Keys For The Sacramento Kings Against The Denver Nuggets
By Rafe Wong
Just coming off a loss last night to the Miami Heat the Sacramento Kings will try to bounce back tonight against the Denver Nuggets.
Last night the Kings were without the talents of their big man DeMarcus Cousins due to being suspended by the league and tonight Sacramento will remain absent of his services due to Cousins not playing any more road games for the rest of the season.
With that being the case the Kings will need to find a solution to winning games without Boogie. They are only 2-11 this season when he is not playing.
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For the Kings to remain competitive in this game they will need to follow these keys to the game.
Crash The Boards: With Kings going into Denver without Cousins it means a lot of rebounds will have to be made up by Sacramento’s other bigs.
Denver is currently ranked 8th in rebounds per game (44.5), and they can have themselves a field day rebounding the ball if the Kings are caught slipping.
Players like Willie Cauley-Stein and Kosta Koufos will have the majority of the responsibility in crashing the boards, but also others on the team will have to contribute as well.
Rudy Gay: Again, Boogie Cousins will not suit up with the Kings tonight which means Rudy Gay will be relied on heavily for the offensive production. Gay’s performances have been significant factors in the Kings wins and losses this season.
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In wins this year, Gay is averaging 19.3 points per game off 52.1% shooting. In losses this year Gay is averaging 15.6 points per game off 43.1% shooting. He will need to be solid in scoring the ball tonight for the Kings to have a chance.
Play Defense: Sacramento’s defense has been atrocious this season. Right now they are ranked last in the league in points allowed per game (109.1) and have shown that any team can score buckets on them.
Denver’s offense isn’t exactly their forte, averaging 102.1 points a game, but they do have players like Will Barton, Gary Harris, and Kenneth Faried that are capable of putting the ball in the bucket at a high rate. So if the Kings can play adequate defense they should be fine.