No Cousins? That May Be a Big Problem For the Sacramento Kings Tonight

Before we jump right into tonight’s game in Portland against the Blazers, the undermanned Kings deserve a lot of credit for their performance against the Clippers on Saturday night.

The Kings were without DeMarcus Cousins, Ramon Sessions, and Carl Landry going into that game. Omri Casspi got hurt within minutes of checking in and never returned, and for whatever reason rookie Nik Stauskas received a DNP-CD. The Kings had every excuse to mail that game in and they didn’t.

Is taking a step back in 2023-24 inevitable for the Sacramento Kings?
Is taking a step back in 2023-24 inevitable for the Sacramento Kings?

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  • Jason Thompson had a cool 23-point, 22 rebound game, and I realize this is an extremely convenient time to say this, but he probably deserves a bigger role in the Kings offense than the one he currently has.He’s averaging just 5.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game on the season.

    He’s better than that, but his offensive opportunities are extremely limited. I give Thompson major kudos for playing within his role, though. A lot of guys in his position would force their own offense if they thought they were being underutilized. Not JT.

    I think the Nik Stauskas DNP-CD is worth spending a minute on. What happened there? Stauskas has had a rough rookie season, so I can understand why a coach would sit him in general, but it sort of gets magnified when the team has so many injuries and he still can’t get on the court.

    That is a situation I’m going to monitor closely. Ray McCallum is really eating into those backup guard minutes, either playing with Darren Collison at shooting guard, or running backup point guard by himself. Good for Ray, worrisome for Nik.

    A few hours after my GameDay Notebook went up on Saturday, the Kings signed Reno Bighorns standout Quincy Miller to a 10-day contract. Miller has some NBA experience, and by all accounts he was one of the most sought after talents in the developmental league.

    With all of the injuries plaguing the Kings at the moment, the signing made a lot of sense for both sides. Miller played five minutes in Saturday’s loss to the Clippers, and while he missed all three of his shots, I saw some hustle and good court vision out of him. I’m not sure how much playing time he’s going to find here, but I’m looking forward to seeing what he’s got.

    Here is a little mix of his last performance in Reno.

    Ok. All of that is out of the way. As I mentioned earlier, the Kings are in Portland tonight to face the Blazers. I like the Blazers a lot. For a team that has the second best record in the Western Conference, they just aren’t getting the kind of publicity you’d expect.

    The competitiveness of this game is going to come down to how healthy DeMarcus Cousins is. If Cousins can’t play tonight, the Kings are going to be in rough shape. You could say that on any given night, certainly, but the Blazers are a lot better than most teams. They aren’t going to let a Cousins-less Kings team beat them at home. I can’t see it.

    The Blazers are pretty banged up down low. Robin Lopez and Joel Freeland are both out (and will be for a while) so if Cousins can play, he’s going to have a major advantage inside. This is the only real weakness Portland has right now, and it’s one the Kings can expose so long as Cousins’ ankle is ready to go.

    The Kings have been doing this ‘play up to the competition, play down to the competition’ thing all year. A good performance against the Blazers tonight wouldn’t shock me, but the health of this team is so up in the air that we just won’t know what kind of game to expect until tipoff.

    At full-strength, I like the way the Kings matchup with Portland. I love watching Jason Thompson battle LaMarcus Aldridge inside. Rudy Gay is one of the few small forwards who can match Nicolas Batum’s length, and Darren Collison usually rises to the level of his opponent. He’ll be ready for Damian Lillard tonight.

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

    Sacramento Kings at Portland Trailblazers

    Where: Moda Center – Portland, Oregon

    When: 7:00 PM Pacific, 10:00 PM Eastern

    Broadcast: Comcast Sportsnet California

    Radio: KHTK Sports 1140 AM

    Schedule