All it takes these days is one run to completely knock the fight out of the Kings

34-20 second quarter against Golden State. 39-22 third quarter against Toronto. 31-21 third quarter against Cleveland. 37-22 third quarter just against Klay Thompson. Its become a hallmark of the Tyrone Corbin-led Sacramento Kings where one big run essentially ends the game. And today, nothing really changed, where a 37-20 second quarter basically K.O.ed the Kings, as the Mavericks coasted the rest of the way to a 101-78 victory.

Lets face it, there is nothing to play for left this season. The players feel that. When the team goes through a stretch of bad play and the offense doesn't come easily, the players don't have the willpower or the confidence in their teammates to remain focused. Little mistakes start piling up, the mental block gets bigger and bigger, and all of a sudden the team is looking up at a 20 point lead. The Kings have faced a 20 point deficit in 6 of the last 7 games, and have lost 10 of the last 11.

DeMarcus Cousins was the only player this game to show any kind of life or fight. With 23 points, 11 rebounds on 16 shots, he was on an island offensively. Darren Collison was decent, but only had 6 points before he was knocked out with abdominal injury in the second quarter, which he would never return from. Ramon Sessions was alive I guess, scoring 7 points on 2/3 shooting. Besides that, it was a graveyard. Rudy Gay was 2/13. Ben McLemore was 2/9, included 1/7 from three. Nik Stauskas and Ray McCallum came off the bench firing away to no avail, combining for 3/20 shooting. The team combined for 36.7% from the field and 14.3% from three, with 13 assists to 18 turnovers. The defense was bad, and if it wasn't for some unusually bad shooting from Dallas, it would have been even uglier than it was. The six minute stretch in the second quarter, where Monta Ellis did most of his damage on the night, was especially brutal to watch.

If the front office keeps things the way it is now, its going to be brutal for fans to make it all the way to April before this season mercifully ends. From what it sounded like from people there, Sleep Train Arena was almost ready to revolt, and by the time the fourth quarter winded down, it was like a library. Last year, Pete D'Alessandro came out guns firing reshaping the roster. If the front office doesn't want the entire city to tune out, its time to dust off the pistols.

For the opponent's perspective, visit Mavs Moneyball

Marcus Morris loves the Jazz.

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Phantasy Phix

Your Suns get Utah and Sacramento this weekend. The first game against Utah was an ugly one as the Suns were run out of the building on November 1st, 118-91. Phoenix has split a pair against Sacramento falling in double OT in game one, 114-112, before taking the second matchup 115-106 in SacTown.

Who loves the Jazz?

Marcus Morris. Morris was one of the few bright spots for Phoenix in the first game against Utah. Marcus hit 5 of 8 shots for 12 points, and his .625 shooting percentage is his third highest when taking 8 or more shots this season.

Who hates the Jazz?

Goran Dragic. There was plenty of blame to go around in Utah, but The Dragon was especially underwhelming. Dragic scored just 10 points on 5 of 13 shooting, including 0 of 4 from the behind the arc, to go with a single assist and a pair of turnovers.

Who loves the Kings?

Markieff Morris. Morris has a pair of solid games against the Kings this season under his belt. In game one he scored 16 points on 7 of 11 shooting, in game two he went for 18 on 8 of 11. Both games fall into the top six shooting nights of the season for Morris.

Who hates the Kings?

Gerald Green. Sacramento is the only Western Conference opponent Green has failed to score in double digits against the season. In November he contributed 6, in December he scored 7.

Who loves the Suns?

Derrick Favors. The top scoring performance of the season for Favors came against the Suns. His 32 points were complimented by 9 rebounds and he did not commit a turnover in 30 minutes.

DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins missed the second matchup against Phoenix but had a monster game in the first. 25 points to go with 18 rebounds, his third highest total of the season.

Who hates the Suns?

Trey Burke. Sometimes Burke doesn't know when to stop shooting, and the first game against Phoenix was no exception. His 3 of 12 night from the field was his second worst of the season when attempting more than 10 shots.

Rudy Gay. His second game against the Suns wasn't terrible, 16 points on 7 of 15 shooting, but it doesn't make up for his first game. Gay shot a frosty 5 of 22 from the field and 1 of 6 from behind the arc for 11 points, his fourth lowest total of the season.

Last Call

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The Kings star is fed up after the team's 10th loss in 11 games.

The Sacramento Kings lost again on Thursday -- their 10th loss in 11 games -- to a Mavericks team missing Dirk Nowitzki and Rajon Rondo. Now, DeMarcus Cousins is fed up.

Cousins vented to reporters after the game, saying this is "absolutely" the most frustrated he's been in his five-year career in Sacramento. Cousins is averaging career-high numbers -- 24 points and 12.5 rebounds -- but since the controversial firing of head coach Mike Malone on Dec. 15, the Kings have been in a free fall. The Kings were 11-13 at that point and have only won six games since then.

Even on Thursday, Cousins did his part with a game-high 23 points and 11 rebounds, although he struggled with the Mavericks' relentless double teaming that forced him into six turnovers. But only one of his teammates scored double figures -- Rudy Gay had 11 on 2-11 shooting -- and the game was a blowout for most of the fourth quarter.

Cousins said this to ABC News 10:

It comes down to playing hard, man. Get some pride, just have some self respect. Act like you care. That's what it's coming down to. It's the same team; the same team that was winning [early this season], the same guys in the locker room. Ain't nothing changed. The attitudes with these guys, everyone in the room, that's the only thing that has changed."

Cousins believes the team can turn it around, saying the Kings understand buying into the frustrations is "only going to make the situation worse."

"We're the same team," he said. "We're the same team that everyone was praising early in the year. We're the same team. So yes, we can do. It's just a matter of us changing our attitudes."

As for himself, Cousins said he only sees his own play as a way to influence his teammates and recognizes he can do even better in that area, too.

"Only thing I can do is lead by example," he said. "Keep trying to lead, keep leading by example. My [body] language has been bad as well, I need to straighten it out as well."

★★★

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Boogie is the most frustrated he has been since joining the Kings. But he's still doing everything he can to make things right.

There isn't a lot of in between in the narrative surrounding Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins - people either latch on to his success or lash out against his shortcomings.

He's praised for his All-Star nod, thundering dunks and fancy footwork, then ridiculed in dramatic fashion when he blows a defensive assignment. It comes with the territory as a star in the NBA, and he is a star, a well-deserving one who has openly welcomed Sacramento as his basketball home - loyalty is love is his mantra, after all.

Sometimes love hurts.

It isn't his numbers, his effort on defense or his All-Star appearance that matter right now. The underlying story with Cousins is that the weight of the Kings franchise is on his shoulders. The coaching switch from Michael Malone to Tyrone Corbin in December has made that weight even heavier. The Kings continue to spiral out of control as Cousins is tasked with performing at a high level and being the leader who makes sure his teammates fall in line.

The wins aren't there, but the way Boogie is handling it right now (go check out the NBA technical foul leaders list) may be the most impressive aspect about the 24-year-old, who has seen far more downs than ups over his five-year career with the Kings.

In his postgame comments on Thursday, Cousins sent a strong message with one word.

When asked if this is the most frustrated he has been in his five-year career in Sacramento, he responded with, "Absolutely."

