It's Prediction Time!

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Below are a series of prediction questions for tonight's game. The first four questions will be asked every game, while the 5th will change each game.

Point value for predictions are listed next to the questions. If you believe that more than one player will lead a category, you can vote for multiple players, and this is worth double points if you are correct, but zero if you are wrong. Alternately, if you only guess one player when multiple players are tied, you get zero points.

All submissions must be input before tip-off. Any submissions after tip-off will not count. You are allowed only one submission and may not change unless specifically stated.

Questions:

1. Who do you think will win the game, and what will the final score be? (1 point for guessing winner. 2 points for guessing winner and correct score of one team. 5 points for guessing winner and exact score)

2. Who will be the game's leading scorer? (1 point for guessing scorer, 2 points for guessing exact points scored)

3. Who will be the game's leading rebounder? (1 point for guessing rebounder, 2 points for guessing exact rebounds)

4. Who will be the game's leading assist man? (1 point for guessing assist man, 2 points for guessing exact assists)

5. Predict the combined Points, Rebounds and Assists for Salmons, Vasquez, Patterson and Hayes (1 point for one right, 3 points for two right, 5 points for all right.)

The Kings jumped out to an early lead and held off a late Toronto run.

The Sacramento Kings put forth a tremendous defensive effort against the Chicago Bulls on Monday.  The question was if the Kings could sustain that effort.  The Kings started strong on defense, but the fourth quarter was a disaster.  Sacramento watched a 20 point lead evaporate, barely holding on for the win.  The Kings were active on defense through the first three quarters, though.  Challenging passing lanes, creating turnovers, and contesting shots.  While you'd like to see it for the full game, three quarters of good defense is three more quarters than most Kings games this season.

The Kings were led by DeMarcus Cousins once again.  Cousins finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists.  He's notched a double double in 17 of the last 18 games he's appeared in.  Cousins was active on both ends of the court, simply overpowering Toronto's big men throughout the night.  I really like Jonas Valaciunas as a young big man, but Cousins is simply on a different level.  The Raptors regularly threw double teams and occasionally triple teams at Cousins, but could not slow him down.

Rudy Gay chipped in 24 points, 10 rebounds, four steals, and three assists against his former team.  Ho hum.

Isaiah Thomas also had a big night for the Kings.  He finished with 22 points on just 12 shots, and added five assists.  As Sean Thomas of News 10 pointed out, Isaiah seemed particularly motivated by the opportunity to go at Greivis Vasquez.

Marcus Thornton got off to a hot start, but was knocked out of the game shortly before halftime.  Thornton took a hard hit fighting for an offensive rebound and hit the ground hard.  The initial diagnosis was nothing serious, a bruised hip and bruised arm, but it was enough to take Thornton out for the remainder of the night.  Despite the limited run, Thornton still finished with 12 points on 9 shots.

Jason Thompson also had a great night.  He played great defense, which is becoming the norm for JT, and finished with 10 rebounds and nine points.

Derrick Williams did not play.  Officially he was active, but was being held out with a sprained foot.  Many suspected Coach Malone might punish Williams for his attempted self-oop in the fourth quarter of the Chicago game.  If that was the case, it was done discreetly.

Raptors fans will surely be upset by the final minutes of the game.  Kyle Lowry drained a three that would've cut the Kings lead to 2, but was called for an offensive foul.  It appeared iffy when viewed live and was a terrible call on the replay.  Lowry's reaction to the call earned him his second technical foul and subsequent ejection.  Sacramento's been on the short end of the stick when it comes to refs, but tonight the Kings got the advantage.  This will surely be overlooked the next time a bad call hurts the Kings, but it is worth noting.  For more on the opponent's perspective, be sure to check out Raptors HQ.

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Silver took in his first game as NBA commissioner on Wednesday in Sacramento. He shared his thoughts on the league keeping the Kings in Sacramento, on the new downtown arena and his priorities for the league.

New NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Wednesday the league office is not worried about a downtown arena getting built in Sacramento.

Silver, who has been with the league for 22 years now, attended his first game as commissioner in Sacramento on Wednesday when the Kings took on the Toronto Raptors. The commissioner looked excited to be settling in to his new role, smiling from ear to ear as he made the rounds at Sleep Train Arena.

An entourage surrounded Silver the entire night. Kings owner Vivek Ranadive was the head of that entourage (Silver said he's been talking to Ranadive about a trip to Mumbai, India - Ranadive's home country).

"It is appropriate that commissioner 3.0 comes to franchise 3.0," Ranadive said. "He's going to be, I believe, one of the best leaders of any sports franchise and it's a huge honor to have my friend Adam here."

Silver had initially planned to tour the Downtown Plaza arena site earlier in the day, but weather forced a flight delay. He expects to take the tour on Thursday, however.

Below are some excerpts about the downtown arena from Silver's interview with the media at halftime.

Silver: I've never seen anything quite like it, I mean talk about, he [Ranadive] coined the phrase NBA 3.0 and this is arena 3.0. It's sort of an inside-outside architectural vision of Vivek's and his partners and, you know, everything appears to be on track and we remain excited and thrilled with the opportunity here.

Question: How worrisome is the political situation with the possibility of a vote later this year that could derail the funding?

Ranadive: We're going to be on schedule with this arena. I know they're called Stop, this is a go so it's going to be a go all the way.

Question: Do you concur Adam?

Silver: Yeah, no worries from the league office standpoint.

Question: How can you be so confident about the new arena getting built, given the political situation?

Silver: I'm so confident because I've known Kevin Johnson for over 20 years, I knew him as a player, I knew him as a broadcaster and obviously, I know him as a mayor now. I've sat in literally dozens of meetings with lawyers, political advisers, political leaders both from Sacramento and from California and talking to Vivek and his partners that I'm absolutely confident it's going to get done.

Question: How much input have you or the NBA had into this process?

Silver: We've had a lot of input from the beginning, I mean you guys know David Stern made this a priority for the league over the last several years so we have been very involved. I've been right there with David on, you know, most of the trips. I've sat in all of the meetings in New York and Vivek and I have been in regular touch since he bought the franchise.

Question: Can you talk about any specifics with the arena drawings that you can kind of describe in detail that impressed you?

