I guess no one wins forever. Davion suffered his first loss since March 12th as the Jazz asserted themselves in crunch time after the Kings spent the first three quarters looking like the better team. In a physical slobberknocker, the Kings matched a 'contender' blow for blow up until the closing minutes when Richaun Holmes fouled out, our offense looked gassed, and Buddy Hield threw a thirty foot pass fifteen feet.
But there are eighty games left and it's been a long time since the Kings have actually tried as hard as this on defense.
Awards Time
Tony Delk Memorial Award - Hassan Whiteside. After ending the Kings season mostly at the end of the bench, Hassan played sixteen minutes against the Kings and damn near posted a double-double. He also set a moving screen on Davion that made my teeth hurt just watching it. He even made his free throws and eschewed his traditional randomly dumb iso jumper.
Jason Hart-Andres Nocioni-Cory Joseph Award - Terence Davis, who got the start with Moe out but did absolutely nothing with the extra playing time than jack up perimeter jumpers and throw the ball to the other team. After an incredibly hot preseason, TD has struggled to start the regular season.
Luke Walton Vacuum Cleaner Award - Whoever the hell decided to tell our guys to keep randomly throwing full court passes that kept getting intercepted.
Mateen Cleaves of the Night - Brad Miller, who has technically been retired for ten seasons and hasn't been a King for longer than that but still seems psyched as all hell to be cheering on the Kings. Also, the dude clearly is still in pandemic grooming mode and rocking the long hair/beard combo.
WTF Moment of the Game - Kings follow up Davion forcing Donovan into a shot clock violation airball with several straight possessions of pure Kangziness. Honorable mention to the refs fouling Richaun Holmes out for simply boxing out Rudy Gobert.
The View From the Other Side -
+++Game 3+++
Kings vs. Warriors
@Golden One Center
As I'm sure every single resident of Northern California knows, there is supposed to be an apocalyptic rainstorm tomorrow so I'm not quite sure how many fans we'll see in the arena (and, of those fans, I'm not sure how many of them won't be Warriors fans reveling in the chance to enjoy the best arena in the league rather than that corporate henhouse they call an arena in San Francisco).
The Warriors have started off the year by beating both the Lakers and Clippers on national TV, both impressive wins if in you're the camp that both teams are contenders. The narrative around the league this entire summer beyond the Warriors being NBA finals contenders again somehow has been the presumptive rise of Jordan Poole to star status. After starting the year defending Dame, CJ McCollum, Mike Conley, Jordan Clarkson, and Donovan Mitchell, Davion gets to guard Steph Curry. Unlike most of those other names, Steph is not a ball-pounding iso scorer so we get to see Davion chase Steph and fight through off-ball action instead.
On the other end of the floor, I can only hope that De'Aaron and Tyrese figure out how to play good at the same time after two games in which each has traded off looking like they've been cursed by an elderly gypsy to never score again. Harrison Barnes continues to be rock solid and Buddy is lighting it up as the sixth man. If Marvin does play again, I can only hope that he plays with the effort and intensity he showed in his first stint against the Jazz and not the lackadaisical defensive awareness he showed in his second stint in the third quarter.
No word on whether or not Maurice Harkless is suiting up or not. Also, I feel a Bjeli revenge game coming...
Matchups
Richaun Holmes vs. Kevon Looney - After an immensely frustrating game against the Jazz, Richaun looks to rebound *ahem* against the Warriors, who have been running a big rotation of Green/Bjeli/Looney, occasionally using Wiggins at the 4 as well. All of them are good in their own way but also not the huge behemoths that give Richaun trouble the most. Against Looney in particular? I like Richaun's chances. Advantage: Holmes.
