This week's guest is StR's newest contributor.

The Sactown Royalty Show is back!  This week I'm joined by our newest contibutor, recap guru Omer Khan.  Omer and I had a lot to discuss this week, like the Kings playing without DeMarcus Cousins, the ongoing debate between Ramon Sessions and Ray McCallum, and whether or not the Kings' bench has truly improved.

It was a fun show and we covered a lot of topics.  Be sure to give it a listen.  Just note, this episode was recorded Monday night, so there's no discussion of Tuesday's game against the Raptors.

Like the show? Subscribe to us on iTunes or on Stitcher! Leave us ratings, leave comments, let us know how we're doing. Ratings and comments on iTunes really help us out with promoting the show. And of course, continue the discussion in the comments below.

And a big thanks to Audible.com for supporting us. To get your free 30-day trial and a free audiobook, sign up here. Using that particular link gets you the special offer, and let's them know you heard about them through our show.

As always, thanks for listening.

Behold, a shooting guard has appeared on the Sacramento Kings roster.

Ben McLemore has arrived.  After a difficult first season that showed flashes of promise but was mostly filled with frustration, Ben has arrived as a different player this year.  Confidence, ball handling, defensive awareness, shooting, passing, they all seem dramatically improved.  It's very early in the season, but it's been long enough now to know that the change is legitimate, rather than another flash in the pan.  But how, specifically, has Ben improved? The numbers show us two key areas.  Let's take a look.

Defense

This has been the most obvious and dramatic change.  Last season McLemore was better known for getting lost on D and leaving shooters like Kyle Korver and Steve Novak open for three.  This season, McLemore is not just improved, he's a huge net positive on the defensive end.  Watching the games, his head is on a swivel.  He knows his assignments, knows his role in the system, and is playing lockdown defense.  The numbers support the change we're seeing.

This is the 2013-14 season:

This is the 2014-15 season so far:

The most important stat is that line to the far right.  McLemore went from allowing opponents to shoot 4.6% better than their average last season, to holding them 5% below their averages.  That's a nearly 10% swing on the defensive end.  Now, the numbers still aren't pretty inside 10 feet, but that just makes the overall numbers even more impressive.  What it tells us is that McLemore has become a lockdown defender on the perimeter.

This is the exact defense we wanted to see from Ben.  This is the defense we thought he should be capable of.  But even the most optimistic of us didn't expect this kind of change to occur in a single offseason.

Shooting

McLemore was drafted so high primarily based on his shooting.  Even when he was missing, he had one of the purest strokes in the league.  And yet he shot poorly throughout most of his rookie season.  His three point shooting was the biggest concern.  The Kings desperately needed floor spacing, but Ben couldn't hit threes at a good enough rate to keep defenses honest.  Last season Ben shot 32.2% from deep.  32.8% on catch-and-shoot, 30.4% on pull ups.

This year Ben's shooting from deep has been lethal, even after a slow start in the first few games.  He's shooting 40% from deep, which is phenomenal.  37.5% on catch-and-shoots.  And an absolutely absurd 71.4% on pull ups.

And it isn't mattering if he's open or guarded.  If a defender is nowhere near Ben, 6 feet or farther away, Ben shoots 41.5%.  That number drops to 38.7% if the defender is within 4-6 feet.  But even when a defender is within four feet, which is tight defense when you consider that distance is based on body mass rather than the insane wingspans of the NBA, Ben still shoots at 37.5%.

One final note on Ben's shooting improvement.  You may have heard that McLemore is flirting with the 50/40/90 club.  He's currently at 47.3/40/87.  For reference, the 50/40/90 club has been reached 12 times in NBA history (since the invention of the three point line, and counting players who played in at least 50 games).  The names on that list are guys like Kevin Durant, Dirk Nowitzki, Reggie Miller, Steve Nash, Steve Kerr, Kyle Korver.  Basically a grouping of some of the most elite shooters in the history of the game.  Plus one crazy season by Jose Calderon that I'll never understand.  But if McLemore hits that threshold in just his second season, he'll have truly announced himself as an elite NBA shooter.

Conclusion

We're over a fifth of the way through the season, and Ben McLemore has shown dramatic improvement from his rookie season.  He's no longer the guy missing open dunks, clanking open threes, and losing his man on defense. Instead, he's the player who is shooting lights out, throwing down monstrous breakaway dunks on defenders, locking down the perimeter, and filling a major void in the Kings' lineup.

***

Stats courtesy of NBA.com/stats and basketball-reference.com

After a great start to the season, the Kings have gotten through a rough first month with a .500 record at 9-9 despite facing the toughest schedule in the NBA.  It's even more exciting to think that Sacramento's record could probably have been even better than that but for a few injuries and a couple of big road collapses.

This month however, the schedule gets decidedly easier.  They did drop their first game of the month at home to the Toronto Raptors, but Toronto is a very good opponent, unlike many of the other teams they face the rest of this month.  In the 14 remaining games on the schedule for December, only 3 opponents have a winning record (Milwaukee is at .500).  The Kings play just four road games this month, and only one against a team with a winning record.  After only playing two Eastern Conference teams through the first 18 games of the season, Sacramento faces 7 in the next 14 games and the only one with a winning record is a young Milwaukee team.

Let's break the schedule down game by game, with each opposing team's current record in parentheses:

12/5 vs. Indiana (7-11)
Last year the Kings lost both games to the Pacers but this is not the same Pacers team.  Even without DeMarcus Cousins, this should be a win for the Kings.  The Pacers recently got back David West, but with no George Hill and no Paul George, Indiana shouldn't have enough offense to beat the Kings.  Indiana's currently relying heavily on guys like Solomon Hill, Donald Sloan and Chris Copeland.  Sacramento has to win this game.

12/6 vs. Orlando (7-14)
The Magic have a lot of young talent but they're also hurt by injuries and will be without Aaron Gordon for sure and possibly Nikola Vucevic.  DeMarcus Cousins will be absent for this game as well but the Kings should still be take advantage of Orlando's inexperience and youth.  Sacramento won both these games last year and should win this one, especially at home.

12/8 vs. Utah (5-14)
Utah actually played the Kings very competitively last year, winning two of the three matchups and only losing a single game in Utah that went to Overtime.  DeMarcus Cousins should be back in the lineup by this game and if he is, I don't see the Kings letting this happen again, especially as Utah is one of the worst defensive teams in the league (29th in defensive rating).  A win here is necessary to make this a successful homestand.

12/9 @ L.A. Lakers (5-14)
Sacramento somehow lost three of four to the Lakers last season, partly because the Lakers went insane from beyond the arc last year.  That's not the case this year though as new head coach Byron Scott has trimmed the Lakers attempts to just 23rd in the league (they were 7th in attempts and 2nd in makes last year).  They also have a historically bad defense, easily the worst in the entire league.  Sacramento shouldn't have any issues with this team, even on the second night of a back to back.

12/11 vs. Houston (14-4)
The Rockets are a difficult team and a shorthanded Rockets squad was still easily able to take care of business against a shorthanded Kings squad last month.  Last year the Kings and Rockets split four games but it will take a much better effort than the one the Kings displayed in Houston to beat them this time.  Houston should also be much healthier with Dwight Howard and Patrick Beverley back by this time.  This will be a difficult game.