Silver: I think most importantly, the sort of the grandness of the opening. It's what Vivek calls the sort of the indoor-outdoor look where they create a large concourse in the front and you get that sense that even when you are on the outside, it's sort of you're all part of what the event is happening inside the arena and I think the architectural vision as well, I mean I don't have the drawings in front of me but it's beautiful renderings as well. So it's, I mean I think it's very representative of, you know, the values of the game as expressed by Vivek and his partners.

Question: Is it possible you could get an NBA All Star event down here [Sacramento] in a few years?

Silver: Well, first you gotta build the building, but no question about it we'd love to come to Sacramento with an All-Star game.

Question: You had planned on going to Downtown Plaza, but the weather forced that not to happen, are you still planning to do that maybe tomorrow?

Silver: We are still going to do it, we're just working out the details right now. But I am not going to leave town without going to the Downtown Plaza.

Question: It has been reported that you delivered the key message to the owners about keeping the Kings during those [NBA Board of Governors] meetings, what did you say to them and what did you want to get across?

Silver: I think those meetings have always been confidential. I would just say that I've been a supporter and a strong supporter of keeping the Kings in Sacramento.

And one last quote: "This is where the team should be."

Other notes:

• Silver is not ready to name the injury replacement yet on the Western Conference All Star team. It will ultimately be his decision, but he will make the decision based on a recommendation. So no answer on DeMarcus Cousins yet. But Cousins did lobby in the first quarter of the game.
• A TV deal is a top business priority for him. The league still has two more years on its current deal. Silver called the current partnerships with ABC, ESPN, TNT and Turner Sports great. "I'd love to stay with those partners, but we'll see."
• He said he will focus on the relationship with the college game and the relationship of amateur basketball to the college game.
• "We should be a rival of the NFL." - Adam Silver
• His said his phone has been ringing off the hook, but he highlighted the support he has been getting from the owners, players and business partners of the league. He also said he has talked to Bud Selig, Roger Goodell and Gary Bettman.

Update

Yes, Kyle Lowry got screwed out of a potential 4-point play at the end of the game; but the Raptors stunk it up big-time through 3 quarters and got what they deserved. This was an UGLY basketball game.

Well, that was a bizarre end to what was, for 3 quarters at least, one of the worst games of professional basketball I've ever had the misfortune of witnessing. Seriously, I wanted to take a shower prior to the 4th quarter, and get the stink of 36 minutes of putrid Raptors basketball off of me.

These are some of my game notes just before the late rally:

Do they really have to play the 4th quarter?

I feel like pulling a Joakim Noah and flipping-off everyone involved in this game. Everyone.

How is there still 9 minutes left in this game?!

How is there still 6 minutes left in this game?!

The Kings led by 20 points, 92-72, at the end of the 3rd quarter, before the Raptors -- again, inexplicably, considering how excruciatingly bad they were for 36 minutes -- went on a 27-13 run. A combination of Ben McLemore failing to realize that Steve Novak has one basketball skill, and you probably want to nullify that skill; and the Kings simply being lulled to sleep by the overall dullness of the game/their opponent's ineptitude, resulted in the Raps clawing their way to within 5 points.

And it was a 6-point game, with 25 seconds left, when this happened:

Worst call of the season? It's definitely up there, along with the charge that was called on Lowry (coaches aren't the only ones that don't like him) late in the Brooklyn game last week. The officials on the floor obviously felt that Lowry kicked out -- Reggie Miller-style -- at McLemore. But Lowry did not initiate the contact with the Kings rookie. McLemore clearly jumped into Lowry. An awful, AWFUL call. And just so we were under no illusions as to the level of officiating incompetence on show, Lowry got a technical even though he ran down the other end of the court to remove himself from the situation.

Had the officials got the call correct, the Raps would've been down by just 3 with Lowry heading to the free-throw line. As it was, Lowry was ejected for his second technical, and the Kings closed the game out with a bunch of free-throws.

Oh, and speaking of free-throws...

Okay, so here's the thing: as egregious as that late call on Lowry was -- and it was bad -- the Raptors did not deserve to win this game. To reiterate: they were atrocious for more than 3 quarters. While the Kings shot poorly all game (just 39% from the floor) they got to the free-throw line at will -- attempting 51 free-throws. FIFTY-ONE. The Raptors attempted just 24, and while that disparity, if you're just looking at the box-score (and seeing that terrible Lowry call 100 times this morning) may lead you to believe that the Raps were screwed by the officials all night long, that's simply not the case.

The Kings got to the free-throw line 51 times because they absolutely bullied the Raptors in the paint. They attacked the basket constantly, and were rewarded for those efforts. The Raptors, on the other hand, only attempted 24 free-throws because they took way too many long jumpers. At times, in the 3rd quarter, it looked like the Raps had officially given up running any kind of offense -- dribble, dribble, pull-up, and repeat.

Perhaps the mere presence of Rudy Gay on the court caused some kind of ugly pavlovian response.

DeMarcus Cousins, or Raptors Killer, as we should start calling him, finished with 25 points and 10 boards -- 5 of those rebounds coming on the offensive glass. In fact, the Kings finished with 15 offensive rebounds overall, and they had 11 in the first half -- scoring 18 points off those extra possessions during the first 24 minutes of play.

And if it wasn't Boogie or Jason Thompson bullying the Raps' bigs in the paint, it was Isaiah Thomas and Gay driving to the bucket and getting to the line. Gay had 24 points and 10 rebounds in his first game against the Raps since being traded. And while he started the game 0 of 4, he soon realized that he was better served putting the ball on the deck and attacking the heart of a fragile Raptors defense. Shame he didn't do more of that during his time in T.O.

Oh, and the turnovers...

The Raps turned the ball over 17 times, with 8 of those giveaways coming in an ugly 2nd quarter. When I go to sleep tonight and inevitably have nightmares about being forced to watch this game over and over -- strapped in a chair, eyes forced open, like Alex in A Clockwork Orange -- what I'll see is not the blown Lowry call; but Jimmer friggin' Fredette leading a 4-on-1 fast-break after turnover number 655.

Did I mention that I hated this game?

For the Raps, Kyle Lowry was the lone bright-spot on the stat-sheet; he finished with 21 points and 8 assists; while Patterson and Novak (catalyst for the late run) fought hard off the bench, finishing with 14 and 12 points, respectively. But again, the Raptors dug themselves a massive hole during the first 40 minutes of the game, and although they seem to have an uncanny knack of kicking into gear once they're down by 20 (see games against Charlotte, Dallas, and Portland for previous variations of last night's narrative) it's an understatement to say that this is not a good habit.