That is saying something ladies and gentlemen. And it is something that his teammates and the front office needed to hear. The Kings had a combined record of 102-210 in the four previous seasons and for the better part of Cousins' time with the Kings, there was no money laying around for free agents and the future of the franchise was uncertain due to relocation rumors. He also had a well-documented feud with Paul Westphal and a falling out with Keith Smart. But all of that doesn't compare to where things are at right now?

Not good.

Cousins has no other choice than to lead by example and hope his teammates fall in line, that is all he can do at this point. The problem is the rest of the team still looks confused. There doesn't appear to be much understanding of the direction of the franchise from the players, mainly Corbin's attempt at implementing the up-tempo style that the front office wants to play.

After the Dallas Mavericks ran the Kings off their home floor without Dirk Nowitzki and Rajon Rondo, Cousins called his teammates out, urging them to play with some pride and take their job seriously. It wasn't that long ago when the entire locker room was buzzing with excitement and taking pride in a system that was resulting in wins. Back in November, the chemistry was there. You saw it on the floor, on the bench and in the comments after the games. We will never know if the Kings would have been able to sustain those winning ways if Malone would have remained the coach, but something tells me it wouldn't have gotten to this point.

The firing of Malone and its impact on the direction of this team has been discussed to the point of nausea, but Cousins' comments on Thursday may be the most telling example of that impact, even though he didn't want to delve into the topic with reporters.

When asked about the the coaching change Thursday, Cousins quickly said, "we're not going there." In reality, he didn't need to go there because indirectly, he already had. He was calling out his teammates to play with heart, but the team hasn't had much spirit or fight in them since December. It should be the responsibility of the players to move beyond the coaching change and find it within themselves to play with more passion. There just doesn't seem to be much buy-in and unfortunately, most of the players are beginning to look like they are worried about their individual games more than the team.

The big man expects more.

"Same team that was winning is the same guys in the locker room now, ain't nothing changed but the attitudes with these guys in the room, everybody in this room, that's the only thing that's changed - our attitudes," Cousins told reporters Thursday.

That attitude shift began after Malone coached his last game in December against the Detroit Pistons. Cousins' frustrations on Thursday were an indirect result of that.

Boogie has had to deal with a lot in Sacramento. He still has his flaws and admits he needs to improve his body language, but he is far from the guy who had run-ins with Paul Westphal. He is attempting to lead by example, which was illustrated on this block Thursday in the midst of a manhandling by the Mavs (check out the score in the lower right corner).

This, and the fact he is willing to call out his teammates in a constructive manner are positives.

With Tyrone Corbin essentially serving as a lame duck coach at this point, much of the burden for the team's effort falls on Cousins. He is doing all he can to right this ship and he should be commended for that because the lost sense of identity of the Kings as a whole continues to place the weight of the kingdom on his shoulders.

Something has to give.

As if the blowout loss wasn't enough, the Kings also lost starting Point Guard Darren Collison to an injury in the middle of Thursday's game against the Mavericks.  Collison suffered the injury late in the 2nd quarter on a breakaway and was not able to return to the game.

An MRI taken on Friday revealed Collison's injury to be a hip flexor strain.  The injury is not expected to cause Collison to miss much time, but he is doubtful for Saturday's game against Utah and will be day to day going forward.

Sacramento is 1-2 this season with Collison not playing.  Neither Ramon Sessions or Ray McCallum have proven to be viable alternatives at any point in this season, with the Kings suffering a big drop-off when Collison goes to the bench and is replaced by either of those two.

Collison is averaging a career-high 16.1 points on .473 FG% as well as 5.6 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.5 steals a game.

Utah Jazz (17-32) @ Phoenix Suns (28-23)

US Airways Center • Phoenix, AZ

7:00 p.m. (MT) • TV: ROOT Sports • Radio: 1280 AM / 97.5 FM

Tonight the Utah Jazz tip off for the first game of a back-to-back set, their second straight if you are keeping track at home. While @ Portland Trail Blazers / vs. Memphis Grizzlies resulted in two losses, this set of @ Phoenix Suns / vs. Sacramento Kings could go much differently. The Suns currently sit at #8 in the West, and making the playoff this season is the goal after just barely missing out last year. They are 10 games ahead of the Jazz in the standings, and in the rankings up five spots. This season they are only 15-10 at home, and 18-14 against the West. The Jazz, clearly, aren't up there yet, but their 8 road wins so far this season before the All-Star break could come as a surprise, last season the team managed only 9.

The Jazz play better than expected on the road, and in general are involved in more close games. The game tonight against the Suns could satisfy both criteria. Utah blew them out when they met back in November (in Utah), and the Jazz have won three straight games against Jeff Hornacek 's team. Overall, though, Quin Snyder 's club is only 78-89 against Phoenix, and 24-58 in Arizona.

A loss is expected. They are a playoff team in the West, at home, and this is Utah's third game in four nights. And, let's not forget, that as much as we love our guys they are still a team that wins once every three games. If you just look at the winning percentages PHX @ 54.9% is much greater than UTA @ 34.7%.

FURTHERMORE, people regard their players to be better. Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe will cause havoc. They'll have to because no matter how many three point shooters Phoenix has, they just don't have the inside muscle to deal with Derrick Favors, Enes Kanter, and Rudy Gobert. Alex Len will be out tonight again, and on some nights *I* am a better basketball player than Miles Plumlee. Marcus Morris and Markieff Morris will be annoying, Gerald Green will be a tough cover, but if Utah can recapture some of what they did in their blowout win months ago this will be a great example of what this team can do -- go out there and beat West playoff teams on the road.

The game is in one minute from now, so I'm just going to post this preview now. And oh yeah, Gordon Hayward is due for a bounce back game. Watch out.

The Blazers are in Texas this weekend for a back-to-back set of games, starting tonight against the Dallas Mavericks.

Portland Trail Blazers (34-16, No. 4 in the West) vs. Dallas Mavericks (34-18, No. 5 in the West)
Saturday, February 7
American Airlines Center; Dallas, TX | 5:30 p.m. PST | Local TV/Radio: CSNNWHD; 620 AM
Out for the Blazers:Joel Freeland, Chris Kaman (questionable)| Out for the Mavericks: Rajon Rondo
SBN Affiliate: Mavs Moneyball| Timmay's Viewing Guide | Blazer's Edge Night

The Blazers kick off a back-to-back set of games in Texas tonight against the Dallas Mavericks. Point guard Rajon Rondo won't be available, as he suffered two fractures in his face during last week's win over the Magic.

The Mavericks employ a flex-motion offense that emphasizes ball movement to create open looks, particularly around the perimeter. With Rondo out, point guard J.J. Barea is running the show, along with starting backcourt mate Monta Ellis.

Dallas has looked pretty good offensively lately, at or near the top of the league the last five games in points and assists per game, along with field goal and three-point shooting percentages. They're not a super fast-paced team, but the Mavs will get out on the fast break if given the opportunity.

Ellis generates a lot of Dallas' offense with either his scoring or passing. He can get to the rim where he's a great finisher, also kicking it out to teammates via his penatration. Ellis' jumper is solid right now, and most of his offense is created off the dribble. Over the last several games, he's also shot from outside slightly better than he has all season, up to 36.4 percent the last five games.