12/13 vs. Detroit (3-16)
Detroit is one of the rare teams with enough size to match up with the Kings fair and square, but this is a Pistons team in disarray.  The Kings dropped both games to the Pistons last year, but this year their offense is even worse at 29th in the league.  This is a team that loves to shoot threes despite not being very good at it (8th in attempts but 02th in percentage) and they're even worse at twos (30th in 2P%).  Sacramento needs to win this game at home.

12/16 vs. Oklahoma City (5-13)
The Kings already lost to the Thunder in Oklahoma City this season even though the Thunder were without Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.  Now Durant and Westbrook are back and by the time these two teams play, both should have shaken off their rust.  This will be a packed house for Peja's jersey retirement and hopefully the Kings are up for the big game because this will be a difficult game to win.  Last year the Kings lost all four games to the Thunder by an average of 11.2 points.

12/18 vs. Milwaukee (10-10)
This is a much better Bucks team than the one the Kings swept last season with two blowout wins.  While this Bucks team still has trouble scoring efficiently, Jason Kidd has them playing at a high level defensively with the 8th best defense in the league.  They are full of long athletes and are among the league leaders in blocks and steals.  Still, their record is a little inflated from being in the East and having the 4th easiest schedule in the league to date.  Sacramento needs to take care of home court.

12/21 vs. L.A. Lakers (5-14)
This is the second time the Kings play the Lakers this month and this time it's at home.  The Kings should win both games.

12/22 @ Golden State (15-2)
This is probably the only game all month that I just don't see the Kings winning.  Golden State is on another level as a team, and they match up incredibly well with the Kings.  Andrew Bogut is one of the few guys in the league who consistently frustrates DeMarcus Cousins and Andre Iguodala does the same to Rudy Gay.  Meanwhile the Kings don't have real answers for their deep bench or three point shooting.  In Oracle Arena, it would take Sacramento's best effort to win this game and I just don't see it happening barring serious injuries to the Warriors before these two teams play.  There once was a time when the Kings and Warriors would seemingly always play close games regardless of how good the other team was, but that hasn't been the case for a while now as the Warriors easily swept the Kings last year and will probably do the same this year.

12/26 vs. Phoenix (11-8)
The Kings beat the Suns once already this year with their one real comeback of the year but this is still a very tough opponent.  Isaiah Thomas had a very bad game in the first Kings-Suns matchup and I don't see that being the case when he comes back to Sacramento.  This will be Sactown Royalty Night II by the way, so hopefully we can fill up the arena and beat a good opponent.  This will not be an easy game by any means.

12/27 vs. New York (4-15)
The Knicks are simply not a very good team.  They have no real depth, a clunky offense and a non-existent defense.  First year coach Derek Fisher is going through some growing pains as he attempts to teach the Triangle to players that haven't played it before.  The Knicks split games with the Kings last year, but this year they don't have Tyson Chandler to defend DeMarcus Cousins and that's a decided advantage for the Kings.

12/29 @ Brooklyn (8-9)
The Nets are a team that the Kings have had trouble with in the past and so I don't think this is a gimme by any means.  These teams split the series last year with both winning at home and I could see that being the case again this year.  Brooklyn has a lot of veteran players and Brook Lopez always seems to have great games against Sacramento.  This is probably the toughest game of this four game road trip for the Kings and if they can find a way to win it they could have a real shot at sweeping all four games by riding the momentum.

12/31 @ Boston (5-11)
The final game of the month comes against a plucky Boston team that also gave the Kings problems last year, splitting the series.  Jared Sullinger in particular had very good games against the Kings and this year Rajon Rondo is back.  Boston's defense isn't very good though and their offense isn't much better.  A win this night would be a great way to cap the month and head into the New Year.

***

Now we all know that teams sometimes lose to opponents that they should beat and beat opponents that they shouldn't, but with this schedule the Kings have a chance to grab some real momentum heading into a very tough January.  If the Kings have any playoff aspirations at all, I think 10 wins over these next 14 games is a necessity and anything less would be a bit of a disappointment.

The Pacers will be back in the mix on Friday night against the Kings. Fantasy stud DeMarcus Cousins is out which may make Roy Hibbert a value play. Sign up with FanDuel on Friday and get a 100% sign-up bonus.

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Sacramento's lost four straight, will be without DeMarcus Cousins for the fourth straight game but there's reason for optimism.  Starting tonight with Indiana, the Kings face four straight opponents with losing records.  They'll have to take advantage, even without their best player for at least two of those games.  Tonight's action tips off at 7:00 pm  on Comcast SportsNet California and on KHTK 1140.

3 THINGS TO LOOK FOR

1. The Kings are 0-14 in the Malone era without DeMarcus Cousins.  That streak has to end tonight or else we might have to start worrying.  The teams the Kings have lost to on this losing streak have been among the best in the NBA but now they're facing a stretch against some of the worst teams in the NBA.  The Pacers are on the second night of a back to back, are without two key starters in George Hill and Paul George and are just 3-7 on the road for the year.  The Kings have the talent to win this game and they need to protect homecourt.

2. Indiana's not a good team without George but they also just recently got David West back, so they're slightly better than their record would indicate.  West is their leading scorer at just 13.8 points a game, but they do have six players averaging 10 or more points and four more with over 7.  They also have a noted "Kings-killer" in Rodney Stuckey.  Stuckey averages 13.4 points a game for his career but 19.9 points against the Kings, way higher than against any other team.

3. Indiana is a very good rebounding team, both offensively and defensively.  Without DeMarcus Cousins, the Kings have shown that they aren't nearly as good on the boards.  Against the Raptors on Tuesday, the Kings gave up 11 crucial second chance points, which hurt immensely when trying to get back into the game.  The Kings will have to do their best to keep Indiana off the glass.

MATCHUP OF THE GAME

David West vs. Jason Thompson

The Pacers don't have many offensive weapons, especially with Paul George out and Lance Stephenson no longer on the team.  David West is still formidable though, and he's one of the best mid-range shooting big men in the NBA in addition to being a good post player.  JT has done very well defensively this year, and it will be up to him to keep West in check so that Indiana's offense can't ever get going.

PREGAME LIMERICK

Nobody likes a losing streak,
or a virus making Boogie weak.
Let's end it tonight,
give Indy a fright,
or else this fanbase will freak.

PREDICTION

Kings 108, Pacers 93 as Rudy Gay gets payback for Paul George's "Four Point Play" last year by exclusively making four point plays on each possession he shoots.

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Top Hat saved the day!

It wasn't pretty, but the Kings made just enough plays down the stretch in OT to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

The Sacramento Kings ought to come with a warning label. Despite showing so much promise and talent thus far, this season has also been wrought with awful heartbreak at the worst times. The Indiana Pacers threatened to plunge another dagger in the hearts of Kings fans, but a lucky bounce ended in Carl Landry's waiting mitts, who scored and put the Kings up for good 102-101 in an overtime squelcher. The Kings finally win a game without DeMarcus Cousins, which they haven't been able to do since March of 2013.