Maurice Harkless vs. Draymond Green - I'm assuming Moe plays until I get told otherwise. If he does, he'll find himself in an interesting matchup with Draymond Green. Draymond isn't a scorer by any means but might even be more important to the Warriors offense than Steph (in addition to being an all-defensive team guy). If Moe can disrupt some of that, it'd be a huge key to potential victory. Alas... Advantage: Green
Harrison Barnes vs. Andrew Wiggins - Harrison Barnes has been the best player on the team to start the year, with a career high in points in one game and a career high in rebounds in the other. Andrew Wiggins gained attention over the summer for finally not taking shots. Wiggins has become a relatively solid, steady player since being traded to Golden State but still isn't at Harrison's level, despite what Warriors fans will obnoxiously tell you, still bitter about losing to Lebron in seven games. Advantage: Barnes
Tyrese Haliburton vs. Jordan Poole - Tyrese is back! After a really really bad first game, Tyrese bounced back with a steady performance. While he ran the pick and roll to near perfection, he's shown a reluctant to even attempt threes to start the year and has gotten picked on a bit in iso plays on defense. On the other side, Jordan Poole has improved as a player since coming to the league, even if it isn't to the degree that basketball twitter claims. Another perimeter-based player who has some wiggle and some court vision, he's effectively the Warriors' version of Jordan Clarkson, only starting because Klay's leg tried to eject itself from his body. That said, I believe in Tyrese. Advantage: Haliburton
De'Aaron Fox vs. Stephen Curry - De'Aaron started his game against the Jazz looking like himself, then took an uncalled foul from Gobert that sent him out of the game with shoulder pain. When he returned to action, he wasn't the same player, his shot off and his iso game essentially non-existent. To his credit, Swipa lived up to his nickname with five steals as he joined in on the defense party with his teammates. While we're all looking forward to Davion facing Steph, De'Aaron's the one who'll start the game on him. When your opponent is the greatest shooter in the history of the game, nearly anything can set him off so I guess De'Aaron's strategy will have to be... not doing that until Davion comes into the game. Advantage: Curry.
Kings Bench vs. Warriors Bench - The Warriors have some injuries on their bench to start the season and have largely been relying on Bjelica and Damian Lee as their key contributors here. Andre Iguodola and Otto Porter give them extra depth on the wings but neither has been particularly spectacular to start the year. On the other side, Buddy has quickly taken to the sixth man role, Davion is the defensive messiah, and Terence Davis will hopefully remember how to play basketball, I'll be interested to see how Luke distributes the backup big minutes between Tristan and Len after only playing Thompson to start the fourth quarter. Advantage: Draw
Final Prediction
The Warriors are looking to go 3-0. The Kings are looking to go 2-1 and prove their defensive gains are real. The Warriors offense is completely different from either of the ones they've faced this season but is not completely unfamiliar to Luke and head assistant Alvin Gentry, who of course were with the Warriors for their first two finals runs. The Kings are coming off a tough loss to the Jazz while the Warriors have won against two diminished LA teams (Clippers: missing Kawhi, Lakers: Old and bad). I think the Warriors are the better, more established team at this point but the Kings aren't exactly out of their depths. Speaking of depths, maybe the atmospheric river turns I-80 into a lake and Steph and Dray accidentally miss the game. Warriors 113, Kings 109
But there are eighty games left and it's been a long time since the Kings have actually tried as hard as this on defense.
Awards Time
Tony Delk Memorial Award - Hassan Whiteside. After ending the Kings season mostly at the end of the bench, Hassan played sixteen minutes against the Kings and damn near posted a double-double. He also set a moving screen on Davion that made my teeth hurt just watching it. He even made his free throws and eschewed his traditional randomly dumb iso jumper.
Jason Hart-Andres Nocioni-Cory Joseph Award - Terence Davis, who got the start with Moe out but did absolutely nothing with the extra playing time than jack up perimeter jumpers and throw the ball to the other team. After an incredibly hot preseason, TD has struggled to start the regular season.
Luke Walton Vacuum Cleaner Award - Whoever the hell decided to tell our guys to keep randomly throwing full court passes that kept getting intercepted.
Mateen Cleaves of the Night - Brad Miller, who has technically been retired for ten seasons and hasn't been a King for longer than that but still seems psyched as all hell to be cheering on the Kings. Also, the dude clearly is still in pandemic grooming mode and rocking the long hair/beard combo.
WTF Moment of the Game - Kings follow up Davion forcing Donovan into a shot clock violation airball with several straight possessions of pure Kangziness. Honorable mention to the refs fouling Richaun Holmes out for simply boxing out Rudy Gobert.
The View From the Other Side -
+++Game 3+++
Kings vs. Warriors
@Golden One Center
As I'm sure every single resident of Northern California knows, there is supposed to be an apocalyptic rainstorm tomorrow so I'm not quite sure how many fans we'll see in the arena (and, of those fans, I'm not sure how many of them won't be Warriors fans reveling in the chance to enjoy the best arena in the league rather than that corporate henhouse they call an arena in San Francisco).
The Warriors have started off the year by beating both the Lakers and Clippers on national TV, both impressive wins if in you're the camp that both teams are contenders. The narrative around the league this entire summer beyond the Warriors being NBA finals contenders again somehow has been the presumptive rise of Jordan Poole to star status. After starting the year defending Dame, CJ McCollum, Mike Conley, Jordan Clarkson, and Donovan Mitchell, Davion gets to guard Steph Curry. Unlike most of those other names, Steph is not a ball-pounding iso scorer so we get to see Davion chase Steph and fight through off-ball action instead.