The Mavs' two starting forwards -- Chandler Parsons and Dirk Nowitzki -- are both on fire right now from deep, each one hitting 45.5 percent of his three-pointers the last couple weeks. Parsons is also taking it to the hole quite frequently, and he's been able to hit over 71 percent of his attempts at the rim the last five games. Curiously, though, he's unable to score inside just a few feet further from the basket.

When Nowitzki's not burying threes off the catch, he opts for the midrange, where he's been decent. He rarely takes the ball all the way to the rim anymore these days. The last time these two teams met three months ago, Nowitzki finished just 6-of-17 from the floor and 2-of-7 from deep. He'll be rested tonight for the Blazers, as he sat out Thursday against the Kings in the second half of a back-to-back.

Center Tyson Chandler is devastating in pick-and-rolls, able to cut to the rim and finish with authority. He's made 79.5 percent of his field goals the last five games, up from an already-impressive 68.5 percent on the season, and he dropped 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting against Sacramento a couple nights ago. Chandler might be playing his best basketball of the season right now, which is pretty timely considering the Rondo injury.

Dallas coach Rick Carlisle's reserve unit is headlined by forward Al-Farouq Aminu who, while limited offensively, has been in the right place at the right time lately after languishing on the bench for a portion of January. He's not a threat with his jumper but has a decent touch around the rim and scores on plenty of hustle plays, extending possessions for his team with offensive rebounds.

Backup point guard Devin Harris has canned 44.4 percent of his threes the last five games, and he's also an adept passer who rarely turns it over. Forwards Charlie Villanueva and Richard Jefferson played big minutes in the absence of Nowitzki on Thursday night, but one of them is likely to feel the squeeze as the 17-year vet returns to the lineup tonight. You may think Villanueva, with a 34 percent field goal percentage the last five games, would take a backseat to Jefferson, who's nailed 54.2 percent of his field goals and 58.3 percent of his threes in the same span. That said, Carlisle apparently has Villanueva ahead in the rotation, so expect to see a bit more of him than Jefferson, who's shooting much more effectively lately. Forward Greg Smith should play, but he contributes mostly on the glass.

Former Blazer and fan-favorite Raymond Felton, point guard, has been (sort of) moved into the rotation due to Rondo's injury. Carrying season averages of 2.3 points and 1.4 assists into tonight's game, Felton isn't likely to be much of an impact player, especially considering his 14.3 percent shooting percentage the last five games.

The Mavs' defense has been pretty stellar lately, as they've been limiting easy ball movement, causing turnovers and contesting shots well both within and beyond the arc. Chandler is a huge part of how Dallas plays defense, anchoring the team down low. He's not a huge shot-blocker, but does alter opposing teams' shots in the paint and affects plenty of attempts inside.

The Blazers, fresh off a blowout win over the Suns on Thursday night, are looking to go into the All-Star break next Thursday on a high note after losing three straight last week. Against Phoenix, Portland had an uncharacteristic 23 fast break points and 52 points in the paint. Dallas struggles to defend in transition, so the Blazers could find some more success tonight pushing the ball.

Point guard Damian Lillard has missed his last 17 three-point attempts and is shooting 35.6 percent from the field the last five games. Still, he's created some nifty penetration in that time and has been able to convert at the rim convincingly. His 3.2 turnovers the last several games are a bit of a concern, especially against an opportunistic defense like Dallas', but Lillard has also created shots for his teammates lately. The weakest point of the Mav's defense is from the perimeter, so if Lillard is going to have a bounceback game with his outside shooting, now is as good a night as any.

Dallas is All-Star power forward LaMarcus Aldridge's hometown, and he always seems to get up for games against the Mavs.

Remember this game-winner against them a couple years ago?

At any rate, Aldridge has gone on to hit over half his total shots the last five games, including 56.9 percent of his midrange jumpers. The last time these two teams met, he shot 10-of-16 from the floor for 20 points.

Guard Wesley Matthews has hit 40.5 percent of his threes the last several games, but his quiver was nearly empty against Phoenix, as he hit just two of his eight outside attempts. His size advantage over most of Dallas' backcourt could prove advantageous tonight.

Forward Nicolas Batum got back on track -- or at least shot much better than he has lately -- two nights ago against the Suns, hitting 6-of-13 shots. Aminu is a good defender, though, so Batum will have to work for his points against the Mavs. Many are attributing Batum's uptick in play to the return of center Robin Lopez, who generally opens things up for the Blazers with his size. He's a reliable option down low, going 5-for-10 against Phoenix. Watch for the two-man game between Batum and Lopez, particularly when it's initiated from the wing.

Blazers coach Terry Stotts played a short bench rotation of guards Steve Blake and CJ McCollum along with big man Meyers Leonard on Thursday night. Blake hit a three and picked up four assists, but was otherwise quiet. McCollum's aggressiveness and ability to get to the rim powered Portland's offense for a short stretch against Phoenix, as the second-year guard shot 4-for-7 on the night and ended with 12 points. Leonard is now a legit offensive option off the bench, hitting 60 percent of his shots the last five games. He's best right at the rim but also has range that extends beyond the three-point line, which could be useful against a frontcourt like that of Dallas, which only has one true center in Chandler.

Center Chris Kaman didn't see the floor on Thursday and is questionable tonight with a sore back. Guard Will Barton has been ineffective lately and wing Allen Crabbe hasn't picked up much time. Forwards Dorell Wright and Thomas Robinson have been used sparingly in Stotts' rotation the last several games.

Portland's defense led the way on Thursday, as the Suns hit just 38.6 percent of their field goals and 26.1 percent of their threes, scoring 44 points in the paint. The Blazers' defense is night-and-day better with Lopez on the court, as a rim protector who hangs back and challenges shots. He'll be huge tonight against Chandler and Ellis, who are both elite pick-and-roll players who can finish strongly at the rim. The Mavs will also throw up plenty of outside shots, so Portland's perimeter defenders need to be ready to cover the three-point line. With Lopez hanging back, the Blazers backcourt defenders can feel more comfortable going over screens and playing aggressively, knowing they have help behind them if they get beat.

The Blazers dominated the boards against the Suns, 57-42, and they've been rebounding pretty well as a team lately. The Mavs aren't a great rebounding team, though Aminu and Chandler are both great individually. Portland should try for offensive rebounds and put-backs for second-chance points, especially when Chandler's not in the game, as Dallas sometimes struggles to clean up the defensive glass.

The Blazers need to be ready for the Mavs' high-octane offense, which takes advantage of the spacing created by its outside shooters and penetration from Ellis. Even if they slow him down, though, Parsons, Nowitzki, Harris, Barea and Jefferson are all good-to-great perimeter shooters. Portland held Nowitzki, Parsons and Ellis to 11-for-43 shooting the last time these two teams met in November, forcing the Mavs into their lowest point total of the season. That's not entirely likely to happen again tonight, however, so the Blazers should have to put up plenty of offense of their own to pick up a win in Dallas.

-- Chris Lucia | blazersedgepodcast@gmail.com | Twitter

Check out a Q&A with Mavs Moneyball discussing tonight's contest.

Sam Tongue's Key Matchup:

There's a light at the end of the tunnel Kings fans.  According to a report by the Sacramento Bee's Ailene Voisin, the Kings are having "intense conversations" with George Karl about the head coaching vacancy.  This follows Aaron Bruski's tweet yesterday that he had heard that the Kings were ramping up their coaching search.