The Kings were powered tonight by the play of Rudy Gay and Darren Collison. Gay was unstoppable through three quarters, getting right to his spots with little controversy and scoring with ease all over the court. The problems came in the fourth quarter, where the Pacers started checking Rudy with Solomon Hill instead of the hapless Chris Copeland. Hill harassed Gay all throughout the fourth, and Gay did not respond all that well. Gay ended the game with 27 points, five boards and five assists on 10/20 shooting, but again most of that came in the first three quarters. As Gay went quiet, the Kings struggled to score and saw double digit leads evaporate in a hurry. Rudy's shot selection down the stretch of the game also left much to be desired; the Kings consistently let him isolate Hill, but Gay settled for contested long twos, although he was fouled on the shot to end regulation.

Collison also had a statistically productive game, scoring 20 points and dishing four assists on 8/19 shooting. Collison is still struggling with his jumpshot, missing all three of his three pointers. He was also uncharacteristically missing his midrange jumpers down the stretch, which is usually his money shot. He played well enough for the Kings to win tonight and his defense was a big part of the Kings early leads, which led to leakouts and fast break baskets.

The bench continues to be bad, finding creative new ways to blow big leads. Thankfully, Landry came to play tonight, scoring 14 points and grabbing 7 rebounds on 5/9 shooting, none bigger than the final offensive rebound and putback to win the game. After that... yikes. Omri Casspi and Ramon Sessions need to be better than they were for the bench to not be completely worthless, and they weren't. And then there was Nik Stauskas, who had such an awful stint in the first half that Malone opted to go with Ben McLemore for the entire second half and overtime.

This game should not have been this close. The Kings built a 15 point lead in the first quarter, lost it, rebuilt the lead to 11 at the half, cranked it up to 16 in the third, only to blow it again down the stretch of the fourth quarter. The Kings were very lucky to win this game, and have some serious questions to answer about depth. The starters can't be relied upon to win every stint of minutes they get, which admittedly they have been doing an admirable job of. The bench needs to start playing better otherwise the same kinds of issues will persist the rest of the year.

Bleh, what am I so pessimistic about? We won! And one less game before Boogie comes back! Go dance. The next game is tomorrow against the Orlando Magic at Sleep Train Arena.

For the opponent's perspective, visit Indy Cornrows.

The Pacers forced overtime with a furious late fourth quarter comeback, but couldn't make the necessary plays to come away with the win. David West had 16 and C.J. Watson had 14 to lead Indiana.

One play would change the narrative of the Indiana Pacers' fourth quarter and overtime comebacks, keeping them from stealing a road trip salvaging win over the Sacramento Kings, instead relegating them to a disappointing 102-101 loss by allowing former Purdue product Carl Landry to pull in an offensive rebound off of a Rudy Gay miss, gather himself, and put in the game winning layup with 0.8 seconds remaining.

The Pacers trailed all night, with a pitiful first half from the starting unit allowing the Kings to storm ahead early on a 16-0 run, keyed by nine straight misses and four turnovers from Indiana. But while the starters would combine for 13 total first half points, Indiana's bench pushed the Pacers back into the game, drawing them to within two points, but the starters gave the lead right back, the Kings going back up by double figures at the break with an 8-0 run.

Things didn't improve much for Indiana in the third quarter, falling behind by as many as 17. But with help from C.J. Watson, David West and Solomon Hill found some rhythm, trimming the lead to eight heading into the final quarter. Indiana fell behind in the fourth by as many as 12, while only able to move it to six with Indiana trailing 94-86 with three minutes remaining.

At that point, the Pacers turned their offense over to West, who dictated and controlled the movement of the ball for the first time this season, hitting a jumper and finding Roy Hibbert to trim the lead to four. A Rodney Stuckey fast break layup would draw Indiana to within two. Stuckey and West would tie the game up at 96-96 with 28 seconds remaining, with the Kings blanking from the field for the final four minutes of the fourth.

In overtime, Stuckey had a miss and turnover push Sacramento into a pair of jumpers from their leading scorers on the night, Rudy Gay (23) and Darren Collison (20). C.J. Watson would finally put the Pacers on the board in overtime with a three pointer, and would finally push them into the lead by scoring five straight points, putting Indiana ahead 101-100 with a minute remaining.

The score would stay locked when Landry would gather for the game winning layup. West would miss a falling away deep three with time expiring, having some choice words with Reggie Evans, who he felt got away with a push on the Landry layup. All in all, despite a strong comeback, the result was Indiana's fourth straight loss, one that wasn't particularly pretty for the entirety of the night leading up to the comeback.

Indiana shot just 37.5% on the night, shot 6-26 from the three point arc, and despite shooting 29 free throws on the night, didn't come close to the 40 taken by the Kings (though they fell just five short in makes). Indiana did find success in points off turnovers (14-25) and fast break points (14-11), creating opportunities despite fighting uphill all night.

For as bad as the entire starting unit played in the first half, David West scored 14 of his team high 16 in the second half, finding a rhythm the Pacers sorely lacked from him in his first games back. West looked closer to his old self, as the Pacers found someone they could lean on for the first time on the entire road trip. West also had eight rebounds.

Rodney Stuckey was hampered by foul trouble in the first half, but also lifted Indiana's chances in the second half with 14 points, four steals, and three assists in his second game as Indiana's starting point guard. While not ideal, Stuckey hasn't been quite the disaster at PG, at least offensively, though he was planted on the bench pretty quickly with his fouls coming against Collison.

The Pacers got a big lift in the first half from not only Luis Scola (who had 11 points and eight rebounds), but from Damjan Rudez, who on 4-4 shooting, scored 11 points while coming up with a steal on Gay. Things were far less rosy for Rudez in the second half where he struggled defensively and went 0-3. C.J. Watson was one of the only bench players to do well in the second half, scoring 10 in the second half, including all five of Indiana's OT points.

Ian Mahinmi left tonight's game with a sore foot, opening up an opportunity for Lavoy Allen to return to action. Allen had three quick fouls, but scored five points on a great Rudez find and a big three point play halfway through the fourth quarter. Elsewhere, Solomon Hill was Indiana's sixth double figure scorer with 10 points and Roy Hibbert had nine points and seven boards, and a pair of blocks.

The loss drops Indiana to 0-4 on their road trip and 7-13 overall. The only saving grace for the Pacers extending their losing streak is that if the playoffs are an expected end goal for this team, the Eastern Conference will be lenient towards them struggling to string together wins. The loss drops Indiana to 11th in the East, but they sit just two games out of the 8th spot.

The Pacers will return home Monday night for four of their next five, but the schedule won't get any easier, with five of their next six against winning teams, starting with the Atlanta Hawks, who beat the Pacers 102-92 on November 1st.

Sacramento has finally won without DeMarcus Cousins after Carl Landry's game winner in Overtime last night, but now they'll have to do it again as the Orlando Magic come to town.  Both teams are on the second night of a back to back, but the Kings have home court advantage and hopefully an experience edge. Tonight's action tips off at 7:00 pm  on Comcast SportsNet California and on KHTK 1140.