Against Portland, falling down by 20, and then roaring back, was commendable. A moral victory with the team looking exhausted, playing in the second game of a back-to-back. But last night's attempted-comeback was no moral victory. We can all cry and moan about a terrible call that screwed the Raptors late; but as I'm sure Dwane Casey will point out, that call did not decide this game.

Copious amounts of crappy basketball decided this game.

Next up for the Raps, it's a Friday night tilt in L.A. against the Clippers. They'll need a much better effort against Blake Griffin and company if they want to end the Western Conference road trip on a winning note.

Additional Notes

• This game got so bad in the 3rd quarter that Matt Devlin reading badly composed tweets on air was more entertaining than what was happening on the court.
• The Raptors fall to 2 and 15 all-time against the Kings in Sacramento. Not great.
• DeMarcus Cousins is an absolute monster. There aren't too many centres and power forwards in the NBA that can defend him when he's on his game -- the Raps' bigs certainly couldn't last night. Such a handful.
• Sacramento's arena is called Sleep Train Arena. Also known as the worst named arena in professional sports. Seriously.
• I'm still worried about Amir Johnson. He only played 18 minutes last night, and mobility-wise, he's just not there. It might be worth sitting him for a couple games just to let him rest that ankle.
• Early in the 4th quarter Kings coach, Mike Malone, took what I thought was a jittery, premature timeout. He definitely doesn't trust his team to work through tough stretches on the court; and giving that they tried to hand the Raps this game, I don't totally blame him.
• Dont worry Raps fans: New commish, Adam Silver, was on hand to watch this one. Expect a prompt apology for the blown call...and then a fine for putting on such a crappy performance.

ESPN's Marc Stein reports that the Kings rookie will be the first King to participate in the event since Gerald Wallace.

The Kings won't be completely shut out of All-Star weekend festivities next week despite Ben McLemore being left off the Rising Stars team and DeMarcus Cousins being left off the All-Star team.

ESPN's Marc Stein reported last night on ESPN that McLemore is one of the six contestants for this year's dunk contest.  He will be joined by defending champion Terrence Ross, Paul George, John Wall, Damian Lillard and Harrison Barnes.

This news has not yet been confirmed by the Kings, but the NBA is planning on announcing the participants of the Dunk Contest, Skills Challenge and Three Point Shootout today at 4 p.m. Pacific on TNT so we'll know sooner rather than later.

We've definitely seen our fair share of great dunks from Ben this season, as well as an almost equal share of missed dunks.  Hopefully he'll put on a good show.

The last time the Kings had someone in the dunk contest, it was Gerald Wallace.  This is a good enough excuse as any to post the replay.

I also wouldn't be surprised to see if Ben is added to the Rising Stars Challenge at the last minute since he's going to be there for the Dunk Contest anyway.

Best of luck Ben! Even if you don't win, at least beat Paul George for us.

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• Adam Silver reiterates league's confidence in Sacramento's arena plan
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Here are your Thursday links!

Mornings after a Thunder win are just a lot better. You wake up energized and ready for the next game. Now, lets keep the excitement rolling as you read some of these links around the league.Especially WTLC's recap of last night's game.

***

We all know that Kevin Durant is a machine on the basketball court, but even machines have feelings. Durant had a special message sharpie'd on his shoe and it appears that it probably was related to a family friend of his who passed away. Our condolences!

It is now February and January players of the month were announced and guess what? Kevin Durant was named the Western Conference player of the month. What a surprise. Carmelo Anthony was the winner in the East thanks to his ridiculous 62-point performance.

Do you guys wanna know how bad the Cavaliers are? The Lakers ran out of healthy/eligible players and they were still able to beat Cleveland by 11 points. It was the weirdest situation I've ever seen.

Here's an entire recap of the situation by Yahoo! Ball Don't Lie. It's amazing.

LaMarcus Aldridge hit a decisive shot last night to take down the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, but right after he made the shot he mean mugged Spike Lee. Spike is the ultimate fan, but he trash talks opposing players more than the actual guys wearing the Knicks uniform. I wonder how many wins he's cost the Knicks throughout the years.

New commissioner Adam Silver made his first trip to an NBA Arena and it was to Sacramento. I guess we all know who the favorite to win the lottery is now, am I right?

Silver visited with Kings owner Vivek Ranadive on his first trip since taking over for David Stern on Saturday. He received a standing ovation from the sellout crowd for Sacramento's game against Toronto on Wednesday night.

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The Kings embraced a game plan that saw them constantly attacking the basket and playing physical and they were rewarded for it with their second win in a row. However they almost gave away the game in the final quarter by going away from that game plan.

How many times in the past decade have we lamented when another team gets all the calls, when another team won't stop shooting free throws? I can think of several occasions from this season alone.

Last night was different. Last night the Kings chose to set the tone early by attacking early and often and not letting up. Toronto has become a good defensive team since the Rudy Gay trade, but they don't exactly have an interior presence. Malone knew that, and so Malone had the Kings going inside constantly.

The Kings as a team won this game because of it. Yes, there was a late Raptors flurry at the end (we'll get to that) but it was their aggressiveness through three quarters that won the game. Toronto ended up making four more field goals and six more threes and still lost by 8. Why? Because the Kings did two things: take care of the ball and get to the line. Sacramento had just 10 turnovers and a whopping 51 free throw attempts. That's only happened 12 times in the Sacramento-era, with the last time being a 2009 overtime game against the Warriors that saw both teams break the 140 point mark (somewhat surprisingly the Kings lost 7 of those 12 games).

There wasn't one King that really shot the ball well. Rudy Gay, DeMarcus Cousins and Isaiah Thomas all struggled with their shots, particularly from outside. But because they were aggressive in both getting inside and seeking contact, they got to the line. Those three alone combined for 41 of Sacramento's free throw attempts. 15 of Thomas' 23 points came at the line.

All those free throws meant a lot of fouls on the Raptors as well. Hayes, Vasquez and Lowry all fouled out and Valanciunas had 5 in just 21 minutes.

Sacramento's aggressiveness (and another solid defensive effort) helped them get out to a 20 point lead through three quarters. So how come they only won by 8 and almost let the Raptors cut it to 2? Well, they went away from the game plan.

