocioni-Cory Joseph Award - Tyrese Haliburton. The sophomore slump starts in style, culminating with a truly terrible turnover that almost cost us the game. (Note: That turnover should have actually stayed Kings ball according to the two-minute report.)


Luke Walton Vacuum Cleaner Award - Larry Nance Jr. I'm assuming the sheer shock of seeing Luke Walton on an NBA sideline sent Nance spiraling, causing him to revert to bad at basketball except for dunking Lakers Larry. Thankfully it worked out in Luke's favor for once.


WTF Moment of the Game - Refs blow multiple calls down the stretch. Still get paid anyways.


+++Game 2+++
Kings vs. Jazz
@Golden One Center


Matchups
Richaun Holmes vs. Rudy Gobert -
It is odd to see the general narrative surrounding a multiple-time DPOY guy be so decidedly negative and yet, after multiple terrible showings in the postseason where teams have gone small and absolutely rendered him useless, that's the situation as far as Rudy Gobert is concerned. Make no mistake though, the man is still very, very good. Just as was the case in his matchup with Nurk, Richaun's main hope is to get his own offense going against Rudy enough to neutralize the natural size difference between he and the Stifle Tower. Drawing Gobert out to the perimeter would help too but that's not quite Holme's game. Advantage: Gobert.
Maurice Harkless vs. Bojan Bogdanovic - There is some question as to whether or not Moe will be healthy enough to play tonight. If he does, his main defensive assignment will be Bojan or, as Kings fans may know him, the other Bogdanovic. Bojan is an absolutely deadly stretch forward who has given the Kings fits for years. If Moe can slow him down any, maybe this starting lineup isn't so bad after all. If Moe misses the game, I'll be interested in seeing whether Luke starts the death lineup or not. Advantage: Bogdanovic.
Harrison Barnes vs. Royce O'Neale - Royce serves the jack-of-all-trades defensive role player wing role you see so many teams starting around the league now (I guess Moe would be ours). Harrison is coming off the single best game of basketball he may have ever played as a pro so it's hard NOT to see him falling off a little bit here. That said, he's better than O'Neale, plain and simple. No offense to Royce. Advantage: Barnes.
Tyrese Haliburton vs. Donovan Mitchell - Tyrese is coming off the worse game of his young career and now has two go against one of the most explosive players in the NBA. Obviously, a lot of the attention tonight will be going to the D. Mitchell versus D. Mitchell Spida-man Pointing Meme matchup but I'm very curious how Tyrese will respond. I'm not expecting him to lockdown an MVP candidate or anything but I'd appreciate anything more than the 2 points, 4 assist performance we got against the Blazers. Advantage: Spida Mitchell.
De'Aaron Fox vs. Mike Conley - Man, remember when all the high ceiling comps for De'Aaron ended at Mike Conley. With no offense meant to the former Grizzly, I'm glad that those comparisons wound up being conservative at best. Conley is older now but still very productive when he's been healthy enough to play. That said, De'Aaron is clearly better than him at this stage in their respective careers and I expect him to play accordingly. Also, I don't think he'll be wearing Kobes tonight. Advantage: Fox.
Kings Bench vs. Jazz Band - This Jazz bench is even deeper than it was last season, even with former King Rudy Gay out with an injury (he's old). Reigning Sixth man of the Year Jordan Clarkson and Joe Ingles are the obvious leader of their second unit but beyond them, the Jazz are rocking former Warrior Eric Paschall and former Davion sidekick Jared Butler. The Kings bench is obviously not terrible either. Buddy looked good in his first game as official sixth man. Davion played rock-solid defense (Good job guarding Dame, Davion. Now go deal with your mentor and Jordan Clarkson.) Oh, and they have this guy too:
Advantage: Jazz.

Final Predictions: The league did us no favors when they gave us the Jazz for our first real game with fans in the building in a year and a half. The Jazz are looking for a finals berth this year and the Kings aren't exactly the right team to expose the flaws in the Jazz's defensive schemes. On the other hand, it is the season opener in G1C and stranger things have happened than an overmatched Kings team randomly beating a team that has completely dominated them over the last few years. Not quite sure there's magic in the cards tonight though. A close game will have to suffice.
Jazz 115, Kings 108
 
#2
The NBA seems to be getting more and more competitive as the list of really bad teams gets smaller and smaller. Houston, Detroit, OKC and Orlando are the only teams I would consider terrible. Cleveland and the Wiz are one rung above them. Then you have a whole host of teams with potential but unanswered questions: Sac, Minnesota, NO, Toronto. Three middling teams: San Antonio, Memphis and Indiana and then the expected playoff teams. We will go into a ton of games as the underdog but I hope we keep "stacking days" as the players have been saying a lot lately. We don't match up well against the Jazz but it sure would be nice to see us squeak one out against the expected top team in the West. I'll settle for a close game and a break out performance from Hali B.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
#8
I mean, if it really bothers you that much, the Kings have the best radio play-by-play guy in the league broadcasting at literally the same time.
Thanks for the info. I didn't know that the radio and TV were in sync. I thought there was a delay. I'll check it out. It may saving me from turning off the audio altogether.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
#9
Regarding Holmes, I'd sure like to see an "experiment" one game in which he took several three pointers. He has such a soft touch that his outside shooting potential seems pretty high. As I recall, early on in his career he took and made 3 pointers.
 

gunks

Hall of Famer
#18
Regarding Holmes, I'd sure like to see an "experiment" one game in which he took several three pointers. He has such a soft touch that his outside shooting potential seems pretty high. As I recall, early on in his career he took and made 3 pointers.
Luke: “Do I have any players on the roster who would benefit from Holmes pulling opposing bigs out of the paint? Naah, I don’t think so.”
 
#19
This is the test. A team without some of the same issues of that cloud of "are we going to lose our superstar player?" like the Blazers had. Also, a coach that has seemingly had the Kings number on in game adjustments for some time.
 
#23
I like the timing of this game. Coming off that win, wouldn't be surprising to see the Kings w/an emotional hangover. But a lot of factors push against that:
  • The Jazz are really good & have had the Kings' number
  • Opening Night at the G1C
  • Mitchell vs. Mitchell
  • The Kings having lots to improve on despite the win, especially defensively
  • Several key individual Kings motivated to play better in Game 2
  • I do believe the Kings themselves genuinely believe this can be the turnaround year. Chance to make an early statement tonight
If all that fuels a strong and consistent defensive effort from our guys, I'll be satisfied (maybe).
 
#24
This game makes me nervous.

The Jazz are a better team. They should win.

However....

It's opening night for the home team.

It's really early in the season.

The Kings are young and have some new players in the mix.

The kings backcourt can be extremely explosive.
 
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