3 THINGS TO LOOK FOR

1.  Orlando's not a great team, ranked just 27th in offense and 18th in defense, but this is still not a team the Kings should take lightly.  We saw what happened yesterday when the Kings took their foot off the pedal and it almost cost them the game.  This is a young Magic team that will feed off any momentum.  They've also had abnormally good luck on the road, where 6 of their 8 wins have come from.

2. The Magic are a bit banged up as rookie Aaron Gordon is out indefinitely with a foot fracture and center Nikola Vucevic has missed the last few games due to back spasms.  Vucevic is one of the better rebounders in the NBA but even without him the Magic are a very good rebounding team.  They lead the NBA in defensive rebounds and total rebounds, but are just 17th in offensive boards.  Vucevic is also Orlando's leading scorer at 18.6 points a game, and not having him is a big blow to a team that isn't good offensively.

3. The Magic don't shoot a whole lot of threes but they do have several good three point shooters and are 6th in the league in three point accuracy.   Tobias Harris, Evan Fournier, Channing Frye, Victor Oladipo and Ben Gordon have all proven they can hit the long ball with regularity, and Sacramento will have to do a good job of contesting those long shots and not allowing open looks.

MATCHUP OF THE GAME

Tobias Harris vs. Rudy Gay

Tobias Harris is a strong scoring forward who can also rebound and do a little bit of everything else.  He's Orlando's best player and has a bright future ahead of him at just 22 years old.  He doesn't have much of a defensive reputation however so Rudy should be able to take advantage of that on the other end to get good looks in the paint.

PREGAME LIMERICK

The Magic are coming to town,
hopefully for a good ol' beat down.
No Boogie again,
but we've got Ben!
So enjoy the game and don't frown.

PREDICTION

Kings 104, Magic 100 after Orlando uses actual magic to turn Ramon Sessions into a newt, which was an improvement.

The Magic finally wrap their longest roadtrip of the season Saturday in California's capital.

The Orlando Magic finally wrap their longest roadtrip of the season Saturday when they visit the Sacramento Kings.

Tipoff between Orlando and Sacramento is set for 10:00 PM Eastern. Fox Sports Florida and ESPN 580 AM will offer live coverage in the Orlando market.

Orlando's last time out: The Magic extended the Utah Jazz's misery by another game Friday, 98-93, sending Utah to its eighth straight loss. Tobias Harris scored 12 of his game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter to prevent Orlando from a collapse: it led by as much as 17 points but just barely eked out the victory. Victor Oladipo finished with 20 points and six assists for the Magic, who once again did battle without starting center Nikola Vucevic.

Sacramento's last time out: Like Orlando, the Kings are also coming off a victory Friday: Carl Landrytipped in word Rudy Gay errant two-point try with one second remaining in overtime, giving the Kings a 102-101 win over the Indiana Pacers. Gay shot 10-of-20 to score a game-high 27 for the Kings, and Darren Collison added 20 points, six rebounds, six assists, and four turnovers. Sacramento played without DeMarcus Cousins, its franchise big man.

Last season: The Kings swept the two-game series from the Magic. In the most recent meeting, host Sacramento cruised to a 103-83 victory behind a 24-point, 14-rebound, six-assist, three-steal effort from Cousins. Orlando, meanwhile, missed two-thirds of its shots. Harris scored 16 to lead the way.

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The Magic have four days off awaiting them when they return to Central Florida, but first they must take on the Kings.

The Orlando Magic finally wrap their longest roadtrip of the season Saturday when they visit the Sacramento Kings.

Tipoff between Orlando and Sacramento is set for 10:00 PM Eastern. Fox Sports Florida and ESPN 580 AM will offer live coverage in the Orlando market.

Orlando's last time out: The Magic extended the Utah Jazz's misery by another game Friday, 98-93, sending Utah to its eighth straight loss. Tobias Harris scored 12 of his game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter to prevent Orlando from a collapse: it led by as much as 17 points but just barely eked out the victory. Victor Oladipo finished with 20 points and six assists for the Magic, who once again did battle without starting center Nikola Vucevic.

Sacramento's last time out: Like Orlando, the Kings are also coming off a victory Friday: Carl Landrytipped in word Rudy Gay errant two-point try with one second remaining in overtime, giving the Kings a 102-101 win over the Indiana Pacers. Gay shot 10-of-20 to score a game-high 27 for the Kings, and Darren Collison added 20 points, six rebounds, six assists, and four turnovers. Sacramento played without DeMarcus Cousins, its franchise big man.

Last season: The Kings swept the two-game series from the Magic. In the most recent meeting, host Sacramento cruised to a 103-83 victory behind a 24-point, 14-rebound, six-assist, three-steal effort from Cousins. Orlando, meanwhile, missed two-thirds of its shots. Harris scored 16 to lead the way.

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The rookie guard is available for Saturday's game in Sacramento.

In advance of their game Saturday against the Sacramento Kings, the Orlando Magicannounced they've activated rookie guard Devyn Marble.

Marble suffered a rotator cuff injury in Orlando's victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves on November 7th, just his fourth appearance of the season. The Iowa product has logged five minutes in his rookie season, shooting 2-of-4 from the foor for four points.

Orlando acquired Marble's NBA Draft rights from the Denver Nuggets in the Arron Afflalo trade. The Iowa product averaged 12.5 points per game across his four-year collegiate career.

It's possible that Marble could see action against Sacramento, but given Ben Gordon's strong play of late--the veteran two-guard is shooting 61.3 percent from the floor on the Magic's five-game roadtrip to date, scoring 9.8 points in 17.2 minutes per--coach Jacque Vaughn may not have room for the rookie in his rotation.

Tipoff between the Magic and the Kings is set for 10:00 PM Eastern.

Orlando used a 9-0 run late in the fourth quarter to hold off the Kings.

The Orlando Magic finished their longest roadtrip of the season Saturday on a high note, holding off the Sacramento Kings for a 105-96 victory. Tobias Harris turned in another sterling performance, finishing with 25 points, including the clinching long two with less than a minute to play, to lead the Magic. And though Victor Oladipo didn't shoot well, going 6-of-15 from the field, he made some solid plays out of the pick-and-roll en route to a 16-point, seven-assist night.

Darren Collison led Sacramento with 22 points, including a trio of three-pointers in the fourth quarter, the only treys the Kings would make all night. In the midst of a miserable season, Jason Thompson did a bit of everything with 18 points, eight boards, and four assists.

The Magic's bench helped them create some separation in the second quarter, building the lead to as large as 11 points. Ben Gordon's shot-making played a role here, but so too did Orlando's defense: the visitors forced the Kings to miss 14 of their first 15 shots of the period. Credit Dewayne Dedmon and Andrew Nicholson for holding their ground in the post, making life difficult for the Kings' interior players.

And yet the Kings closed the half trailing by only three points: the Magic's inability to keep their hands to themselves sent Sacramento to the foul line early and often. That trend isn't an anomaly: Sacramento leads the leage in free-throw attempts, thanks in large part to the Collison's speediness at the point of attack and DeMarcus Cousins' sheer size. But Cousins missed Saturday's game, and few of Orlando's fouls seemed wise, so it didn't have that excuse.