Starting a few minutes in, just after Cousins made a couple free throws to push the lead to 22, the Raptors went on a 19-2 run on the back of Steve Novak. Novak scored 11 of the Raptors next 19 points, including three triples. The Kings offense, which had gone small (they were running a three guard lineup with Isaiah, Jimmer and Ben with Rudy at PF) sputtered as they reverted to a perimeter game that hadn't really been there all game. Toronto made them pay by getting out quickly and knocking down their shots.

In my personal opinion, Coach Malone made a mistake here by sticking with the small lineup. The Raptors were clearly playing better against it, and Steve Novak in particular was a killer. Toronto had just one big man on the floor in Valanciunas. This is where I would have liked to see Malone send in Jason Thompson to play PF next to Cousins and have the Kings take advantage of the mismatch on the other end. Jason's got a good post-game, and the only thing Novak can do is hit threes. Defending big men (or really anyone) is not part of his repertoire.

It got kind of scary with 25 seconds left when Kyle Lowry drilled a three and a whistle was called. Everyone around me in the arena got flashbacks to Paul George a couple weeks ago, thinking Ben fouled Lowry. However, the refs called Lowry for an offensive foul for kicking his legs out and the basket was discontinued. This was a call that I think the Kings were fortunate to get but get it they did. The play also resulted in Lowry's ejection due to six fouls and a second technical just to be sure.

Sacramento held on to win after the Raptors were forced to play the free throw game. It was yet another example of the Kings being unable to close games out, but they had played well enough through the first three quarters that it didn't come back and bite them in the ass this time. As Malone said afterward, this team still needs to learn how to play 48 minutes of good basketball. Not 42, not 45, but 48.

Random Observations:

• I got to sit in Sign Lady's seat yesterday since she unfortunately was not able to be there (#LoveForSignLady). It was the closest I've ever sat to the court at an NBA game and the view from there is incredible. You see all sorts of stuff you either don't notice on television or from higher up. For instance, there was one play where the Kings messed up on offense but got bailed out on a whistle. Malone saw it and as the guys prepped for their free throws, he went over to his bench and started explaining what should have happened in that scenario and how to do it right. I asked Mr. Sign Lady if the other Kings coaches of the past years had done this, and he says they had, but Malone has done it more often than the rest.
• I really hope Marcus Thornton is ok. I was sitting right by where he fell, and it hurt me when I saw him fall. He was playing pretty well too, one of his first games where he was actually doing well as a complementary piece within the offense.
• Jason Thompson deserves a lot of credit for helping us get out to that early lead. He was a beast on the boards, especially the offensive glass (he and Cousins combined for 11 offensive rebounds) and I thought he should have played more.
• Derrick Williams was out with a "foot strain". That injury is just a little coincidental, don't you think?
• A lot of camaraderie between the old Raps and old Kings last night. When Chuck Hayes entered the game, DeMarcus started laughing and joking with him like "You're gonna guard me? Really?". At another point in the game with DeRozan at the line after a questionable whistle, Aaron Gray stood up and went "Hey DeMar! DeMar! You know you traveled man, don't even lie." while making the traveling motion. Vasquez and Malone were joking with each other between free throws too. It was fun to see.
• Mike Malone had one of the quotes of the year in the post-game presser: "If I knew Patrick was going to shoot like he has been with that mask on, I would have broken his nose two months ago"

Can the Kings take care of business on this upcoming road trip?

How well will the Kings fare on their upcoming 4-game road trip?

The Sacramento Kings are coming off two solid wins. The Kings decimated the Chicago Bulls on Monday, and followed that up with a victory over the Toronto Raptors. The Bulls game was never in doubt, whereas the Kings squandered a 20 point lead and barely held on against Toronto. Nonetheless, Toronto is a much better team than the Bulls.

As the Kings prepare to embark on a 4-game road trip to the East Coast, where should we set our expectations? With upcoming games against the Boston Celtics, Washington Wizards, Cleveland Cavaliers, and the New York Knicks, what can we realistically expect?

The Kings haven't played as well on the road as at home, but I still could see 2 or 3 wins on this trip. Boston is tough to call. The Kings could win, but Boston is certainly still capable of putting up some solid games every now and then.

I would expect a loss to the Wizards, as Washington has played quite well lately. They went into Phoenix and beat the Suns, went into Oakland and beat the Warriors. Beat the Thunder, beat the Trailblazers, took the Spurs to double overtime. The Wizards are not to be trifled with.

The Cavaliers are an outright disaster. I'm afraid of this game simply because of the Kings' tendency to play to the level of their opponent. It's a game the Kings should win.

The Knicks are another coin flip in my book. I could easily see the Kings winning, but the Knicks are still capable of randomly looking competent.

But I put it to you. What are your expectations? How many games will the Kings win on this East Coast swing? Vote in the poll and discuss below.

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James Herbert of SB Nation joins the show to talk Kings/Raptors, Ben McLemore's development, Rudy Gay and roster construction, and much more.

The Sactown Royalty Show is back!  This week I'm excited to welcome James Herbert as my guest.  James writes for SB Nation NBA and is a great twitter follow (@outsidethenba).  He's just an all-around great guy to talk basketball with.

James lives in Toronto, so we started by discussing Wednesday's Kings/Raptors game.  We talked about Rudy Gay and the importance of roster construction and player roles.  We spent some time talking about Ben McLemore's development, and his inclusion in this year's dunk contest.  We talked about Isaiah Thomas' value in the market, DeMarcus Cousins' being left off the All-Star roster, and so much more.  It was a great episode, and you should really check it out.

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.

As always, thanks for listening.

More from Sactown Royalty

Follow @sactownroyaltyFollow @SBNationNBA

• Go East, Young Kings
• Kings still learning how to play 48 minutes of basketball
• Ben McLemore to (probably) participate in the Dunk Contest
• Adam Silver reiterates league's confidence in Sacramento's arena plan
• Kings hold off Raptors, win 109-101

Detroit has six games before the trade deadline, a tougher schedule going forward and all kinds of tradeable pieces. Whether the team becomes buyers, sellers or stands pat will be dictated by how it performs over the next two weeks.

It's hard to describe the Detroit Pistons season as anything other than a disaster. The Pistons have joined the Cavs, Knicks and maybe the Kings as teams with an eye on big improvements and/or the playoffs that have completely and utterly failed.