This is the change that many fans were hoping for when Malone was dismissed in mid-December.  So why has it taken so long for the Kings to seriously engage Karl in talks?  Well according to Voisin, a lot of it has to do with the Kings complete lack of competitiveness lately, which has culminated in a record of 6-18 under Corbin.  Sacramento has also lost 10 of their last 11 games, with many of them being blowout losses.

Timing-wise, installing a new coach soon makes a lot of sense given that the All-Star break is coming up and the Kings will have a week off.

Voisin lists a couple hurdles in signing Karl however.  The first is financial, as he's expected to command an annual salary of above $4 million.  Second, the Kings aren't the only team pursuing Karl any more as the Magic just fired Jacque Vaughn and other teams with better rosters could have coaching vacancies at the end of the year.

Sacramento is also interested in Alvin Gentry and Nate McMillan, as well as Tom Thibodeau and Scott Brooks if they're let go by their respective teams.  McMillan is the only one who could join the team this year.

Voisin says nothing is imminent, but even still, it's nice to see the team seemingly taking action after appearing so listless and directionless since the firing of Mike Malone.  Hopefully that results in a new coach, and soon.

After losing 10 of their last 11 games, and rumors of a possible shakeup, can the Kings go to Salt Lake City and steal one?

The Sacramento Kings have been bad lately. Very bad. Awful. Luckily, there is hope. Amid rumors of a possible shakeup, and a stretch where they have lost 10 out of their last 11 games, the Kings have a winnable game against the Utah Jazz. It could not come at a better time. This last stretch has been absolutely brutal on their psyche. Hopefully at the very least the Kings can squeak one out a la the Indiana Pacers, and not allow one of those infamous 92-0 runs.

3 Things to Look For

1. Can we get the ball to the hot hand? The Kings have developed a great talent at freezing out the hot hand. My friend and I both called us freezing out Ben McLemore after his early game tear against the Warriors. It has been like that all year. If anyone besides DeMarcus Cousins or Rudy Gay are on a tear, the Kings stop giving them the ball. Part of this is on the guys shooting it. The off-the-ball movement is absolutely atrocious, and when they do move off the ball, the team has a terrible time getting guys the ball. It is not a recipe for success.

2. Obligatory bench complaints.. Our bench is bad.

3. No large runs! It is ridiculous how many large runs have happened in the last few games. 8-10 point runs are understandable. When 20-2 type runs and worse are happening every game, it starts getting ridiculous. I don't know what else to stay. STOP! ALLOWING! RUNS!

Key Matchup

Rudy Gay vs. Gordon Hayward

These are two guys who could go off any night. Coming off of a game where he struggled mightily, I could see Rudy bouncing back and having a good game. Hayward always has the potential to put on a show, which is why he signed such a good contract this year. I could see us getting treated to a good duel between these two scorers.

Pregame Haiku

The Kings are all lost.

Despair, Sorrow, Tears, and Pain

Please bring us George Karl

Prediction

Kings - 113, Jazz - 109

We even used to share some of the same colors . . .

The Utah Jazz are a small market franchise. So too are the Sacramento Kings.

Some of the most bitter sweet memories have been Jazz / Kings games, but that is a side show to how these two teams are actually so related. The long-time lead assistant coach to Jerry Sloan, our mustacheiod Phil Johnson, used to be the head coach for the Kings -- and even won a COY award for his efforts. Countless players have played for both franchises over the years, like Greg Ostertag (to name one). Another would be Tyrone Corbin -- who fate would have it has the honor of being the head coach for both teams as well, during his travels.

In a market where the biggest, loudest, fish get all the shine it can be hard to compete. The Kings did it in Sacramento with drafting / trading for Europeans, and getting some lucky moves to bring in high level American talent, like Chris Webber. Those Vlade Divac teams were fun to watch, even if we had to face them in the playoffs.Utah had a run kind of like that a while back in the Deron Williams / Andrei Kirilenko / Mehmet Okur / Carlos Boozer era, but didn't make as much noise in the playoffs save for a WCF trip.

Anyway, let's hit the film room:

Maaan, John Stockton was such a boss . . . and that Karl Malone kid isn't half bad either

The Jazz and the Kings are both in rebuilding / learning mode right now. Both will miss the playoffs this year. But no matter what, both teams will remain brothers. The whole process of the Kings trying to get a new Arena deal was harrowing to watch, and as a fellow small market fan, I feel like the Kings fans are my brothers and sisters.

Don't forget to sign up for FanDuel, SB Nation's official fantasy sports partner. Here's the link.

Is it April yet?

While most Sacramento Kings fans were following the off-court Twitter fireworks, there was a basketball game nominally played by some guys in purple jerseys against the Utah Jazz. The stakes couldn't be much lower, but yet still the guys in purple fell short of meeting expectations just by playing out the same stale storyline we've watched for about a month now. There was one NBA team on the court tonight, it wasn't the dudes in purple, and it did indeed emerge victorious by a score of 102-90.

The Kings again came out with an atrocious effort offensively. The team shot 39% overall from the field, including a spectacular 3/13 from three point range. DeMarcus Cousins led the "charge" with a decent (by his standards) effort, scoring 27 points on 24 shots and adding 10 rebounds. Ben McLemore was aggressive looking for his shot all night, not letting himself be discouraged by a tough start to score 15 points on 15 shots, including 3/7 from three point range. Ramon Sessions started in place of Darren Collison and did a good job setting up teammates who could not hit a shot all night, scoring 11 points and dishing 5 assists.

Thats about it though. The rest of the team scored a total 37 points. The game was essentially decided by a first quarter where the Kings only scored 15 points and already faced a double-digit deficit. The lead would hover between 10 and 20 points the rest of the way, again, which now makes it 7 of the last 8 games where the Kings have faced a 20 point hole. The offensive dumpster fire was alarmingly led by a listless looking Rudy Gay, who never checked into the game mentally. The Kings are a top-heavy team, and having one of their top two players just peace out mentally is pretty much a death knell. Gay was not only atrocious offensively, he also showed zero effort defensively, letting Gordon Hayward get to his spots with zero resistance. Hayward scored 30 points on 23 shots, most of them with Gay checking him.

If Gay has really quit on the team, I'm not sure what this means for the rest of the season. With all of the smoke behind a Pete D'Alessandro meeting with George Karl, lets hope all Rudy needs is a new coach to become refocused. The locker room might just be bursting at the seams, and judging by all of the fecal rumors floating around the poopvine, this thing might just erupt. Lots of uncertainty in Kings land right now and its hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

For the opponent's perspective, visit SLC Dunk

grind grind grind grind grind grind grind grind grind grind grind grind

The Bucks are winners of six of their last seven after squeaking by the Boston Celtics tonight in a 96-93 victory, their fourth straight win at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Brandon Knight (26p/5a/2to on 9/17 fg, 4/8 threes) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (14p/11r/5a/2b) once again led the way for Jason KIdd's club, which improved to 28-23 with the win.

Though the Bucks appeared to have control for most of the game, the Celtics packed a few punches throughout the game. The lead swung back and forth for most of the first half, with the lead alternating about 10 times. At the start of the second half, the Bucks marched out to a more commanding lead, but again saw their work get chipped away at as the Celtics fought their way back into the game.