The Magic extended their lead in the third quarter by keeping the Kings off the line and getting Oladipo in the lane. After an early hiccup adjusting to Sacramento's increased ball pressure, the Magic sophomore calmed himself and finished the third with six points, three assists, and no turnovers. Two of those assists went to open three-point shooters.

Gordon opened the fourth period with consecutive jumpers to boost Orlando's lead to 16, its largest of the night. A slightly more experienced club might have controlled the game from there. Instead, the Magic let the Kings back into the game, yielding a 15-2 run over the next four-plus minutes. The Kings' reserves played scrappy, aggressive bal, and Orlando's second unit couldn't quite keep up.

The Kings continued their push, even when Vaughn reloaded with his starters. Key to this run: reserve forward Derrick Williams, widely considered a Draft bust. Scoreless entering the final frame, Williams went for 11 points in the opening eight minutes of the fourth, including three dunks. The second one came after Thompson floated a high-low pass over the undersize Evan Fournier, who was fronting Williams. Vaughn's decision to pair Oladipo and Elfrid Payton pressed Fournier to small forward, making him have to tangle with Williams, a gadget forward, and that mismatch was one the Kings felt good exploiting.

Williams' third jam tied the score at 90, but to the Magic's credit, they responded: Payton scored with an aggressive drive, Channing Frye bailed Orlando out with a deep trey off a broken set, and Oladipo took advantage of Collison's slipping while trying to navigate a screen by burying an open 18-footer.

Frye's shot was one in a million--he scooped up a loose ball Thompson initially controlled being in just the right place at the right time after Rudy Gay rejected Payton's offering--but, as the saying goes, it is sometimes better to be lucky than good.

After another Kings miss, the Magic rebounded and took a timeout. Harris came out of it looking to score, and he did, making a long-two pointer to push the Magic's lead to nine with less than a minute to play, effectively icing the game. Most teams can plausibly surmount a three-possession disadvantage in less than a minute, but not one was woeful from beyond the arc as the Kings.

The Magic return to Orlando for three days off following their 3-3 trip.

In another game without Boogie, the Kings faced the Orlando Magic, another Eastern Conference team that was also hobbled. Unfortunately, tonight, the lack of consistency and a couple bad breaks proved too much for the Kings as they fell back to .500.

Another game without DeMarcus Cousins, another incomplete effort. The Orlando Magic, who had lost four-straight to the Sacramento Kings coming into tonight, had their own injury problems they were dealing with. Unfortunately, while the Kings came out looking like they thought they could coast to a win, the Magic decided to show up and play the game. Despite tying it up in the fourth quarter after trailing by as many by 16, the Kings went right back to the tricks that got them behind and the Magic pushed the lead right back to where it remained for most of the game. Channing Frye's three that would only happen to the Kings certainly did not help things either. What resulted was another frustrating loss without DeMarcus Cousins.

The game started out bad, and stayed that way until the beginning of the fourth quarter. Seeing as the Kings are flirting with a .500 record, and have lost more of their most recent games than they have won, this type of effort does not cut it. There were some guys who came to play. Jason Thompson had one of his better games of the season, with 18 points, 9 rebound and 4 assists. Darren Collison also had a solid outing with a team-high 22 points. He did, however, only drop 4 assists, but that could also have something to do with the Kings holding the ball way too often. Derrick Williams had a slow first stint, but came alive, once again, in the fourth quarter. Aggressive Derrick Williams is good Derrick Williams.

Rudy Gay seemed to have glimpses of energy tonight, but also seemed a tad lethargic at times, and shot up a few inopportune shots near the end. Ramon Sessions was solid during the run in the fourth, but like his game a few days ago, he always found a way to make that wrong play every time we needed the right one. When the lead was taken away from the Magic, the Kings passed the ball and ran an offense, after the game was tied up, they fell right back into isolation and sticky hands.

The young guys on the Magic showed up. Victor Oladipo had a very impressive 16 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists. The star of the Magic was Tobias Harris. He seemed to make everything he took on his way to 27 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist. Elfrid Payton also impressed me with his 8 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. The Magic came to play. The Kings did not.

All in all, it was a frustrating game. Teams are starting to figure out that the Kings will let them into these games without DeMarcus, and the Kings are doing nothing to show them otherwise. There were some positives, with more threes falling in the last few minutes than had fallen in a quite some time, some solid fourth-quarter play, and a great game by Jason Thompson, but there were just too many negatives to go with them.

Random Observations

- The replay center has proven to be almost worthless this year. It does not speed up the game, and often times slows the game down. That clear-path review in the fourth quarter did not help the Kings' momentum. To me, these long delays are embarrassing. Speaking of which...

- On the Kings' last possession, the referee got in the way, (I do not remember which one), and Collison lost control of the ball. Now, the referee is part of the court, and I get that, but that is embarrassing, whether the play mattered to the game or not.

-The guys cannot just rely on the fact that DeMarcus is going to be back soon. Even if he comes back quickly, he will likely be drained of energy and unable to play his normal minutes. The guys need to do a better job in using this time without him so that they can play well when he is on the bench during games he does play in.

-Grant Napear somehow confused Ramon Sessions for Nik Stauskas when he made a basket in the fourth quarter. I have no clue how that happened.

For the other teams' side, don't forget to visit Orlando Pinstriped Post

Boogie is still sick from viral meningitis.

DeMarcus Cousins has viral meningitis, according to multiple reports.

He may miss anywhere from 7 to ten more days - this according to Sam Amick and Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.

But while the possibility was left open that he could return on Monday against the Utah Jazz, it's now more likely that he would attempt to resume basketball activities later in the week is expected to miss at least another seven to 10 days.

Last Wednesday, the Kings announced Cousins had a viral infection and was admitted to the hospital for treatment and rest. Cousins has been seen on the sidelines while he has been out, but did not look well. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that viral meningitis "is an inflammation of the tissue that covers the brain and spinal cord."

According to Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee, Cousins underwent a spinal tap, and that does not sound fun at all. Jones also reports that Cousins is still dealing with headaches and is considered day to day.

The Kings desperately need Cousins to get better as they have gone 1-4 in his absence. Cousins last played against the Houston Rockets on Nov. 26 when he had 29 points, 17 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 blocks. So yeah, he is pretty important. The team is built around the big man and without him, the offense has been unable to establish any consistency.

Update

The Kings released the following statement:

Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins has been diagnosed with viral meningitis, according to team physicians with Kaiser Permanente Sacramento.

Cousins’ symptoms are stable and a full recovery is expected, however the Kings medical staff recommends further rest before demands of an NBA schedule can be tolerated. He will continue to be monitored daily, with basketball-related activities expected to resume when his health allows.

Cousins is not expected to be in uniform for this week’s contests. Further updates on his playing status will be issued when they become available.

It looks like the Kings are going to be without DeMarcus Cousins for a while but fortunately the December schedule has some winnable games on the table even without the big fella.  However we saw on Saturday that even a team like Orlando can beat the Kings if they aren't on the top of their game.  Tonight's action tips off at 7:00 pm  on Comcast SportsNet California and on KHTK 1140.