The Cavs just fired their general manager. The Knicks are on the verge of maybe firing their coach. The Kings traded for Rudy Gay using expiring deals and middling young pieces.

What are the Pistons going to do?

We will certainly find out in the next six games. Play well and the Pistons could trade expiring deals for a legit player (likely) or even package expirings and Greg Monroe for a "blockbuster" (much less likely, in my opinion).

So is there reason for hope? That all depends on whether you're rooting for a low playoff spot or the retention of the Pistons draft pick. Detroit plays six games between now and the trade deadline on Feb. 21.

Detroit has home games against Brooklyn, Denver (back to back) and San Antonio. They will be lucky to win one of those games. The Pistons then face the hapless Cavs. Lets give them a win there, too. Detroit then plays a home-and-home series against the Charlotte Bobcats, who currently occupy the eighth playoff seed in the East and are two games in front of the Pistons.

If they lose those two games they could be sitting four games out of the playoff picture, 14 games below .500 and every incentive to trade any and all vets and expiring contracts for anything they can get.

But if they perform above expectations, say steal both Bobcats games, beat Cleveland and steal one of the others then they could vault into the seventh or eighth seed and be looking to upgrade their roster.

And if they don't upgrade, they shouldn't be expected to stay in the playoff hunt. Not even in the woeful East. According to ESPN, the Pistons have played the second-easiest schedule in the NBA (tied with Charlotte and Cleveland, coincidentally).

But after the All-Star break things get a whole lot tougher for the Pistons. Their next 15 opponents are: Atlanta, Dallas, Golden State, San Antonio, Houston, New York, Chicago, Minnesota, Boston, Sacramento, Toronto, Indiana, Denver, Phoenix, L.A. Clippers. Seven home games and eight road games. Nine games against the West with six on the road.

The Pistons' remaining schedule is ranked 18th in the NBA, according to TeamRankings. Teams with easier schedules than Detroit going forward include teams in their way of the playoffs (Brooklyn has fifth-easiest schedule and Charlotte has the seventh easiest) and a handful of teams with worse records than them (Utah, Cleveland, Boston and Orlando).

Standing pat probably means the Pistons miss the playoffs and either narrowly lose or narrowly keep their draft pick. But if the team doesn't stand pat, these next six games will dictate the direction the franchise takes.

John Salmons, Greivis Vasquez, Chuck Hayes and Patrick Patterson were all back in Sacramento on Wednesday. While the Raptors have played better since the trade, the visitor's locker room was full of long faces after the loss to the Kings.

When players return to the cities that they were traded from they expect to play well. In fact, they try to prove to their former team that they made a mistake by trading them.

The Toronto Raptors had four players in Wednesday's game against the Kings that had the opportunity to do just that.

But the Kings' defense (at least through the first three quarters) and an unbelievable 51 free throw attempts derailed the hopes of John Salmons, Greivis Vasquez, Chuck Hayes and Patrick Patterson for a chance at redemption.

They, of course, were sent to the Raptors in the deal that brought Rudy Gay, Quincy Acy and Aaron Gray to the Kings on Dec. 8.

After the Kings defeated the Raptors 109-101 Wednesday night, Johnny Salmons looked completely distraught and lost in thought in the visitor's locker room with his head down. When reporters approached him, he took a few moments to collect himself before he answered the first question.

"Just didn't come out like a team that was hungry," Salmons said quietly.

Vasquez was equally down following the loss.

"I wanted to win this game, it was special because I was here, obviously, but unfortunately it didn't work out," said Vasquez, who finished with five points, four assists and two rebounds in 26 minutes before fouling out.

Center Chuck Hayes had five points, five rebounds and three assists in 17 minutes (honestly, not a bad game for the Chuck Wagon). But he also fouled out. Hayes said he was surprised the Raptors didn't come flying out of the gate given the history between the two teams.

He labeled it the worst game Toronto has played since the trade.

"The history that happened a couple of months ago, you know, it sucks," Hayes told Sactown Royalty. "This is one probably you lose a couple of hours of sleep."

The former Kings shouldn't get too down on themselves, however, because the Raptors have played well since the trade. They are the No. 3 seed (yes, you read that right) in the Eastern Conference right now with a record of 26-23 and have a good shot at the playoffs while the Kings do not.

There was nothing personal between the players themselves on the floor Wednesday night. As Akis pointed out, a lot of joking going on. But these guys clearly wanted this game.

Hayes said he and DeMarcus Cousins chatted before tip-off about their families. Family is what hit Hayes the hardest when the trade happened. Trades occur all the time in the NBA and often lost in the analysis is the human aspect of it.

"It was not expected. It was on a Sunday. I was checking my fantasy football and I got a phone call from my agent and the first thing I thought of was my son," Hayes said. "I understand it's a business, I understand it comes with the territory, but ... my first reaction was my son's going to need a passport so I had to go get him a passport and start packing up his stuff."

For Salmons, this trade stung more than when he was traded by the Kings in 2008 to the Chicago Bulls. He told our friends over at Cowbell Kingdom that the second trade was "a little tougher this time."

I asked him what he meant by that.

"The first time around was more like a compliment to me. This time I didn't feel that way," said the subdued Salmons. His lone stat in Wednesday's game was 1 rebound in 15 minutes.

Vasquez, who had his feet dipped into a bucket of ice after the game, admitted he is still not back to 100 percent following his offseason ankle surgery. He said the trade was a good thing for him.

"At the time, I was struggling here. It was a tough time and then maybe I needed somewhere else to start all over," Vasquez said.

As is tradition with Kings fans, the former Raptors were greeted with applause when they entered the game, and it didn't go unnoticed.

"I was actually surprised and grateful by the ovation I got when I checked in. I was not expecting that," Hayes said. "I wish them all the best, they have a good young team over there."

Rudy Gay finished the game with 24 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and three assists. He told reporters after the game that he "took the fall for a lot of things" in Toronto. The other player involved in the trade, Patrick Patterson, had a decent game. He finished with 14 points, four rebounds and three assists in 23 minutes. And he was 6-9 from the field and 2-2 from three. The Kings sure could have used shooting like that earlier this season!

Can the Kings make it three in a row? They'll have a good chance at it tonight as they take on the banged up Celtics.

Tonight the Kings take on the Boston Celtics (4:30 pm on Comcast SportsNet California and KHTK 1140) in the first game of a four game Eastern Conference road trip. The Celtics famously blew up their team this summer when they sent Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry to Brooklyn, and Rajon Rondo has spent most of the season recovering from ACL surgery he had last year, only coming back recently.

