Sacramento Kings (1-2) vs. Atlanta Hawks (1-2) Preview

November 16, 2012; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings center

(15) waits for the shot between Atlanta Hawks power forward

(27) and center

(15) during the third quarter at Sleep Train Arena. The Atlanta Hawks defeated the Sacramento Kings 112-96. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

After Saturday’s poor showing in Oakland, the Kings return home for their 4^th game of the season and need to get back on track. Neither the Kings offense nor defense was particularly impressive against the Warriors, and DeMarcus Cousins was dismal after two great games to start the season. The Kings need to right the ship ASAP, and a Tuesday night contest against a middle-of-the-road Hawks team would be a good starting point.

Sacramento Kings:

Atlanta Hawks

C:

DeMarcus Cousins, 6’11, Kentucky

20.7 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 1.3 BPG, 47.5% FG

C:

Al Horford, 6’10, Florida

15 PPG, 12.3 RPG, 2.0 BPG, 50% FG

PF:

, 6’9, Kentucky

3.7 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 1.3 SPG, 25% FG

PF:

Paul Milsap, 6’8, Louisiana Tech

16.3 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 55.6% FG

SF:

, 6’6, Miami (FL)

4.7 PPG, 2.3 APG, 1.3 SPG, 22.7% FG

, 6’8, Missouri

9 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 2.3 RPG, 31.6% FG

SG:

, 6’4, LSU

9.3 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 37% FG

SG:

Kyle Korver, 6’7, Creighton

15.7 PPG, 3.3 APG, 54.8% FG, 66.7% 3P

PG:

, 6’6, Maryland

9 PPG, 3.7 APG, 42.9% FG

PG:

, 6’2, Wake Forest

18.3 PPG, 8.3 APG, 2.7 RPG, 40.9% FG

Key Bench Players:

G:

, 5’11, Washington

30.3 MPG, 19 PPG, 4.7 APG, 50% FG

G:

Dennis Schroder, 6’1, Germany

18.7 MPG 6.3 PPG, 3.3 APG, 38.1% FG

G:

, 6’5, Kansas

20 MPG, 8.3 PPG, 1.7 RPG, 38.5% FG

F:

, 6’7, Kansas St.

22.7 MPG, 11.3 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 47.4% FG

C:

, 6’11, Rider

22.7 MPG, 8.3 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 48% FG

F:

, 6’8, Virginia

13.3 MPG, 5.7 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 38.9% FG

Last Three Contests:

February 22^nd, 2013: Kings @ Hawks – Hawks 122, Kings 108
November 16^th, 2012: Hawks @ Kings – Hawks 112, Kings 96
March 11th, 2012: Hawks @ Kings – Hawks 106, Kings 99

Key Matchup: DeMarcus Cousins vs. Al Horford

Cousins’ tour of the NBA big men archetype continues. The first two games (Nuggets, Clippers) it was against athletic freaks. Against the Warriors, he faced the bruising gritty Andrew Bogut. Now with Al Horford, it’ll be somewhere in between, but Horford is the most complete of the big men opponents so far this year.

Horford won’t win games offensively, but he’s an exceptionally skilled player on every aspect of the court. Cousins will have him beat in terms of size, but Horford keeps his ground in the post and is certainly an above-average defender. Cousins needs to prove he CAN score in the low post against bruising bigs and this is a excellent early test.

Three Things to Watch:

1. Body Language: Against the Warriors, the Kings energy levels returned to 2012 standards. This did not sit well with Coach Malone, and for good reason.

“I feel like I have to go to church, go to confession. ‘Forgive me Father for I have sinned,” Malone joked to Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee. “I wasn’t a good husband yesterday. I wasn’t a good father yesterday.’ ”

Look for the Kings to revert to energized levels at home against a talented but still beatable opponent, or else their Coach might just go total nuclear.

A couple Kings in particular—Marcus Thornton and Patrick Patterson—need to turn themselves around immediately or might risk losing their jobs to higher energy, better producing backups (Ben McLemore, Jason Thompson).

Nov 1, 2013; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings point guard Greivis Vasquez (10) passes the ball against Los Angeles Clippers point guard

(3) during the third quarter at Sleep Train Arena. The Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Sacramento Kings 110-101. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

2. Hawks in the Paint:  The Hawks sport a tandem of talented low-post scorers with Horford and Paul Milsap. Milsap isn’t the multi-dimensional player that Horford is—Milsap is great offensively, but has never dominated defensively or on the boards. Still, they combine to be one of the more dangerous big-man duos in the paint, and the Kings defense hasn’t exactly been lock-down near the rim.

3. Vasquez Defensively:  No one should have expected Greivis Vasquez to win the Defensive Player of the Year award, but so far he’s been dreadful defensively. He’s got excellent size, but he lacks the athleticism to keep up with faster opponents. He’s faced Ty Lawson, Chris Paul and Steph Curry to little success.

Now he’ll face Jeff Teague, a solid mid-range scorer who prefers to attack the basket (23 of his 44 shots so far this season have been within three feet of the basket). Vasquez doesn’t have the speed to stick to Teague after the first step. Malone has to figure some way for his lone above-average passer to continue getting playing time when he struggles so badly defensively.

Prediction: Kings 103, Hawks 101