3 THINGS TO LOOK FOR

1.  The Jazz have lost 8 in a row and thus are very hungry for a win.  The Kings without DeMarcus Cousins presents a juicy target for Utah and as such the Kings can't underestimate them.  The Jazz have a lot of young talent, led by the very good Gordon Hayward.  This is a team that can fill it up if you let them.  Fortunately, they'll also let you fill it up on them, as they have the second worst defense in the NBA.

2. Utah doesn't excel at much but one thing they are pretty good at is Offensive Rebounding.  They're 4th in terms of offensive rebound rate thanks to their big men rotation of Rudy Gobert, Enes Kanter, Derrick Favors and Trevor Booker.  The Kings are pretty good at keeping teams off the offensive glass, but without DeMarcus Cousins we've seen them be more susceptible to giving up second chance points.

3. Sacramento's bench was pretty horrific against the Magic on Saturday.  Ramon Sessions continues to have the worst season of his career, Nik Stauskas can't hit the broad side of a barn, and even Omri Casspi hasn't been scoring at the same rate he was earlier this season.  Derrick Williams has come on a little bit lately, but the Kings will need the bench to step up and have a good game.

MATCHUP OF THE GAME

Gordon Hayward vs. Rudy Gay

When the Jazz matched Charlotte's max offer sheet for Gordon Hayward this past summer, I was pretty surprised.  To me, Hayward doesn't strike me as a "max guy".  Then I took a look at his statistics.  Hayward has essentially become what a lot of us wanted Tyreke Evans to be.  He's a guard-forward who can do a little bit of everything, from score to run the offense, and he's also a pretty good outside shooter.  Rudy will need to make him work on both ends of the court and take advantage of the fact that Hayward isn't yet a great defender.

PREGAME LIMERICK

So Boogie has viral meningitis
at least it's better than plantar fasciitis.
Need the bench to step up,
take it to the cup,
and not allow DMC's absence to bite us.

PREDICTION

Kings 109, Jazz 101 as the Looney Tunes finally defeat the Monstars and Ramon Sessions gets his basketball ability back.

This was probably the first truly bad week for Kings fans this year, which isn't bad considering we're almost a month and a half into the season.  The Kings went just 1-2 at home, and almost went 0-3 if not for a Carl Landry tip back.  All that's topped off with the news that DeMarcus Cousins has viral meningitis and won't be coming back any soon.  We could be in for a rough few weeks ahead while he recovers.

The Good:

1. Rudy Gay

See Player of the Week

2. Carl Landry saves our butts

The Kings almost had another meltdown of epic proportions after the shorthanded Indiana Pacers fought back from 17 points down to send the game into Overtime and even took the lead in the extra period.  Rudy Gay and Darren Collison were being completely shut down after hot starts for both of them, so when Landry came up with the clutch basket, the sound that erupted through the arena was one of both joy and relief.

3. They call him Thriller

Derrick Williams has been playing a lot better lately as he's tapped into his aggressive nature.  Against both the Raptors and Magic, Williams provided a spark off the bench to help the Kings get back into games.  While the team lost both, it was not for a lack of effort from Williams.  With Cousins gone, the Kings need to find offense wherever they can get it and Williams has done a good job of stepping up in his absence.

4. Ben McLemore is fun

Ben ended the week on a sour note with his worst performance in a while, but he was on fire against the Raptors and early against Indiana.  Ben's improved so much from last year and it's very exciting to think about the future possibilities given that this is just his second year.

5. Jason Thompson

Jason Thompson deserves so much credit for Sacramento's early season success, particularly with his dedication to defense.  He helped hold David West to just 6 of 16 shooting in the Pacers game and against Orlando he brought the offense to the tune of 18 points on 9 of 12 shooting.  JT is a key cog of this team and I don't see anybody clamoring to trade him right now, nor do I think we should.  He's proven his importance to the team thus far.

The Bad:

1. Rebounding

The Kings have not been able to keep opposing teams off the glass with DeMarcus Cousins gone.  The Raptors had a whopping 38.2% offensive rebound rate against the Kings and Orlando was at 27.8%.  Funnily enough, the one game the Kings did manage to keep the other team from getting a bunch of offensive boards was the sole victory this week.

2. The bench

I hesitated to put this in the "Ugly" category only because they came through against Toronto, where even Sessions had an alright game.  Still, the bench hasn't been able to provide consistent production all year and whenever they come into the game, the momentum seems to instantly change towards the opponent.  I think it's time we consider not playing all our bench players at the same time because it's killed us so far this year.

The Ugly:

1. Boogie out even more

This is not what Kings fans wanted to hear.  When we first heard that Cousins would be out with a virus, most fans thought he'd miss a game or two and be right back.  Unfortunately, he's got viral meningitis which is going to keep him sidelined for at least a week more at the minimum, even after he's missed 6 games already.  Boogie just takes this team to another level and without him we're not as fun or competitive.  The Kings did luck out timing-wise in that their schedule is relatively soft, but as the loss to Orlando shows, even the soft schedule is no joke without Boogie.  Get well soon big fella.

2. Nik

I'm still not worried about Nik, but it's getting harder to ignore how much he's struggling.  We're basically a quarter of the way through the season now and he's shooting just 29.7% from the field and 22% from three.  This is not what we were expecting from Nik this year, especially after his strong preseason where he looked better than Ben McLemore.  Nik's confidence is clearly shook, and defensively he's providing less than nothing.  I wonder if a stint in the D-League with Reno where he can see the ball go through the net a lot will do him some good.

Player of the Week:

Rudy Gay

21.0 PPG, .490 FG%, .500 3P%, 5.3 RPG, 7.0 AST, 0.7 STL, 0.7 BLK in 36.9 MPG

With DeMarcus Cousins out, the burden of carrying the Kings falls on Rudy's shoulders.  Rudy wasn't perfect in this regard (especially down the stretch of the Indiana game) but he still managed to put up some very impressive numbers, particularly in terms of efficiency and getting the team involved.  You couldn't really have asked more from Rudy than what he was able to do this week,

FanPost of the Week:

Ben McLemore's 21.951% Season Review by this_guy

Images/GIFs of the Week:

Pregame Prediction

EXTINCTION

by anthonysam on Dec 2, 2014 | 3:48 PMreply unrec (25)actions

DeMarcus is out, but what about...

DeWarcus!

Get better buddy.

by SactoRyan on Dec 4, 2014 | 3:06 PMupreply unrec (37)actions

Comment of the Week:

Warriors have the Splash Brothers, we have the Clank Brothers

by rstewartwest on Dec 6, 2014 | 11:10 PMupreply rec (24) flagactions

Highlight of the Week:

Carl's game winner was fun but I have to give it to Ben's throwdown:

Caption Contest:

Link to Last Week's Picture

Last Week's Winner: ElRonToro

DMC "OK, no technical for this finger. Lets try the next one."

Last Week's Runner-Up: Westen

"My eyes... are up here"

This Week's Picture:

A reminder of the rules for the Caption Contest. Leave your caption in the comments below, and the most rec'd (to recommend a comment, hit action, then rec) caption wins.

Nostradumbass Prediction for Next Week:

12/8 vs. Utah W (No Boogie makes this tougher, but the Kings have to protect homecourt against bad teams and Utah is a bad team.)

