Well this week has sucked. First the Kings end a good road trip with a loss, then they come back home and lose to the worst team in the league in embarrassing fashion. Then they fail to make any move at the deadline aside from acquiring some extra pocket change. Thankfully, they can turn things around starting tonight at home … against the defending champion Denver Nuggets. Great.
Let’s talk Kings basketball!
When: Friday, February 9th, 7:00 PM PT
Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA
TV: NBC Sports California
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140
Last Time
The Kings actually have a 1-0 record against the Nuggets this season, beating Denver 123-17 at the start of December. The Kings had a huge 2nd quarter, outscoring the Nuggets 39-20 in that period. De’Aaron Fox had 26 points and a season-high 16 assists, and Malik Monk added 26 points of his own off the bench. The Nuggets were without Jamal Murray, but Nikola Jokic played and had a big triple-double with 26 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds as Denver’s comeback fell short.
Three in the Key
Renewed Focus
Now that the trade deadline has come and gone, perhaps the Kings will be a little bit more comfortable and themselves knowing that they aren’t at risk of being shipped off. Like it or not, these are your Sacramento Kings the rest of the way. Wednesday’s effort against the Pistons was absolutely inexcusable, and Mike Brown and several players said as much after the game. For whatever reason, these Kings tend to play down to their level of competition like they can afford to coast for large stretches even when they’ve proven time and time again that they can’t. Thankfully there opponent tonight won’t require them to stretch their imagination in terms of quality because the Nuggets are about as good as it gets, and they’re fully healthy this time. This is the first of two games the Kings will play against Denver over the next week leading into the All-Star break. The Kings need to get at least one, especially considering they’ll be facing Oklahoma City and Phoenix on the road in between. This could be an 0-4 stretch if the Kings aren’t careful, and given how tight the Western Conference playoff race is, that’d be disastrous.
Stop the Supporting Cast
Nikola Jokic is going to kill the Kings tonight, that’s inevitable. He’s too big, he’s too skilled and he is going to get his. We are amazed each night at what Domantas Sabonis does, and Jokic is somehow even better. The key will be making sure he doesn’t get a ton of help. The Nuggets are a deep team with a great supporting cast, particularly Jamal Murray. The Kings can’t afford to have Jokic go off AND guys like Murray, Michael Porter Jr. or Aaron Gordon. It will be a long night if they do.
I will not be there
Perhaps the biggest key to Kings victory is the fact that I will not be in attendance. For some reason my presence this season is akin to the clock turning to midnight and the team turning into a pumpkin. I attended both the Charlotte and Detroit losses, the Clippers beatdown, and my sole victory wasn’t even in regulation as the Kings struggled to beat a Portland team at home in overtime. I’ll be in attendance against Houston and New York in March. I apologize in advance.
Prediction
I don’t know man, we just lost to the damn Pistons. But the Kings don’t do typical so we’ll probably win by 50 or something stupid.
Kings 154, Nuggets 99