MATCHUP OF THE GAME

Rudy Gay vs. Jeff Green

Normally, the matchup of the game would be Thomas vs. Rondo but with Rondo not fully himself yet, let's take a look at the wings, where Jeff Green leads the Celtics in scoring at 16.3 points a game. Green can be a bit streaky at times, particularly from deep where he's shooting 37.1% for the season. Gay will hopefully be able to wear him out on both ends, as he possesses both the length and athleticism to defend him and score on him.

3 THINGS

1. Both teams are a little bit banged up, with Boston definitely having it worse. For Sacramento, Marcus Thornton may be out with a bruised hip and knee that he suffered in Wednesday's game during the Raptors. For Boston, Rajon Rondo, Avery Bradley and Vitor Faverani are all listed as day-to-day. If Thornton doesn't play, I expect Ben McLemore will start in his place, with the possibility of Jimmer Fredette since Boston's pretty small. Either way, expect more minutes for both those guys without Thornton.

2. The Celtics, like the Raptors, don't have a ton of big man depth which should be good for DeMarcus Cousins. The guys the Celtics will likely throw at him include Kris Humphries, Brandon Bass, Jared Sullinger, and rookie Kelly Olynyk (also Vitor Faverani if he plays). DeMarcus (and even Jason Thompson) need to take advantage of this.

3. Boston doesn't have a lot of premiere scorers, and are 25th in the league in offense. However they do have a decent defense under rookie coach Brad Stevens, especially in the backcourt where they feature Rondo and Avery Bradley. They're not elite at any one thing on that end, but they're solid in many spots like rebounding (14th), opponent FG% (12th) and opponent 3P% (8th).

PRE-GAME HAIKU

Remember that time
Boston thought they could get Cuz?
Hahahahaha

PREDICTION

Kings 173, Celtics 89 as the bruises in Marcus Thornton's hip and knees, along with the minuscule change in weight of the new basketballs that say Adam Silver rather than David Stern, tweak his shooting motion just enough that he never misses.

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• Former Kings return to Sacramento, take loss hard
• The Sactown Royalty Show Ep 34: James Herbert
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Link to The Leaderboard

Below are a series of prediction questions for tonight's game. The first four questions will be asked every game, while the 5th will change each game.

Point value for predictions are listed next to the questions. If you believe that more than one player will lead a category, you can vote for multiple players, and this is worth double points if you are correct, but zero if you are wrong. Alternately, if you only guess one player when multiple players are tied, you get zero points.

All submissions must be input before tip-off. Any submissions after tip-off will not count. You are allowed only one submission and may not change unless specifically stated.

Questions:

1. Who do you think will win the game, and what will the final score be? (1 point for guessing winner. 2 points for guessing winner and correct score of one team. 5 points for guessing winner and exact score)

2. Who will be the game's leading scorer? (1 point for guessing scorer, 2 points for guessing exact points scored)

3. Who will be the game's leading rebounder? (1 point for guessing rebounder, 2 points for guessing exact rebounds)

4. Who will be the game's leading assist man? (1 point for guessing assist man, 2 points for guessing exact assists)

5. Predict the combined Points, Rebounds and Steals for Kelly Olynyk, Jared Sullinger and Brandon Bass (1 point for one right, 3 points for two right, 5 points for all right.)

Today is Isaiah Thomas' birthday. Let's celebrate with some fun facts.

Today is Isaiah Thomas' birthday.

When Akis took over the site he mandated that this day be a paid holiday. For Akis only. He also mandated that a birthday post be put up to honor the Hustlin' Husky. Which brings us to the present.

In honor of Isaiah's birthday, here are some fun facts* you may not have known.

• Isaiah Thomas was 6'4" but shrank himself to even the playing field for other NBA stars
• Isaiah Thomas can probably juggle chainsaws
• Isaiah Thomas is the poet laureate of the Sacramento Kings
• Isaiah Thomas is a two-term congressman
• Isaiah Thomas is not a pizza guy, he's the pizza guy
• Isaiah Thomas spends his off days rescuing animals from burning buildings
• Isaiah Thomas has never seen a lunar eclipse
• Isaiah Thomas has written three symphonies
• Isaiah Thomas once made John Salmons laugh
• Isaiah Thomas speaks 14 languages
• Isaiah Thomas can throw a football over that mountain
• Isaiah Thomas stopped terrorists who took over the Nakatomi Plaza on Christmas Eve
• Isaiah Thomas has a tattoo of Roy Orbison
• Isaiah Thomas swims with dolphins
• Isaiah Thomas sings like a cross between Jesus and Fergie
• Isaiah Thomas has never lost a knife fight
• Isaiah Thomas totally likes that band that you like

That's just a handful of facts* about Isaiah. There are plenty more. So join us in wishing Isaiah a happy birthday, and share some Isaiah facts in the comments.

*Who is to say what is and isn't factual, man?

Both teams will be missing at least two regular starters in tonight's game.

It appears that both teams will be entering tonight's game a little banged up.

Coach Brad Stevens confirmed to a Boston radio station that Rajon Rondo and Avery Bradley will both be out tonight dealing with soreness.  Rondo has played just 8 games since coming back from his ACL injury.  Bradley is out with an ankle sprain.  With no Rondo or Bradley, Boston's backcourt starters project to be Jerryd Bayless and Gerald Wallace.  Rookies Phil Pressey and Vander Blue, along with recent signing Chris Johnson, will probably see some time as well.

For Sacramento, Rudy Gay apparently caught whatever virus Isaiah Thomas and Jimmer Fredette had last week:

Just informed that Rudy Gay is out with the flu. Marcus Thornton out with left hip comtusion.

— James Ham (@James_Ham) February 7, 2014

Derrick Williams, who sat out last game with a foot strain, will start in Gay's place.

Also out for Sacramento is Marcus Thornton, who is nursing a bruised hip and knee after a really hard fall in Wednesday's game against the Raptors.  Ben McLemore will likely start in his place.

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Boston's backcourt injury woes continue with both Bradley and Rondo out Friday.

Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens has announced that guards Rajon Rondo and Avery Bradley will miss the team's game against the Sacramento Kings on Friday, per Jay King of Mass Live. Rondo is expected to return to the lineup Sunday when they play the Dallas Mavericks but will likely be out again Monday for the second half of Boston's back-to-back.

