A Royal Pain
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No Time To Celebrate, as Kings Take On the Magic Tonight

By Kareem Gantt

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Just after Carl Landry made the put-back that got the losing monkey off the Sacramento Kings back, the Kings don’t have enough time to pop Champaign bottles as the Orlando Magic makes a visit to Sleep Train Arena tonight.

On the surface, this should be a winnable game for the Kings. The Kings have the talent and experience to overtake a young Magic team, but judging by what happened last night, this is not a guarantee.

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    • The Kings should had easily taken care of the Indiana Pacers as well, but once again, the Kings let a comfortable lead slip away, and needed overtime to finally get pass the injury-ravaged Pacers. So nothing is guaranteed, not with this Kings crew.

    The Kings may get a break in the middle, especially if DeMarcus Cousins is out again tonight. Magic center Nikola Vucevic has missed the last two games with back spasms, and could sit again tonight. But Vucevic’s replacement, Kyle O’Quinn, is no slouch either, and the Kings bigs will have to win this matchup tonight.

    Another Magic player that could produce matchup problems for the Kings is forward Tobais Harris, who has the athleticism and scoring bravado to overpower anyone guarding him. It is imperative that Rudy Gay at least try to contain him.

    Magic point guard Victor Oladipo and rookie Elfrid Payton also may prove to be headaches for the Kings, but Darren Collision should, and will, be on his game tonight, but the back-up guards – I’m looking at you Ramon Sessions – has to step up tonight.

    Although both teams are playing the second game of a back-to-back, the Kings should have the edge because while the Magic was in Salt Lake City, the Kings were at home, so this should prove to be a huge difference, on paper at least.

    So let’s not get to caught up in the celebration of last night’s thrilling win; it’s time to prepare for the Magic.

    My Prediciton: Kings 95, Magic 92

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