On the other end of the floor, I can only hope that De'Aaron and Tyrese figure out how to play good at the same time after two games in which each has traded off looking like they've been cursed by an elderly gypsy to never score again. Harrison Barnes continues to be rock solid and Buddy is lighting it up as the sixth man. If Marvin does play again, I can only hope that he plays with the effort and intensity he showed in his first stint against the Jazz and not the lackadaisical defensive awareness he showed in his second stint in the third quarter.
No word on whether or not Maurice Harkless is suiting up or not. Also, I feel a Bjeli revenge game coming...
Matchups
Richaun Holmes vs. Kevon Looney - After an immensely frustrating game against the Jazz, Richaun looks to rebound *ahem* against the Warriors, who have been running a big rotation of Green/Bjeli/Looney, occasionally using Wiggins at the 4 as well. All of them are good in their own way but also not the huge behemoths that give Richaun trouble the most. Against Looney in particular? I like Richaun's chances. Advantage: Holmes.
Maurice Harkless vs. Draymond Green - I'm assuming Moe plays until I get told otherwise. If he does, he'll find himself in an interesting matchup with Draymond Green. Draymond isn't a scorer by any means but might even be more important to the Warriors offense than Steph (in addition to being an all-defensive team guy). If Moe can disrupt some of that, it'd be a huge key to potential victory. Alas... Advantage: Green
Harrison Barnes vs. Andrew Wiggins - Harrison Barnes has been the best player on the team to start the year, with a career high in points in one game and a career high in rebounds in the other. Andrew Wiggins gained attention over the summer for finally not taking shots. Wiggins has become a relatively solid, steady player since being traded to Golden State but still isn't at Harrison's level, despite what Warriors fans will obnoxiously tell you, still bitter about losing to Lebron in seven games. Advantage: Barnes
Tyrese Haliburton vs. Jordan Poole - Tyrese is back! After a really really bad first game, Tyrese bounced back with a steady performance. While he ran the pick and roll to near perfection, he's shown a reluctant to even attempt threes to start the year and has gotten picked on a bit in iso plays on defense. On the other side, Jordan Poole has improved as a player since coming to the league, even if it isn't to the degree that basketball twitter claims. Another perimeter-based player who has some wiggle and some court vision, he's effectively the Warriors' version of Jordan Clarkson, only starting because Klay's leg tried to eject itself from his body. That said, I believe in Tyrese. Advantage: Haliburton
De'Aaron Fox vs. Stephen Curry - De'Aaron started his game against the Jazz looking like himself, then took an uncalled foul from Gobert that sent him out of the game with shoulder pain. When he returned to action, he wasn't the same player, his shot off and his iso game essentially non-existent. To his credit, Swipa lived up to his nickname with five steals as he joined in on the defense party with his teammates. While we're all looking forward to Davion facing Steph, De'Aaron's the one who'll start the game on him. When your opponent is the greatest shooter in the history of the game, nearly anything can set him off so I guess De'Aaron's strategy will have to be... not doing that until Davion comes into the game. Advantage: Curry.
Kings Bench vs. Warriors Bench - The Warriors have some injuries on their bench to start the season and have largely been relying on Bjelica and Damian Lee as their key contributors here. Andre Iguodola and Otto Porter give them extra depth on the wings but neither has been particularly spectacular to start the year. On the other side, Buddy has quickly taken to the sixth man role, Davion is the defensive messiah, and Terence Davis will hopefully remember how to play basketball, I'll be interested to see how Luke distributes the backup big minutes between Tristan and Len after only playing Thompson to start the fourth quarter. Advantage: Draw
Final Prediction
The Warriors are looking to go 3-0. The Kings are looking to go 2-1 and prove their defensive gains are real. The Warriors offense is completely different from either of the ones they've faced this season but is not completely unfamiliar to Luke and head assistant Alvin Gentry, who of course were with the Warriors for their first two finals runs. The Kings are coming off a tough loss to the Jazz while the Warriors have won against two diminished LA teams (Clippers: missing Kawhi, Lakers: Old and bad). I think the Warriors are the better, more established team at this point but the Kings aren't exactly out of their depths. Speaking of depths, maybe the atmospheric river turns I-80 into a lake and Steph and Dray accidentally miss the game. Warriors 113, Kings 109