Jared Sullinger was a bruising force in the paint, but finished with "only" 17p/7r. Marcus Thornton's strong second half let him finish with 14 points and four other Celtics scored in double figures, but all of that just wasn't enough to get over the top.

The Bucks again saw a fourth quarter lead shrink as they went on a dry spell, but got big time relief when John Henson hit a hook shot with 2:31 left. Milwaukee then got an even more clutch basket from Brandon Knight, who danced away from his defender and knock down the jumper that put the Bucks up 96-93 with 6.7 seconds left.

The Celtics were unable to connect on their final play, and the Bucks fans -- who again came out in droves to support their team -- went home happy.

Observations/Stats/Highlights:

-- Giannis followed up his back-to-back career-high performances with a solid 14p/11r/5a/2b performance. It was his fourth double-double in the last seven games. He also obliterated an Evan Turner layup in transition.

Giannis was also 6-10 from the field tonight, upping his shooting percentage in the last three games to 68 percent (27-40). We were curious if Giannis would reveal his secret to improved shooting after the game, and he didn't disappoint. His answer? It's his shooting sleeve. It's changed him. He's the best.

-- Brandon Knight's final bucket gave him 26 for the game to go along with five assists and four rebounds. Knight came out sizzling from the start, drilling four threes en route to 18 points in the first half. In between his strong start and finish he moved the ball relatively well -- his 12 straight games with 5+ assists is the fifth-longest active streak in the league -- and avoided costly mistakes. All in all, a very solid performance with a clutch finish.

-- Though their last two home games have been close, the victories have pushed the Bucks record against sub-.500 teams this year to 20-6. That is what we like to call taking care of business.

-- I'm not sure how much this actually matters, but the Bucks are 6-1 in games that John Henson starts. Additionally, Henson has blocked 2.7 shots a game in those starts. Jason Kidd will have an interesting decision to make when Zaza Pachulia returns to the rotation, which Kidd hopes will happen at some point in the next week.

-- The Bucks have two more games before the All-Star Break, both winnable home contests against the Brooklyn Nets and Sacramento Kings. Should Milwaukee come away victorious in both, they will be seven games over .500 at 30-23. Unexpected, ridiculous...whatever you want to call it, we're running out of adjectives for the 14/15 Bucks.

In a vital eight-game stretch, the Phoenix Suns wilted under the pressure. Three good wins, two last-second losses, and three blowout losses. The Suns will have to improve in that area to make the playoffs this season.

The Phoenix Suns just came out of their toughest string of games all season with a 3-5 record. That was eight consecutive opponents who had won 65% or more of their games coming in to face a healthy Suns team fighting to keep their playoff spot.

You could dress up the 3-5 record with asterisks that two of the losses at home were of the last-second variety (Houston, Memphis), arguing that if the ball had just bounced in another direction the Suns could have come out ahead.

But that would just mask an ugly stretch of games where the Suns proved they weren't quite ready for primetime.

If you reach the playoffs, every game will be like this last eight-game gauntlet. There are no Utah Jazzes in the playoffs, no Sacramento Kings. And unless you reach the Finals, there's no Eastern Conference teams either.

In this eight-game gauntlet, the Suns won three and were tied with 10 seconds to go in two more. But the Suns lost the other three games by an ugly 19, 20 and 21 points.

The Suns offense scored just 101.7 points during the stretch (down from 107.2), and gave up 106.7 (up from 104.8). They twice scored a season-low 87 points in blowout losses. That's what happens when your string of opponents defenses ranked 1st, 3rd (twice), 4th, 7th, 11th, 12th and 18th in points per possession allowed, and their offenses ranked 2nd, 3rd, 8th, 10th, 11th (twice), 13th and 15th.

The Suns came in with the league's 5th best offense and 17th best defense. During that stretch, they exhibited the league's 18th best offense and 25th best defense.

Of course every team plays worse against better opponents, but this is not a good sign for the playoff picture.

Looking forward

While seven of the next 11 opponents are worse than the Suns, that's just a short break before it gets tough again. The Suns had better make hay during this 11-game stretch while they can.

If everything breaks right, the Suns could win 9 of these 11 games, but that's guessing the Suns are "due" for wins over Houston and Oklahoma City.

More likely, the Suns will win 7 of the 11, but for now let's go with 9 of 11 just to make my Sunday morning a little better. At that point, the Suns would be 13 games over .500 - a very, very necessary win rate given the final stretch of games.

Final 19 games

Beginning on Saturday, March 7 against the Cavaliers, the Suns face a closing schedule that features a whopping 15 of their last 19 games against the Thunder, Pelicans or teams with better winning percentages than the Suns. Compare that to only 10 of the Thunder's last 19 games against teams better than them. And the Pelicans only face 11 of their last 19 against better teams.

If the Suns can't improve on their win rate against teams ahead of and around them, they will be sending a contingent to New Jersey for the draft lottery ping pong ball show for the 5th consecutive season.

But let's look at the games one by one and see what shakes out.

I've basically got the Suns winning their winnable games and losing 60% of their losable ones, the same rate they exhibited during this 8-game stretch that just ended. By April, the Suns could very reasonably be 43-33 before the stretch run.

That's when I go back to Neverland. You'll notice that I have the Suns finishing the year with a BANG, winning 5 of their last 6 against teams they should have no chance to win 5 of 6 against. I'm basically saying that, by April, the Suns will be ready for the playoffs and will find a way to reverse last April's swoon.

Is that probable? No.

But 48 isn't really needed

I mapped a way for the Suns to reach 48 wins, as improbable as you might think. But will the Suns need 48 wins to make the playoffs? Likely not.

I don't see Oklahoma City (25-25) suddenly finishing the year 23-8 to get to 48 wins. Six of OKC's last nine are against Western playoff teams. And I don't see New Orleans (27-24) finishing with a 21-10 record to get to 48 wins. Six of NOLA's last seven are against Western playoff teams.

44 or 45 wins just might do it for the Suns, which would mean they only need to split those final six games to get in. Is that doable? I'd say so.

The Phoenix Suns (29-23) hit the road in a really-really-need-to-win game versus the Sacramento Kings (17-32).

The Good Guys: The Phoenix Suns, last seen getting back to their winning ways on the back of a career night from Marcus Morris

The Bad Guys: The Sacramento Kings, whose promising start to the season was torpedoed by a meddling front office

Where: Sleep Train Arena, Sacramento CA

When: 7PM, AZ Time

The Tube: Fox Sports AZ

Kings Coverage:Sactown Royalty

The enigmatic Phoenix Suns forge on to the Land Of Boogie, as the floundering Sacramento Kings await in a game in which the Suns really can't afford to mess around. The Suns are startlingly vulnerable for a 29-23 team, with a variety of unorthodox lineups that produce mismatches across the board. Sometimes the Suns are the beneficiary of these mismatches, sometimes they backfire.

Case in point: the Portland Trail Blazers were able to silence the Suns' firepower by packing the paint, and the horde of shoot-first players that populate this roster were hardly able to make a dent, en route to 87 points on a dreadful .420 eFG%. Their lack of perimeter shooting resulted in a 6/23 night from long-range, as the team managed only 17 freethrow attempts to boot.

