The Sacramento Kings Walks Into the Lion’s Den In Cleveland Tonight
To say the Kings are limping into the All-Star break would be an understatement. They need something. A trade? A new coach? Some time off? All of the above?
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Wednesday night’s 119-102 loss to the Toronto Raptors was another step in the wrong direction. These games are getting increasingly harder to watch. You know its bad when DeMarcus Cousins can only muster 13 points and 4 rebounds in 30 minutes, but we’ll talk more about Cousins in a minute.
We’ve seen this loss before. The Kings played a reasonably adequate first half of basketball before getting completely blown out in the third quarter. They would tighten things back up in the fourth, but that third quarter deficit was just too much to overcome. I need to do some digging, but I can’t imagine there being a worse third quarter basketball team in the NBA than the Sacramento Kings.
It’s also worth noting that Omri Casspi received a DNP-CD in that game. I just don’t get it. I don’t understand how any coach can play Derrick Williams over Omri Casspi at this point. Casspi has been the Kings best bench player for most of the season (you could argue for Carl Landry) and the Kings just won’t play him a consistent twenty-or-so minutes per game. I’ll keep saying this until the Kings do something. He needs to play more.
For more on Wednesday night’s loss, you can check out our postgame coverage here.
The Kings are in Cleveland tonight to face a Cavaliers team that is finally starting to click. They are riding an 8-game winning streak, and this is without a completely healthy LeBron James. James is questionable for tonight with a sprained right wrist.
Kyrie Irving is coming off of a 55-point performance against the Portland Trailblazers. The Cavaliers do not need a healthy LeBron James to beat the Kings tonight.
I’m not expecting any surprises out of the Sacramento Kings. This team looks physically and mentally beat. A win on the road in Cleveland would be great, but I wouldn’t get your hopes up.
And of course, I need to mention the fact that DeMarcus Cousins was not selected as a Western Conference All-Star reserve last night. I have very little to say on this issue that hasn’t already been said.
I watched every minute of every game DeMarcus Cousins has played this season, and if he isn’t an All-Star than they shouldn’t even play the game. I don’t think people realize how much Cousins forces the opposing team to completely change their defensive strategy.
Cousins has All-Star numbers, so it’s easy to look at his stat line and say that he’s putting up huge numbers on a bad team, but that doesn’t tell the real story. Yes, he’s putting up huge numbers on a bad team, but he’s doing it against five defenders every single night.
DeMarcus Cousins is the wild card tonight. He’s currently listed as questionable with a left ankle sprain, but if he plays, (post All-Star snubbing) look out. He has the ability to destroy the Cavaliers inside, and I have a feeling he might do that if he’s healthy.
As always, check back in to A Royal Pain after tonight’s game for our postgame coverage.
Sacramento Kings at Cleveland Cavaliers
Where: Quicken Loans Arena – Cleveland, Ohio
When: 7:30 PM Pacific, 10:30 PM Eastern
Broadcast: Comcast Sportsnet California
Radio: KHTK Sports 1140 AM