[Game] Kings vs. Suns, 11/08/21 7pm Pacific 10pm Eastern

Who should have taken that last shot?


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Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
#1
The last twenty seconds of that game:

Awards Time
Tony Delk Memorial Award -
TJ McConnell, who looked like prime Steve Nash out there carving up the Kings'defense.

Cory Joseph Award - Maurice Harkless. Mayhaps he should have Harked more.

MIkki Moore - Richaun Holmes. Following up a 20/20 game with a game in which you get completely demolished by the other team's centers and display the hand-eye coordination of a newborn fawn is not great. At least he hit all his free throws.

Luke Walton Vacuum Cleaner Award - Schedule makers. Seriously? Two early matinee games two weeks in a row?

WTF Moment of the Game - Kings follow up a run to finally take the lead back in the fourth quarter by subbing out half of the group that got the team back in it. It went as you would expect. Also, this shot:

+++Game 11+++
Kings vs. Suns
@Golden One Center

Tough loss but the schedule plows ever on-and-on and the Kings now face the Phoenix Suns, a team in the headlines over the last week less for the guys on the court than for their owner apparently being a giant dingus and not a great person.

The Kings came away with a win in the last meeting between the two teams thanks to Harrison Barnes's buzzer beating three. Can they make it two in a row against the Suns? The Suns, it must be noted, haven't lost a game since that night, rolling off four wins in a row against Cleveland, the Pelicans, the Rockets, and the Hawks.

Phoenix will be without the services of Deandre Ayton, who had his own 20/20 night against us in our last meeting, but will have Cam Payne, who was injured for the last matchup. Considering how badly Elfrid Payton torched the Kings, that might be a good thing.

Either way, the thing that will differentiate this season from last year is this teams ability to win games before a loss can snowball into a nine-game losing streak like it did multiple times last season.

Matchups
Richaun Holmes vs. Javale McGee-
Gee, that was a stinker. Thankfully, Javale is not as good as either Domatas or Myles Turner and Holmes rarely has two bad games in a row. Also the Suns backup center is Frank Kaminsky so rebound time! Advantage: Holmes.
Harrison Barnes vs. Jae Crowder- The Suns get to have their revenge on Harrison. They've pretty much got the exact same personnel as before so I'm not sure what exactly that revenge would consist of but it's their chance for revenge nonetheless. Also Jae Crowder is currently shooting below 30% from three. Advantage: Barnes
Maurice Harkless vs. Mikal Bridges- After a double-digit scoring performance, Harkless went scoreless against the Pacers, prompting some members of a respective Kings fan forum to call for Marvin Bagley to get his minutes. While the situation isn't that dire yet, Harkless's inherent offensive limitations mean that his simple presence in the starting lineup can cause extra trouble for the Kings guards unless he's hitting his threes at a respectable level. The same would honestly probably be true of MBIII. Advantage: Bridges
Tyrese Haliburton vs. Devin Booker- Man, that was a really bad last shot attempt and, man, did Tyrese struggle against the Pacers' long guards. Good thing he can reset against *checks notes* one of the most explosive scorers in the NBA. Advantage: Booker
De'Aaron Fox vs. Chris Paul- Bad news: Fox's shot was off against the Pacers. Good news: it wasn't nearly as off as it was earlier in the year. Advantage: Paul
Kings Bench vs. Suns Bench- Davion had one of the most impactful 2 point nights in recent NBA history and his defense remains an absolute joy to watch. Meanwhile, Buddy is very good at shooting. The Suns have a solid bench as has been discussed before but they are incredibly thin at the big spot, where Frank "Cut for Chimezie Metu" Kaminsky is their only option that isn't a major draft bust. Cameron Johnson is having a bad shooting year so don't be surprised to see him suddenly incapable of missing. Y'know, since we're the Kings. Advantage: Kings

Final Predictions
It'll be tough. After that first meeting, the Suns will surely be more prepared to face the Kings than they were before. The Suns are missing Ayton though in what could possibly be a preview of their future once another franchise has signed Ayton to the max they were so eager not to give them. The Kings are coming off a disappointing loss while the Suns have a full day of rest on the Kings. But just like gambling, if you lose once, you gotta double or go home (I am a terrible gambler so this is not to be trusted). So it's still KANGZ SZN baby! Kings win! Our existential angst subsides for a day.
Kings 118, Suns 112
 
#2
I hope the Kings go back to their offensive strategy in the 2 games prior to the last one - In other words, pass the ball more, have a more balanced attack & go inside more! Holmes & Len combined for just 7 FG attempts vs. the Pacers (making 4) - That's unacceptable, considering the forwards are not paint oriented at all & it let Sabonis/Turner off the hook too much. The Kings need to use the inside attack more at the very least to keep the defense honest & open up the 3 point shot.

There was 1 play in the 1st quarter last night where Len was open twice on one possession - Mitchell missed him on an alley-oop and Fox opted to swing the ball to Barnes for a 3' instead of pass to Len who was wide open with his hands out next to the basket. In a game where Sacramento scored 91 points & lost by 3, they could have definitely won by giving Holmes/Len a couple more opportunities around the basket. Instead, they opted to die by the 3'. Fox/Hield specifically do a pretty poor job of setting up the big guys.
 

The_Jamal

Hall of Famer
#4
Catching a break with Ayton being out. Pacers are just a bad match-up for us with their size, but Suns get extremely perimeter heavy once Ayton is off the floor. Going to need the guards and Davion to really D up: CP3 and Booker have really started to cook with Ayton out.
 
#5
I swear if we win this game I’m gonna lose my mind with this season lol
Kings need to give Louis King a chance instead of giving Harkless and Davis more minutes. I was so impressed with him shooting in the Summer League that I thought he's going to be a gem. So why is he not giving a chance I don't get it. The Kings really need more consistent shooters out there. Today, there's an article about Louis King being the best player in G League...so that's just confirmed what I believe. If Luke Walton doesn't know how to recognize talents, then it's time to move to better coaches.
 
#6
Honestly, I expected us to lose against the Pacers. We have always been terrible in early games, even when we were good. So I'm hoping we have a better game against the Suns.
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
#11
I guess the question becomes whether the Kings start Davion or Buddy. Davion starting would help the team’s intensity right out the gate but The FoxBuddy unit has been a thing for four years now.
 
#12
I guess the question becomes whether the Kings start Davion or Buddy. Davion starting would help the team’s intensity right out the gate but The FoxBuddy unit has been a thing for four years now.
If I know Walton it’s gonna be Davion. I’d put some light fade on that for fun if I could
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
#24
Not sure if you’ve seen him play this season but CP3 is as good as (if not better than) ever.
I've seen him play. He doesn't have nearly the mojo of a few years ago. He's out there conserving his energy, and yes, he's good at doing so especially when the opposition allows it. Fox should be >>> Paul right now, but this fake-Fox???, who the heck knows. The irony is that Fox looks like he's going to be retiring in the next year or so. If they keep stats on Fox making length to length fast break layups per game, I've got to believe he's down at least 80% in that category from last year. You see Barnes and Halli make more of those plays now than Fox. Right now I'm looking at an imposter out on the floor. Call the FBI.
 
#28
I think fox will have a fox game being the primary ball handler with Hali out. Won't make us a better team overall but we will survive.
Davis will have a better day.
MO Will be MO
Buddy will be a bit off but hit some big buckets
Barnes will give us 20
Holmes will bounce back with a great game
 

SacTownKid

Hall of Famer
#29
Back to dropping off the pick and roll again this time against probably the best pnr G combo in the NBA. WTF! There is simply no fixing stupid I guess.
 
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