12/9 at L.A. Lakers W (The Kings are just a flat out better team than the Lakers, even without Boogie.)

12/11 vs. Houston L (Houston is a very tough matchup for Sacramento, and they should be healthier by the time they play this game.)

12/13 vs. Detroit L (Normally I'd give this to the Kings easily, but without Boogie, the Pistons have a major size advantage and the Kings have had trouble with them in past seasons even with Boogie.)

Nostradumbass Record for the Year: 9-11

Random Observations from around the league:

• ESPN just updated their "Real Plus-Minus" stat for this year.  DeMarcus Cousins is 3rd, Darren Collison is 16th and Rudy Gay is 26th.  Cousins is also 3rd in defensive real plus-minus, behind just Andrew Bogut and Tim Duncan.
• DeMarcus Cousins is tied for 4th in the NBA in most personal fouls despite missing the last 6 games in a row.
• Paul Millsap is currently leading the league in steals per game at 2.4, ahead of John Wall.  I wonder if a big man has ever finished first in that category.
• The Warriors look like the real deal.  If Bogut remains healthy, this is a team that could potentially be the favorite to win it all.  They play tough defense, have an incredible amount of weapons on offense, and match up well with most teams.  This could be Golden State's year.

Power Rankings from SB Nation, ESPN, CBS, Yahoo! Sports, Sports Illustrated, and NBA.com !

Past Rankings! Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5

Okay, so Week 6 wasn't so hot for the Utah Jazz. They continued their losing streak, and extended it to eight games. Or as Raaaaaaaandy would say: eight gaaaaaaaames. (Warning: NSFW link to Raaaaaaaandy.) They lost to the Denver Nuggets at home in a game they should have won. Then they lost to the Toronto Raptors at home in a game that, man, so much pain. And then they lost to the Orlando Magic at home in a game that, well, they should have won. Again. It wasn't the best week. And honestly, I don't know how many more weeks like this I can take.

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SB Nation's Drew Garrison has the Jazz +0 from last week:

25. Utah Jazz (5-15 Last week: 25)

The Jazz keep on tumbling down the Western Conference standings and barely miss falling into the bottom five this week. If there was a terrifying coach rankings, Quin Snyder would have them at the top by a mile:

Full Power Rankings here!

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ESPN's Marc Stein has the Jazz -2 from last week:

26. Utah Jazz (5-15, Last week: 24)

The Jazz have concluded Alec Burks does not need shoulder surgery and now list him as questionable for Monday night's visit to Sacramento. That is the closest thing to good news in Utah since mid-November, thanks to the longest active losing streak out West.

Full Power Rankings here!

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CBS Sports' Matt Moore has the Jazz -4 from last week:

26. Utah Jazz (5-15, Last week: 22)

I get fans being disappointed the Jazz aren't some sort of upstart, but in the Western Conference, what can you expect? They're going to lose games, but they'll be better after a season under Quin Snyder. That should be the priority at this point in the rebuild.

Full Power Rankings here!

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Sports Illustrated's Matt Dollinger has the Jazz -2 from last week:

26. Utah Jazz (5-15, Last week: 24)

Losses hurt, but losing a developing player for the season during a rebuilding campaign stings even more. The Jazz got some good news this weekend that Alec Burks not only avoided season-ending shoulder surgery, but has been cleared to practice and could return as early as Monday.

Full Power Rankings here!

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Yahoo! Sports' Marc J. Spears has the Jazz -1 from last week:

24. Utah Jazz (5-15, Last week: 23)

Kings assistant coach Tyrone Corbin, who was Utah’s head coach from 2011-14, faces the Jazz on Monday for the first time since his contract wasn’t renewed.

Full Power Rankings here!

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NBA.com's John Schuhmann has the Jazz +0 from last week:

26. Utah Jazz (5-15, Last week: 26)

Pace: 92.5 (28), Off RTG: 104.4 (14), Def RTG: 110.4 (28), Net RTG: -6.0 (25)

The Jazz have historically had a better home-court advantage than most teams, and they've played the most home games against opponents who played the night before. But their eight-game losing streak has included six losses at home. Now, they have three tough games before beginning a stretch (Sunday in Washington) where they play 14 of 20 on the road.

This week: @ SAC, vs. SAS, vs. MIA

Full Power Rankings here!

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Yeah.... so a 0-3 (even against really good teams) gives the Jazz a +0, +0, -1, -2, -2, -4 breakdown from the national writers. So five of the six writers have the Jazz at #26 right now. Is that any movement from last year? So the Jazz are solidly in the last third of the league, but there are 4 teams worse than them. Fair? Unfair?

A royal kick in the arse!

BROOKLYN -- The county of Kings, home of the Brooklyn Nets. That's Brooklyn. The important royalty isn't just in the slogan. It was on hand at the Barclays Center Monday night, where Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge were in attendance to take in the NBA's "King," LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers match up against the  Nets of Kings County.

With the royal couple watching, along with Jay-Z and Beyonce, not to mention Odell Beckham Jr., the Cleveland Cavaliers came into Brooklyn with basketball-only intentions. Behind huge nights from Dion Waiters and Kevin Love, the Cavaliers easily routed Brooklyn, 110-88. It marks the eighth game the Nets have lost against a team with a winning record, while having won only one.

The Nets played well, early, trailing by only one at halftime, but a 35-18 Cavs scoring advantage in the third quarter completely opened up the game for the visitor.

Deron Williams spoke on the Nets' poor third quarter after the game. "It was another bad third quarter for us. We were playing pretty well up until that point, and then LeBron just got aggressive; making plays for himself, for others. We were getting out-rebounded on the offensive glass, turning the ball over, you know one of those snowball effects where when it went bad, it went bad."

Williams finished the night with 13 points and 11 assists, a season high, but shot a poor 3-of-14.

Perhaps, it was the late-third quarter arrival of Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge? The royal couple walked in to an immediate ovation from the Barclays crowd. The arrival instantly altered the crowd's attention span with most eyes and all binoculars focused the royals sitting courtside.

The Cavaliers 35-18 advantage in the third increased the Cavs lead to 18 heading into the fourth quarter. Their night looked to be done and now all of the attention shifted towards the two watching the game along with Irina Pavlova and Dikembe Mutombo. Literally. Prior to the start of the fourth quarter, Jay-Z and Beyonce walked across the court, guided by Brett Yormark until they reached the royal couple. Jay-Z could be seen mouthing the word, "Welcome."
Other than maybe a Lebron James spin move, it was the loudest the crowd got.

James, who wore 'I can't breathe' shirts along with five other Cavs' and Nets' players, scored nine of his 18 points within the first three minutes of the third quarter. While outside the arena, protestors were staging a "die-in," the Nets were collapsing. The Nets finished the night shooting 44% from the field and 21% from three.  The Cavaliers also out-rebounded the Nets, 55-33, with a 20-10 advantage on the offensive glass.

Coach Hollins wasn't shy about that aspect of game...