Both guards experienced soreness following Boston's win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday. The Celtics have been cautious with Rondo while he returns to game shape following an ACL tear that sidelined him for nearly a year. The team initially placed him on a minutes restriction over the first weeks of his return, though his minute load has increased over the past four games. Rondo played a season-high 32 minutes against Philadelphia.

Bradley suffered an ankle sprain in January and missed six games. He aggravated the injury on Wednesday, which could have been a factor in the team signing guard Chris Johnson for the remainder of the season.

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• NBA newsletter: Good morning, it's a shakeup in Cleveland

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• Doug Eberhardt: Please don't retire, Steve Nash

• The weird new NBA slam dunk contest format, explained

• Flannery: How far can John Wall carry the Wizards?

Game #49: Utah Jazz (16-32) @ Dallas Mavericks (29-21)

American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX

February 7, 2014 -- 6:30 pm MT

TV: ROOT Sports -- RADIO: 1280 am / 97.5 fm

February Game Streams -- Mavs Moneyball -- Jazz vs Mavericks coverage

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Years ago when the whole Stockton-to-Malone era was in their swan song the Jazz were having increasingly difficult times even making the playoffs; let alone being a Top seed with homecourt through a few rounds. The Sacramento Kings really did a number on us for a few years, but it was the Dallas Mavericks that derailed our train. Right now the Jazz are on the opposite side of that equation. The Dallas Mavericks, far removed from their NBA Finals trials, are now looking at holding onto the 8th seed in the Western Conference. They are on a good streak of wins right now, but their roster is made up mostly by players who are on the downsides of their careers. It could be time to turn the table on them, at least for one night, and exact some form of revenge.

It's not going to be easy, though. The Mavericks are 29-21 and the current 8th seed in the West. They are 17-8 at home, and above .500 against Western Conference opponents. In their last 10 games they are only 6-4, but Dallas was won their last 3 games, and four of their last five. This season Rick Carlisle has cobbled together one of the best offenses in the league (#3 in Off Rtg with 110.7 points per 100.0 possessions). They are #7 in overall points per game, scoring 104.7 times on average. Their defense is where the problem is, they are #25 in Def RTG and #24 in opponents PPG. Why is their defense so poor? A quick look tells me that they are Bottom 5 in three of the four defensive factors. #27 in opponents eFG% (51.4%), #28 in DRB% (72.4%), and #29 in FT/FGA ratio (.248). Effectively, they rarely clear the glass when they do get a stop, the other team makes more than half of their shots, and they send the other team to the line once every four shots taken. It's bad. They do cause a lot of turn overs though. But they are just much, much better on offense than defense.

The rebounding problems persist here (#23 in ORB%), but that's partly due to the fact that they take and make good shots, and get to the line. They are a great Xs and Os team on offense, and all their vets /former All-Stars make them more than a handful when playing at home. In a way they are a lot like our old Jazz teams after the finals.

Except, of course, we still had statistical beasts on the team.

Yup, Monta and Dirk are doing their thing. But they play four guys 30+ mpg, and the next guy plays half the game. All five of these guys are vets, and the glaring thing here is that no one really rebounds for this team. They don't have the size advantage, though Dalembert is a Dalembeast once every six games. They aren't more athletic than us. They're just very smart on offense. This does sound like our old Jazz squad, right?

Speaking of the Jazz, we're on a three game losing streak, and have lost five of our last seven. We're going in the opposite direction. The Jazz are #27 in PPG, and #30th in Def RTG. We can't crow about anything, but we are healthy right now, so that's excellent news!

I would say we have to attack the glass tonight if we want to win. That's Dallas' main problem, and while it's been our problem too -- we should out hustle these old guys. We should worry because tonight is the Devin Harris revenge game v. 2.3932 -- so, you know, this is the one game I expect him not to air ball his technical free throws in. #Memories

Seriously, though; Dallas is a good team fighting for a playoff spot. We're a team that's young, with nothing to lose. This is almost like that Jazz/Dallas match-up years ago, except in reverse. If you care about the historical aspects of this battle, the Jazz are 89-63 against the Mavs all-time; but only 31-45 on the road. I call this the curse of Roy Tarpley.

So obviously, fate will let us win. We're going to break the Mavs win streak tonight. Or, you know, maybe not. We'll see. Basketball is supposed to be fun, remember? It's a lot more fun when our team is healthy. We can surprise anyone on any given night.

Jared Sullinger matched DeMarcus Cousins 31 points and 16 rebounds exactly and the Celtics supporting cast far outplayed Sacramento's as the Kings dropped their first road game of this trip.

No Rondo and no Bradley. The Celtics chances just went way up against the Kings since they'll underestimate them now.

— Akis Yerocostas (@Aykis16) February 7, 2014

Sacramento dropped the first game of their Eastern Conference Road trip as they fell to the Boston Celtics 99 to 86.  Sacramento was without Rudy Gay and Marcus Thornton, but Boston was without Rajon Rondo or Avery Bradley.

DeMarcus Cousins was the big man in the middle for Sacramento with 31 points, 16 rebounds and 3 assists, but he got little help aside from Isaiah Thomas (24 points, 6 assists).  Only Derrick Williams scored in double digits (11 points) but he shot just 2-11 from the field.  Sacramento as a team shot just 35.6% compared to 45.5% for Boston.

The Celtics got a huge performance from Jared Sullinger, who matched Cousins with 31 points and 16 rebounds of his own.  Jerryd Bayless and Kelly Olynyk both had solid performances off the bench with 19 and 11 points respectively.

This game was really decided in a combined 8 minute span at the beginning of both the 2nd and 4th quarters when DeMarcus Cousins and Isaiah Thomas had to sit and the bench took over.  I normally hate +/- but tonight it tells the story: Cousins (+7) and Thomas (+4) were the only Kings that played meaningful minutes that finished with a positive differential.  Jimmer Fredette and Carl Landry, who played just 8 minutes each, were both -17, as they were part of the bench unit during the huge runs.  Boston broke open the game in the 4th quarter when they turned a 1 point lead into a 15 point lead in a matter of a few minutes.

The Kings will look to bounce back Sunday in Washington against the Wizards.

For the opponent's perspective, visit CelticsBlog

Jared Sullinger and Gerald Wallace push the Celtics past DeMarcus Cousins and Isaiah Thomas, as Rajon Rondo and Avery Bradley sat out tonight's game.