On the other hand, the plethora of shoot-first scorers on this team means that any number of players can suddenly catch fire, as Marcus Morris broke loose for a scorching 34 points on 17 shot attempts in the following game in Phoenix versus the Utah Jazz. Surprisingly, the Suns allowed only 6 offensive rebounds in that game despite being greatly outsized without Alex Len, who is not expected to return from a sprained ankle until following the All-Star break.

Meanwhile, the New Orleans Pelicans tied the Suns in the loss column on the heels of this ridiculous game-winner by Anthony Davis, before getting drubbed by the Bulls on Saturday in a game that Davis left early due to injury. As for the Oklahoma City Thunder, they're still lurking at 25-25. Their seemingly inevitable surge up the standings still hasn't yet occurred, as they're still waiting for that first dominant 10-game stretch, but they shouldn't be counted out until they're mathematically eliminated.

So goes the season for this bizarre Suns team, who for all their flaws are succeeding in staying competitive as they continue to accumulate assets and lay the groundwork for the future of the organization.

Unfortunately, their Pacific Division rivals aren't doing quite so well.

Calamity in Cowtown

The Kings were plunged into NBA obscurity under the rule of the infamous Maloofs, not making a playoff appearance since 2006 and failing to even win 30 games for the last six (possibly seven) seasons. When Vivek Ranadive saved the team from becoming the Seattle Supersonics in 2013, a newfound optimism was abound in Sacramento.

As recently as Thanksgiving it looked like the Kings had finally climbed out of the abyss as they posted a 9-5 record, spurred by a commitment to defense under head coach Mike Malone and the beastiness of center DeMarcus Cousins inside.

Then the wheels came off.

Since that 9-5 start, they have seen their star player succumb to a bout of viral meningitis and the popular Malone fired in a political coup that no one saw coming. Making matters worse, the reins were handed to Tyrone Corbin, who was notorious for mismanaging the Jazz during his three-year tenure as head coach in Utah.

The team has gone 7-27 during that span, but there is a glimmer of hope.

After the Kings' brass initially hinted that Corbin was their man for the job long-term, suddenly reports have emerged that George Karl is in talks to take over the team immediately. Despite all the criticism of Karl's shortcomings in the playoffs, which are valid to an extent, the Kings can't afford to worry about that at this point. Karl has an excellent track record of generating instant wins upon taking a team over, and their famously devoted fans have been unfairly starved of a winning season for far too long.

During the 2004/05 season, Karl guided the 17-25 Denver Nuggets to a 32-8 finish and a playoff berth.

In the lockout-shortened 1998/99 season, he ended the Milwaukee Bucks' six-year playoff drought in his first year on the job, eventually guiding them to an Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 2001.

Please make this happen, Sacramento. Your fans deserve it. And according to this tweet...

Quite simple. And please participate if you can: Would you be excited if George Karl were named the next Kings' coach? RT Yes Fav No

— Carmichael Dave (@CarmichaelDave) February 7, 2015

...the number of fans in favor of Karl coaching the Kings is an astounding 818-33 at the time of publishing this article. Ok, so I voted yes even though I'm not a Kings fan. I just really want to see good basketball return to Sacramento, and I want to see George Karl and Boogie Cousins join forces.

Sue me.

Last Meeting

The Suns won 115-106 in Sacramento, evening the season series 1-1. The Morris twins combined for 37 points on 15-23 from the field (7-8 from three). Isaiah Thomas took 17 shots to reach 17 points in his former team's building, screaming at the fans and the Kings' bench all throughout. Hopefully we get a more efficient and less yelly Thomas this time around.

Cousins did not play, but the Kings still scored a combined 69 points in the second and third quarters to keep things interesting.

The Matchup

In a familiar story, the Suns will be at a disadvantage up front as the Kings start Cousins and Jason Thompson up front, with Suns-tormenter Carl Landry coming off the bench. Reggie Evans will also be doing Reggie Evans things, and apparently Ryan Hollins is still an NBA player.

That last part isn't an advantage for Sacramento, I just found it too bizarre not to mention.

On the wings, the Kings are struggling mightily. Nik Stauskas was thought to be one of the more NBA-ready players in the draft, but is shooting only .264 from downtown and .333 overall. Second-year guard Ben McLemore has improved his shooting from his rookie year (.485 TS% to .567) to complement his solid defense, but hasn't yet found a way to become a legitimate impact player. Despite starting all 48 games and averaging 33 minutes, he's contributing only 11.6 points per 36 minutes with a minuscule PER of 9.7. Derrick Williams (DNP'd in last night's loss at Utah) and Omri Casspi are shooting .279 and .211 from deep, respectively. If it wasn't for Rudy Gay, this might be the worst wing rotation in the NBA.

Gay will present a huge mismatch if the Suns try to roll out their 'Trips' lineup with Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe and Isaiah Thomas on the floor together, so they might be wise to reserve it for when either Casspi or Stauskas is at the 3.

Other than that, expect P.J. Tucker to log heavy minutes as he is clearly the best option to defend Gay, who is scoring an efficient 20.6 PPG.

The Kings might be without starting point guard Darren Collison, which would result in veteran Ramon Sessions and Ray McCallum at the point.

As usual, the Suns' guards should win their matchup while Miles Plumlee and Brandan Wright are likely to get destroyed by Cousins at the center position. It might come down to which supporting cast can contribute the most, and fortunately the Suns should have an advantage with the Morris twins, Wright, and Gerald Green over Thompson, Landry, McLemore and Casspi.

Prediction

The Suns haven't had a truly comfortable win since they drubbed the Toronto Raptors in Phoenix back on January 4. Facing a severely struggling Kings team that might be missing their starting PG and will be on the second game of a back-to-back affords them an excellent opportunity to roll out the Tyler Ennis show under positive circumstances.

The way the they have been playing recently, however, leads me to expect a way-too-close-for-comfort win as Boogie goes off for 35 and 15, leading a 20-point comeback at some point.

Suns hold on to win, 111-107.

BSOTS Hits The Road!

Our own Ray Hrovat will be traveling from his humble abode in Wine Country to cover tonight's game from press row at Sleep Train. Surely his presence will be enough to inspire our boys to victory.

Now let's all enjoy a flashback to the last time the Suns and Kings played for high stakes, as Phoenix faced elimination in a first-round game 4 in 2001 (it was best-of-five in those days, kiddies). The Kings were just beginning their early-2000's heyday, and Shawn Marion's cornrows were no match.

This is still the place to go if you're looking for an outsider perspective on Suns game days! Today we look at Boogie Cousins, the oft misunderstood superstar on one of the worst managed franchises in sports. Let's get sad!

The Sacramento Kings are in an absolute free fall right now. Since starting the season 9-5 the Kings are 8-27. Their last twelve games they are 1-11, with their one win a come from behind effort at home against a George Hill-less Pacers team. Last night the Jazztook their foot off the pedal late and the Kings lost by twelve.

As a result of this along with the .329 winning percentage since he entered the league, much of the blame has been placed at the gigantic feet of Demarcus Cousins. Cousins did himself no favors by doing this last week against the Warriors, I understand that. His quotes, temper tantrums, coach disputes, and general demeanor on the floor do him no favors in general. Demarcus Cousins is an easy target, he makes himself an easy target, and so pundits load up and fire whenever they have a chance.

