A Royal Pain
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Sacramento Kings found a game against the Utah Jazz in their Easter basket

By Tony Xypteras

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I’ve said this before, but after every monster DeMarcus Cousins performance I feel compelled to say it again: It’s really unfortunate that the Sacramento Kings completely wasted a season like this out of Cousins.

Cousins is only 24 years old. He has plenty of basketball left in him, but who knows what will happen moving forward? He’s been relatively healthy his entire career. That is bound to change. He’s getting increasingly frustrated with this organizations inability to build a contender around him.

I hope he’s playing healthy, All-Star level basketball in Sacramento for the next 10-years, but that is not a given. I would have felt better about all of this had this season not been a complete and utter disaster, but here we are.

In case you missed Friday nights 101-95 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, DeMarcus Cousins put up 24 points, 20 rebounds, and 13 assists for his second straight triple-double. It didn’t look particularly hard, either. I know he cares more about the loss, and those are piling up.

The Utah Jazz are in Sacramento tonight to face the Kings.

Rudy Gay

has already been ruled out as he continues to recover from a concussion. I’d probably just shut Gay down at this point. He’s clearly struggling with some aspect of the concussion recovery protocol. It’s not worth rushing.

I find it incredibly frustrating that the Jazz have been able to rebuild their team into something respectable after just one bad year, while the Kings are on year nine of their rebuild. It’s embarrassing, really.

The Jazz are 15-8 since the All-Star break. Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors combine to form the most feared rim protector pairing in the NBA. Nearly all of their young players are developing into something. They don’t waste picks on players that don’t pan out (Jimmer Fredette, Thomas Robinson), and that is how you leap frog a team like Sacramento who’s been stuck in the lottery for nine years.

DeMarcus Cousins will be the best player on the court tonight, for what that’s worth.

The Kings have seven games left this season. They need two more wins to match last seasons total. They need four wins to get to 30, which would be their highest win total since the 2007-2008 season.

The Jazz are playing well right now, but they certainly aren’t unbeatable. DeMarcus Cousins is playing must watch basketball at the moment. He’s good enough to beat anyone, and it’ll be interesting to see how Gobert defends him tonight.

As always, check back in to A Royal Pain after tonights game for our postgame coverage.

Sacramento Kings vs. Utah Jazz

Where: Sleep Train Arena – Sacramento, CA

When: 6:00 PM, 9:00 PM EST

Broadcast: Comcast Sportsnet California

Radio: KHTK Sports 1140 AM

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