The chances of the Sacramento Kings beating the Orlando Magic tomorrow night dramatically declined when the news came out that the Kings front office suspended their star player DeMarcus Cousins.
According to Kings VP Vlade Divac, Cousins was suspended due to the tirade he had with coach George Karl on the bench of the fourth quarter of last night’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Cousins will only be suspended for tomorrow’s game against the Magic. After tomorrow night, Cousins looks to be reinstated for action against the Utah Jazz on Sunday.
Whether or not this suspension was fair is uncertain. I’m not an insider for the team so I do not know all the details that factored into the Kings decision.
What I do know, however, is that the players available for the Kings in tomorrow’s game will have to step up their game if they want to come out victorious.
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The last time Sacramento played against Orlando the Kings won the game 97-91. The main reason for that victory was the play of Cousins.
In the Kings victory in Orlando, Boogie had a monster game recording 29 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 blocks, and 3 steals.
For the Kings to win tomorrow their bigs will have to produce. This means players like Willie Cauley-Stein and Kosta Koufos will be looked to tomorrow in an attempt to make up the high production that Cousins gives the Kings on a gamely basis.
The Kings record this season has not been pretty so far, but their record is so much worse without the services of Cousins. So far this season the purple and white have managed to win just 2 games out of the 9 that they have had to play without their star big.
With a team that needs to win now to salvage their season, losing Cousins for tomorrow’s game is a setback for the Kings.
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Whether suspending Cousins was right or wrong is unknown, at least for an outsider like me. But what is definitive is that this suspension does hurt Sacramento’s chances in beating Orlando.
Tomorrow’s game will be held at Sleep Arena Train at 7:00 PM Pacific Time. The Kings will wear their baby blue uniforms to continue on with their flashback Friday tradition for this season.