In a tight and pretty exciting game, the Celtics managed to grind out the win.

Let's just dub the first quarter "Cousins vs Sully at the Garden". The Celtics started looking for Jared early, and him and Cousins kind of took turns hitting and missing both drives and a couple of spot up shots. Overall however, the Kings managed to keep the Celtics behind them, mainly because the Celtics missed a bunch of tough shots. The C's turned it over a fair bit too, but luckily the Kings didn't really manage to convert more than a couple into actual points.

Two freethrow's by Kelly O'Lynyk prevented a ten-point deficit at the end of the half, 21-29.

The second quarter started with the Kings playing fairly poorly and the Celtics capitalising, managing a small lead off of some good offensive plays by O'Lynyk combined with some decent defence. There was a small 10-0 run, which was nice. The second quarter also brought a nice (and slightly short) stretch of basketball where Pressey and Thomas were going at eachother.

A nice detail, our bench outscored theirs 20 to 2 in this half. Though a bit messy, the Celtics managed to end the quarter quite strong, going into half-time at a score of 49-46, scoring 28 to the King's 17.

The second half starts of with some bad defense on the Celtic side and some 4 easy points, but a quick time-out call by Brad Stevens put a stop this, as the Celtics proceeded to score 10 straight points off some strong play by Sullinger. Some inspired play in this quarter by Isaiah Thomas kept the Kings in the game, but Bayless countered with some impressive shooting (5 of 5 up to this point) and the quarter ends with the Celtics up 71-69.

The fourth quarter turned nasty with some pretty questionable reffing, resulting in a squable between Isaiah Thomas and a knocked-down Jerryd Bayless, and later a technical foul on a talkative Gerald Wallace.

The story of the quarter is a one-two punch between great play by Wallace and a great outing by Sullinger, as they use the questionable calls to fuel their play. A 15-0 run pretty much got the Celtics in the clear, going up by as many as 18 points, and taking the game by 10 points.

99 - 89, Celtics.

Some notes:

- It didn't come out in the report above, but Gerald Wallace had a ridiculously good game. In 40 minutes he had 12 rebounds, 9 assists and 8 points, some of which came in key stretches.

- Jared Sullinger was stellar, grabbing 16 rebounds and scoring 31 points on 14-24 shooting.

- DeMarcus Cousins managed 16 rebounds, and 31 points as well, but somehow ended up with a +7 plus-minus score where Sully had the +17. Funny how that's also the difference in the one stat that matters.

- Bayless ended with 19 points and 4 assists, shooting 4-5 from three-point land.

- O'Lynyk did his work on the boards with 9 rebounds, chipping in 11 points and a respectable 5 assists.

- Jeff Green managed 17 points as well, mainly from his drives to the basket, as he hit just 2-8 from three.

- Isaiah Thomas was a manace with 24 points and 6 assists.

DeMarcus Cousins, Rudy Gay and Isaiah Thomas are all having great seasons, but when one of them doesn't play or underwhelms, the Kings suffer with nobody else able to perform on a consistent basis.

Since the Rudy Gay trade, a lot of attention has been given to Sacramento's "Big Three" of DeMarcus Cousins, Gay and Isaiah Thomas. Together, they form the only trio in the NBA to each average at least 20 points each, and when all three are healthy on the court together, the Kings have performed well (11-11 in those games).

It's when one or more of those guys are absent or underperform that Sacramento really has trouble. Last night was just the latest example as Rudy Gay missed the game with the flu. DeMarcus Cousins and Isaiah Thomas were the only ones able to generate any real offense of the Kings, scoring 55 of Sacramento's 89 points (almost 62% of Sacramento's total output) on a combined 21 of 42 shooting. The rest of the team however scored just 34 points on 10 of 45 shooting (22.2%).

It's amazing just how quickly it all goes to hell too. Even without Gay, the Kings were still better with Cousins (+7) and Thomas (+3) on the floor than the Celtics, but during two small stretches where they left the floor at the start of the 2nd and 4th quarters, Boston went wild and the Kings couldn't get a score or a stop. Those stretches, encompassing just about 8 total minutes, were all it took for Boston to win the game. Sacramento's bench ended up being outscored 37 to 12. Hell, rookie Kelly Olynyk had more points (19), rebounds (9) and assists (5) in 26 minutes off Boston's bench than Sacramento's entire bench.

Aside from Cousins, Gay and Thomas, the Kings don't have anyone that performs consistently. The Kings hoped Derrick Williams could be such a guy when they acquired him, but so far he's either hit or miss. The same with Carl Landry, but he's missed most of the year and is clearly a ways away from being his old self. Marcus Thornton hasn't really figured out how to contribute unless he's featured heavily in the offense. Jimmer Fredette looks amazing at some points, and completely out of his element at others. Ben McLemore and Ray McCallum are both rookies that need a lot of development yet. Travis Outlaw is Travis Outlaw.

Quincy Acy and Jason Thompson have probably been the most consistent performers of the rest of the crew, but their games are best suited as complements.

One thing to remember though is that the reason the Kings have no real depth is that they gave it up in order to acquire Gay. Patterson, Vasquez, Hayes and even Salmons are all good rotation players in their own right. If the Kings had those guys AND Rudy Gay, this would look like a really solid squad. But we don't, because that was the cost of getting Gay. As such, when Gay is out, the Kings have an even weaker roster than they did before the trade. That helps explain why Sacramento has gone just 1-6 in the seven games since the trade Rudy has been out (that includes the Houston game where he got injured) and why the only Kings players with a positive +/- per 100 possessions are the starters: Isaiah Thomas (+7.5), Marcus Thornton (+6.4), Rudy Gay (+7.5), Jason Thompson (+5.4) and DeMarcus Cousins (+5.8).

The good news is that this is a temporary problem. Depth can be acquired in a few ways, while acquiring stars like Gay is much more difficult. The trade deadline is in a couple weeks and I expect we'll see a few moves from Sacramento's end here. We know we need another ballhandler, we know we need better defenders, but we also need guys who can hit open shots on a consistent basis.

Rebuilding takes time. It doesn't happen overnight. Right now the Kings have three players they can count on any given night, and they've proven that with those three guys, they can play with anyone. Now it's time to build around them and make our "Big Three" more than just an "Only Three".

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