"Take their big men and put them on our team and take our big men and put them on the other team, and then we would have had 55 rebounds. Those guys are just active and aggressive and tough. They were pounding us in the first half. They had 10 offensive rebounds in the first half, they just weren't following up with the points afterward." Hollins continued. "They were getting on possessions, so you add that with the few turnovers that we started making. It wasn't an overwhelming amount of turnovers, but it allowed them to run and then we missed shots, and it allowed them to run, and it was tough."

He did praise his guys for battling shorthanded.

"I am proud of our guys. We came out shorthanded, we did play hard, we did compete -- it's just when you are in a battle with someone like LeBron, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, sometimes, once they get it going and get it rolling."

Another tough blow for the Nets, who match up against the Chicago Bulls this Wednesday.

Top performers for Brooklyn: Kevin Garnett led all Nets' scorers with 14 points and seven rebounds on 6-of-9 shooting. After exiting the game early due to injury, Mirza Teletovic finished with 11 points and four rebounds. Here's a few new ones: Jerome Jordan: 12 points and three rebounds on 6-of-8 shooting. Sergey Karasev. He finished with 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting against his former team.

Top performers for Cleveland: Dion Waiters led all game scorers with 26 points and four assists on 11-of-21 shooting. LeBron James finished with 18 points, seven assists, four rebounds and three steals. Next was Kevin Love who had a fantastic day of 19 points and 14 rebounds.

Kyrie Irving finished with seven points and five assists on 1-of-9 shooting.

Injury note: Joe Johnson (ill) and Brook Lopez (back). Mirza Teletovic also exited the game in the third quarter with a hip injury plus a facial laceration. He needed four stitches.

Quarter by quarter summary:

First quarter ... With the Nets missing two of their starters in Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez, their solid performance coming out of the gate was extremely unexpected. They scored 12 of their points in the paint, while shooting an overall 61% from the field and 2-for-6 from three.

The highlight: A Mirza Teletovic switch-hand reverse layup. It was a thing of beauty for the Nets' power forward, who started in place for Brook Lopez. Teletovic rewarded Coach Hollins' decision with seven points on 3-for-5 shooting. Along with Teletovic, the seven other players that logged minutes for Brooklyn scored at least one point, further solidifying their extremely fluid first quarter.

On a negative note for Brooklyn, Kevin Love was scorching. He was one of two scorers with 15 points in the first quarter, while LeBron James was the other with seven points.

The Nets led 25-22.

Second quarter ... The Cavaliers caught fire in the second quarter. They finished the second frame having outscored Brooklyn 28-24 in the quarter, while shooting 46.7% from three and 46% overall. Kevin Love and LeBron James were held scoreless in the quarter, however, Dion Waiters and James Jones got cooking. Waiters scored 13 points in the quarter on 5-for-10 shooting, while Jones chipped in nine of his own. Kyrie Irving was held scoreless on 0-for-6 shooting.

For Brooklyn, Deron Williams led with nine points on a poor 2-for-7 shooting. Kevin Garnett looked as passionate as ever, especially for a 20-year veteran. As always, Garnett was extra joyful to watch, putting up eight points and five rebounds in 11 minutes of action, but pounded his chest in triumph after a few of his key buckets. It was similar to the vintage KG. Off the bench, it was big man Jerome Jordan getting it done for Brooklyn with eight points, two rebounds and one steal.

All nine Brooklyn players that received minutes in the first half finished with at least one point. That goes with their 14 assists. They also outscored Cleveland inside the paint 28-12.

Score at the half: Cavs 50, Nets 49.

Third quarter ... The third quarter was the coming out party for Cleveland. It was a 22-6 run that gave the Cavs their biggest lead of the night at 18 with .20 seconds remaining. They outscored Brooklyn 35-18 in the quarter alone and increased their shooting to 47.8%. LeBron James gathered his game together, scoring seven points in the quarter alone combining for 16 points and seven rebounds on the night. Perhaps it was the late arrival of the royal couple?

Maybe it was the Nets' 3-for-16 shooting from three.

The Cavs led Brooklyn, 85-67.

Fourth quarter ... The Nets were down 18 heading into the fourth quarter, which meant it was Hollins' time to throw in the white towel. Hollins put unloaded his bench for the second straight game as the Nets' loss was yet again inevitable.. earlier than it should.

They were outscored 25-19 in the fourth quarter and 60-35 in the second half. It wasn't pretty.

Final score: Cavs 110, Nets 88.

The Nets will travel to Chicago this Wednesday to face off against Derrick Rose and the Bulls.

For more on the Cleveland Cavaliers, check them out at Fear The Sword.

• Deron Williams postgame (audio) - Anthony Puccio - NetsDaily
• Lionel Hollins postgame (audio) - Anthony Puccio - NetsDaily
• Game Thread: Brooklyn Nets vs. Cleveland Cavaliers, 7:30 PM - NetsDaily
• Cavaliers at Nets Boxscore - NBA.com
• 2nd Half Game Thread: Cavaliers at Nets - NetsDaily
• Jack to Plumlee (Video) - NBA.com
• Players Wear 'I Can't Breathe' T-Shirts (Video) - NBA.com
• Post Game Plus: Nets succumb to Cavs (Video) - Ryan Ruocco - YES Network
• Garnett discusses 110-88 loss to the Cavs (Video) - YES Network
• Hollins discusses Nets' loss to the Cavs (Video) - YES Network
• Jack discusses poor second-half play in loss to Cavs (Video) - YES Network
• Duke and Duchess of Cambridge take in Nets game (Video) - YES Network
• Thompson Not Moved By Royal Family (Video) - ESPN
• The King Meets The Royals (Video) - ESPN
• Thompson Not Moved By Royal Family (Video) - ESPN
• The King Meets The Royals (Video) - ESPN
  
• Cavs Top Nets In Front Of Royals (Video) - ESPN
• Mirza Teletovic Dipsy-Doo Reverse Layup (Video) - The Brooklyn Game
• LeBron James Gets Called For Rare 5-Second Violation, Kevin Garnett Rips Ball From His Hands (Video) - The Brooklyn Game
• Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Brooklyn Nets - Recap - December 08, 2014 - AP
• Nets get a royal beatdown by LeBron and the Cavs - Tim Bontemps - New York Post
• The Nets will never be mistaken for royals at this rate - George Willis - New York Post
  
• Nets get hammered, royally, 110-88 by Cavs - Andy Vasquez - The Record
• Royal Flush: LeBron's Cavs thump Nets as Will, Kate watch - Stefan Bondy - New York Daily News
• Royal couple watches Cavs dominate Nets - Rod Boone - Newsday
• British Royals Watch Nets Fall to King James, Cavs - Alex Raskin - Wall Street Journal
  
• Cleveland Cavaliers 110, Brooklyn Nets 88: King James' royal show - Mike Mazzeo - ESPN New York
• Royal visit brings buzz to Barclays - Ohm Youngmisuk - ESPN New York
• Hamilton: Jay Z assists Nets on night when King James reigns before royalty - Moke Hamilton - SNY Nets
• Royalty (England and Brooklyn) and Protest - Devin Kharpertian - The Brooklyn Game
• Cavaliers Blow Out Nets In Distracting Night (Game Grades) - Devin Kharpertian - The Brooklyn Game