Kings/Lakers: NorCal vs SoCal…in Vegas?

Our beloved Kings take on the defending two-time champion Los Angeles Lakers tonight. According to the official Kings schedule hanging on my refrigerator, the game is supposedly a home one for the Kings. But alas, tonight is the night the Maloofs have their traditional “one night in Vegas to show everyone we run that city and realllllllllly wouldn’t mind having a team at one of our casinos” showcase.

The Kings are coming off of a 19 point win over Golden State Tuesday night, and LA’s coming off a five day rest after being apart of the NBA’s preseason European tour. The Lakers are 0-2 after losing to the Timberwolves and FC Barcelona (suck it, LA!).

Some highlight’s of Tuesday’s win:

• DeMarcus Cousins had 20/8 in just 22 minutes of action.
• Luther Head filled in nicely as a starting guard, scoring 15 on 5-8 shooting from the field (including 2-3 from deep).
• Omri Casspi and Pooh Jeter provided solid minutes off the bench, with 29 and 28 respectively.

Earlier today, Bryan reported Samuel Dalembert will be out 4-6 weeks with a left groin strain. Tough break. The Kings brass has been excited for Dalembert for awhile now, but there’s a small contingent of Kings fans who are umm…excited…that DeMarcus Cousins will now start (barring injury or disaster) opening night. An interesting subplot that’s developed : how will DeMarcus respond to more minutes, and, if he plays well enough in Daly’s absence, will the big fella be relegated to backup center?

Also with Dalembert out,  Jason Thompson will be the backup center. This leaves minutes open at the four for either Donte Green or third year beast of a man Darnell Jackson. And with Kings coach Paul Westphal saying he likes Omri Casspi off the bench, who starts at three? Last night, the Kings got major production from Casspi and Green at SF. Look for Marcus Landry, Antoine Wright, and Francisco Garcia to get an opportunity tonight in a last chance effort to start.

And finally, the main event of the matchup:

Tyreke Evans vs Kobe Bryant.

Okay, so it’s only preseason, and as it is right now, Kobe probably won’t play more than fifteen minutes (if he plays at all). And on offense, Tyreke probably won’t even be guarded by Kobe. But no matter. I’m still going to compare the two of them, and when Tyreke puts up bigger numbers, I’m going to parade around the internet damning Kobe and his decline, and calling Tyreke Evans  a top three player in basketball. So I’m a homer. Big deal.