Will the Sacramento Kings Offense Dominate Against the Mavs Tonight?
Eighty-eight points. The Golden State Warriors have outscored the Kings by a combined eighty-eight points in four games this season. Tuesday nights 121-96 loss inside Sleep Train Arena was another complete disaster. I don’t know what else to say about it. I guess we can all be grateful that the Kings won’t have to play the Warriors again this season.
If you follow the Kings, and I’m assuming you do if you are reading this, then I’m sure you are well aware of the vine going around from that loss. Why talk about it when I can just show it to you?
This looks bad, right? And I think we can all understand why it went viral. It’s DeMarcus Cousins, first of all. He’s one of the most polarizing players in the NBA. And he kept his hands on his knees and didn’t defend his man on an inbound’s play.
You can take shots at Cousins if you want too. Does he deserve some of it? Probably, but I’m not going there. I’ve watched this player drastically improve his game every single season. I feel confident in saying that he works about as hard as any player in the NBA. Basketball isn’t a game of luck or chance.
You don’t get as good as DeMarcus Cousins is by accident, so can we all quit it with the ‘lazy’ narrative? I don’t know what happened on that play, and I don’t know where his mind is at right now, but I would imagine the frustration level within the Kings locker room is very high. But to suggest that Cousins doesn’t play hard, or that he is lazy, or that he doesn’t care, or that he shouldn’t be an All-Star based on a vine like this, or spells of uninspired play, is incredibly foolish. That’s all I really wanted to say about that.
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You can read our full postgame coverage from Tuesday night’s loss here.
Anyhow. The very competent Dallas Mavericks are in Sacramento tonight to play the Kings.
If it makes you feel any better, the Mavericks are coming into tonight’s game on the second night of a back-to-back where they also lost to the Warriors. It wasn’t quite as bad as the Kings loss, but man, those Warriors are good.
The Mavericks will also be without Rajon Rondo tonight, so, a tired team without their starting point guard? On the road? The Kings should be able to keep this one interesting. Should.
J.J. Barea is starting in place of the injured Rondo; so don’t be surprised if Darren Collison has a big game. Barea shouldn’t be able to handle Collison’s speed advantage. This is one instance where I’d like to see Collison really pressure Barea by pushing the ball up the court quickly (pace!).
The Mavericks are extremely well coached, and they play some of the most aesthetically pleasing basketball in the NBA. They are a legitimately fun out of market team to watch, and while they certainly have NBA talent on their roster, they are almost always the smarter basketball team on any given night, and that is their biggest advantage. That is a big reason why the Kings are 0-2 against the Mavericks this season.
I know I’ve talked about the Tyson Chandler – DeMarcus Cousins matchup in the past. It’s a good one. And despite Chandler’s defensive prowess, Cousins has a pretty nice track record going up against the Mavericks. Outside of Chandler, the Mavs will have a hard time dealing with Cousins size and strength inside. That is when Cousins did his damage in their last matchup.
As usual, we’ll have to wait and see what Kings team shows up. And be sure to check back in to A Royal Pain after tonight’s game for our postgame coverage.
Sacramento Kings vs. Dallas Mavericks
Where: Sleep Train Arena – Sacramento, CA
When: 7:00 PM Pacific, 10:00 PM Eastern
Broadcast: Comcast Sportsnet California
Radio: KHTK Sports 1140 AM