This is absolute crap. Demarcus Cousins is a superstar currently forced into the worst situation of any top forty player in basketball. Before we go around taking our shots at Demarcus Cousins not being a franchise cornerstone, let’s take a look at the franchise and play a little name game.

Best 12 players he has ever been on a team with?

1.Tyreke Evans

2.Isaiah Thomas

3.Marcus Thornton

4.Rudy Gay

Tied for 5-12:

Beno Udrih, Carl Landry, Omri Casspi, Fransisco Garcia, Jason Thompson, Patrick Patterson, John Salmons, and Darren Collison.

The highest season average assist total a teammate of Cousins has ever had? 6 assists per game, by Isaiah Thomas in 2013-2014. From 2011-2013 no Sacramento King player averaged over 4.5 assists per game. Demarcus Cousins has had five different starting point guards, and not one of them has ever been able to find their 7’0’’ tall center with incredible strength, jumping ability, and a solid back to the basket game more than six times. Really?

Five coaches for Demarcus Cousins?

1.Paul Westphal– 1.5 seasons

2.Keith Smart– 1.5 seasons

3.Mike Malone – 1.5 seasons

4.Ty Corbin – Less than half a season

5.Coming soon to an All-Star Break Press Conference Near You:George Karl (or not)

The Kings have had a top ten pick every year since Demarcus joined the roster, who did they spend those picks on?

2011: Bismack Biyombo (7^th)

2012: Thomas Robinson (5^th)

2013: Ben McLemore (7^th)

2014: Nik Stauskas (9^th)

Lay. Off. Boogie. Cousins. For all the hell I give the Pelicans for going all-in two years too soon and ruining an important window with Anthony Davis, the situation that Demarcus Cousins has faced in Sacramento is ten times worse. The last five years have been a constant revolving door of coaches, teammates, bad draft picks, and owners. The Kings currently field a roster whose second best asset is their 2015 draft pick, their third best asset is their 2016 draft pick, and their fourth best asset is a toss-up between Darren Collison, and two shooting guards (McLemore and Stauskas) who have shown us next to nothing at the NBA level. They play in a bottom five market, are run by a rookie owner who makes early years Robert Sarver look like Pat Riley, and play in the Western Conference.

If you don’t think Demarcus Cousins is a superstar in the NBA you simply aren’t giving the Kings enough credit for being an organization so backwards and lost in the thirty team shuffle that they couldn’t accidentally draft a successful role player in the top 10 of back-to-back-to-back-to-back drafts.

Tonight the Suns play them in Sacramento. The Kings have been a tough team for the Suns, almost solely because Cousins is a nightmare for our roster, but I would be disappointed if we did not win in a blowout. If and when it happens, pour some out for Boogie. The man didn’t ask for this.

Suns vs Kings tonight at 7:00- let’s see what the outsiders think!

What Vegas Thinks: Movin’ on Up (Suns -6.5, 207.5)

This line opened with the Suns between four and five point favorites in most sports books and shot up two full points over night. What this means is that at some point late last night, around the time the West coast games were wrapping up, Vegas flashed tonight’s betting lines on their giant electronic screens. Immediately after that happened a stampede of gamblers stormed the book trying to place a bet before this line went higher. A team that is trailing to the Jazz by twenty for most of a game does not deserve to only be 4.5 point home underdogs to a winning team. Sacramento’s home court advantage is basically null right now, the fans are fed up, which the line might have not have weighed in enough when figuring out their initial line. It is still climbing, by the way. Would be shocked if it wasn’t at 7.5 or 8.5 by tip.

An Over/Under of 207.5 is a few points underneath the standard Suns line, but the games have just been lower scoring lately. The great article Dave posted earlier today gave a statistical view of how the Suns offense has looked recently, and it has resulted in an ever-growing streak of unders hitting. Until the Suns hit the Over, expect the lines to get lower and lower. Vegas Prediction: Suns 107 Kings 100

What the National Media Thinks: Boogie Cousins: Dream Killer

If you have not heard yet, the Sacramento Kings badly want to hire George Karl as soon as possible to replace Ty Corbin, who is replacing Mike Malone, who is replacing Keith Smart, who is replacing Paul Westphal, who put a horrible witch doctor curse on Demarcus Cousins after the two had beef in practice back in 2011. Westphal holds a grudge.

However, reports claim Demarcus and his people do not want Karl to take over. Karl has a relationship with the Sacramento Kings front office that is a huge positive, but a relationship with Demarcus Cousins reps that is every bit as negative. The Kings are fifteen games under .500, Karl is a proven winner and rebuilder, and he is also a huge media darling for a variety of reasons. Can you see where this is going?

Boogie is about to get hammered by the press. If the deal with Karl doesn’t go through, and right now the idea is trending in the wrong direction, Cousins will be getting slammed for his relationships with past coaches, and his general behavior. The narrative of "coach killer" or a spoiled star hijacking a franchise is just too easy. It’s a slow pitch softball. Why would the media talk about Karl’s relationship with Cousins’s agent or the fact that his coaching style doesn’t fit Demarcus well when they can simply slap a few buzz words on him like "primadonna" or "selfish" and create more hits, listeners, and fodder. I’ll ride with Demarcus Cousins until the day he is playing out the 5^th year of a regret filled $100 million deal on the 2023-2024 Knicks, but if I were his agent I would have to just let the Karl deal happen. There is no way fighting him is worth the impending backlash.

Bonus: We need to talk. Surely you have seen the Anthony Davis injury from last night. You have probably heard about Blake Griffin missing 4-6 weeks with a serious staph infection. I want you to know it is completely normal to have your first thought be a happy one, and then to get mad at yourself for thinking that way. You are not a monster and you will not suffer an eternity in sports hell. We can get through this, it happens to everyone. Think happy thoughts, and wish Davis and Griffin a speedy recover.

What the Sacramento Media Thinks: Overwhelmed with emotion!

I did not expect the bleak sadness I would find at SB Nation blog Sactown Royalty, home of the Sacramento Kings and their fans. The recap of last night’s game against the Jazz, actually has the words "Wait, you’re still here?" in the title. Every preview, review, and commentary article has at least one comment about how Kings fans just want this season to come to a merciful end. Please. This piece, by Greg Wissinger, was posted yesterday on the site and does a great job of explaining the relationships, positive and negative, Karl has with various members of the Kings organization that are making hiring him so tricky.

The Kings do an awesome preview section, where they ask their fans to predict the game score as well as some statistical leaders. The more right answers you have, the more points you win and they keep track of points leaders all season. There were 8 predictions when I checked just after 11 o’clock. Seven of those predictions had the Suns winning by: 14, 15, 21, 23, 24, 25, and 25 again. One fan had the Kings by two. He admitted how ridiculous he sounded.

Pray for the Kings after tonight. This is brutal.

Can the Kings win again before the All-Star break? Today will be their last chance to win at home for a while. Today's action tips off at 6:00 pm on Comcast SportsNet California and on KHTK 1140.

3 THINGS TO LOOK FOR

1. Tyrone Corbin has a habit of switching out Jason Thompson for Derrick Williams for "matchups" against smaller PFs like the Suns' Markieff Morris.  Personally, I'm not a fan considering that Thompson is a much better defender and rebounder and Williams isn't very good at either.  He's also not a good enough scorer or shooter to make the matchup change worth it.  We'll see if he still opts to do it.

2. The Suns are one of the worst teams in the league at keeping opponents off the free throw line.  They are 29th in fouls and 30th in opponent free throws made and attempted.  Sacramento needs to take advantage of that if they hope to have a chance to win tonight.

3. Phoenix has so many offensive weapons it's hard to stop all of them.  They have six players that average double digit scoring and several other roleplayers that can also score in a pinch.  This is the opposite approach that Sacramento has where their scoring is concentrated in only a few players.

MATCHUP OF THE GAME

Apathy and the Sacramento Kings

The Kings haven't shown much energy or pride lately and with this being the last home game before the All-Star break, fans want to see some indication that this team still cares.  The Suns are a much better team, but the Kings can't just roll over.  There's been far too much of that lately, and it's embarrassing to watch as a fan.

PREGAME LIMERICK

The All-Star break can't come soon enough,
this season has been much too rough.
Kings are losing,
fans are boozing,
and crying that it's never been so tough.

PREDICTION

Kings 119, Suns 111 after Pete D'Alessandro activates the mind control tech he implanted in Isaiah Thomas last summer in case of emergencies.  Thomas proceeds to shoot only at the Suns basket and ends up being Sacramento's leading scorer.

This time it's not Ty Corbin's fault . . . right?

I feel bad for everyone involved here. The Sacramento Kings are trying to take that next step from the lotto to the playoffs. The head coach, Mike Malone, is out of a job. Their current head coach, Tyrone Corbin, no doubt has heard about the rumors of his theoretical replacement in George Karl. The players don't want to just be a laughing stock. And the fans deserve better.

Since Malone's departure the Kings have only seemed to play worse. They were 11-13 when Corbin took over, and the super sweet Corbin has decided to help build team chemistry by taking the franchise skiing. Or more specifically, ski jumping. Here is the Wiki breakdown of ski jumping slopes:

Via Wiki page for Ski Jumping Hill

And here is the win percentage, game by game, since Corbin has taken over:

Thank you Based MS Paint God

Please note that the angle of the line of best fit is 26 degrees. The Ski jumping slope angle is 32 degrees. It's pretty close. It's really 6 degrees off of an actual Ski Jump slope. The Kings are a mess, and need to play better.

They have an All-Star in DeMarcus Cousins. They have two other really good starters in Rudy Gay and Darren Collison. They have some youth on the team, with five actual NBA rotation players under the age of 23. Carl Landry, Ramon Sessions, Reggie Williams, and Jason Thompson are all solid vets you can win with.

Injuries have been a problem for the team, and I get that. Another problem is the conference they play in. I'm not even mad about the coaching. Corbin is trying his best, and dealing with an owner who thinks he is a basketball mind, but is not. Mike Malone shouldn't have been fired in my opinion, but that's not the player's fault, or Corbin's or whomever.

It's just crappy that when Ty took over the team nose dived. Well, not really, but they did almost reach the vector needed to jump up in the air from skiis. It's not what anyone involved in the situation wanted. This team was on track to win close to 40 games when they fired Malone. That does not look like the case anymore.

It's not Ty's fault. It's just his bad luck, I guess. Or, you know, maybe he is partly to blame. What do you think?

Talks were reportedly progressing before hitting a snag.

George Karl and the Sacramento Kings were making progress toward a deal that would make Karl the new head coach, but those talks have stalled due to resistance to Karl from DeMarcus Cousins' camp, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.

However, Cousins' agent told Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee Sunday that they were not holding up a potential deal between Karl and the Kings, saying "We don't run team."

According to Wojnarowski, there is now "rapidly diminishing belief" that Sacramento will hire Karl. Who in Cousins' camp has an issue and what the issue is remain in question. Karl does have some history with two of Cousins' agents, as Sam Amick of USA Today wrote:

Karl's personal past with a number of influential members in and around the Kings organization remains relevant as well, as he previously coached Kings advisor Chris Mullin and has history with the two agents who represent franchise centerpiece DeMarcus Cousins as well. Cousins' day-to-day agent, Jarrin Akana, worked with Karl in Denver and was re-assigned from assistant coach to scout when Karl took over for coach Jeff Bzdelik in 2005. Dan Fegan, Cousins' lead agent, represented Karl's son, Coby, as a player for years before he was eventually replaced. That circle, by all accounts, has been against the notion of adding Karl.

It may not be just members of Cousins' camp with issues, as Amick reports there is "serious resistance to George Karl" from some of Sacramento's minority owners. The varying differences could very well cause a deal to fall through, and if it does it will apparently happen quickly. According to Wojnarowski, the talks are expected to be resolved either way on Sunday.

Karl and the Kings are yet to agree to a potential contract, but Wojnarowski reported contract terms are not an issue and the two sides were closing the gap on a deal.

Earlier this weekend it seemed all but certain that the Kings would find a way to hire George Karl to be their new head coach.  Multiple reports indicated that both parties were making progress with Sacramento showing more urgency to make a change given the team's struggles.

Since those initial reports, confidence has waned that a deal would get done.  Rumors have persisted that DeMarcus Cousins' camp doesn't want the Kings to hire Karl and also that multiple Sacramento minority owners are also resistant.  Greg detailed some of those delays here.

However today, it seems clear that in the end the decision will ultimately come down to GM Pete D'Alessandro, which is as it should be.  Whether Cousins' agents aren't keen on Karl doesn't matter.  Even Cousins' agents seem to agree as this quote they gave to the Sacramento Bee's Ailene Voisin seems to indicate:

DeMarcus Cousins' agent telling me they are not "blocking" Kings/Karl deal. Says if Kings want Karl then "make the move. We don't run team."

— Ailene Voisin (@ailene_voisin) February 8, 2015

This team needs a change, a forward direction. If Pete wants Karl, then go and get him.  Fans are riled up, and the team itself has seemed completely lost on and off the basketball court.  This team can't afford to wait.

Hiring Karl doesn't guarantee success.  But neither does hiring Alvin Gentry or Nate McMillan or anybody else for that matter.  Karl is available here and now and has an impeccable track record.  He has shown time and time again that he can turn a basketball team into a winner and winning after all, cures all ills.

It was a mistake to fire Mike Malone.  But now the team has the opportunity to fix it.  Make the move.

The Kings will definitely have their work cut out for them tonight as they are now down two of their "Big 3".  Darren Collison was already out with a hip flexor strain that has already caused him to miss Saturday's game against the Utah Jazz. Now the Kings are also without starting Small Forward Rudy Gay.  Gay is out with a sore left foot.

Without Gay and Collison, the Kings will need someone else to step up offensively.  Ben McLemore is an obvious candidate, as is Derrick Williams.  Williams is at his best when he's looking to be aggressive and with no Collison or Gay the Kings will need him to be constantly attacking.

Ramon Sessions will likely start once more for Darren Collison but it's unclear who will start for Gay.  Before the injury I would have assumed that Tyrone Corbin would have started Derrick Williams at Power Forward to match up with Markieff Morris, but now we could see Williams start in place of Gay.  Omri Casspi is another logical choice.