Not nice, Quincy. Not nice.

Sacramento Kings forward Quincy Acy was in the gym Saturday, teaching his two-year-old son an important lesson: There are no easy baskets in the NBA.

Austin Acy got swatted. Rejected. Blown up. The only thing missing was a Dikembe Mutombo finger wag from Quincy.

The only thing left here is to put Austin Acy on a Vine dunk cam. Acy to DeMarcus lob, anyone?

Anyway, it's all laughs now, but when Austin Acy hits his prime in a few decades there could be some revenge brewing. People don't forget these important moments, so Quincy should keep his guard up if he's invited to shoot some hoops with his son.

13/14 NBA Preseason
(13-56, 5-29 road)	vs.	(24-45, 14-20 home)
March 23, 2014
Sleep Train Arena | Sacramento, CA
5:00 CT
FS Wisconsin | 620 WTMJ
Probable Starters
Brandon Knight	PG	Isaiah Thomas
Giannis Antetokounmpo (?)	SG	Ben McLemore
Khris Middleton	SF	Rudy Gay
Ersan Ilyasova	PF	Reggie Evans
Zaza Pachulia	C	DeMarcus Cousins
2012/13 Advanced Stats
91.8 (25th)	Pace	94.5 (14th)
102.3 (26th)	ORtg	105.9 (17th)
111.0 (30th)	DRtg	108.5 (24th)

On the Kings:Sactown Royalty | Cowbell Kingdom | A Royal Pain

Three weeks after the Kings cruised to a 116-102 road win in Milwaukee, the Bucks continue their winless Western road trip in Sacramento today with an afternoon tipoff against the improving but still not-so-improved KIngs. While the Bucks trudge into the California capital On paper there's lots to be excited about in Sacramento: the Maloofs are gone, a new arena is in the works, DeMarcus Cousins keep getting better, Isaiah Thomas is earning himself a huge raise, and Rudy Gay suddenly looks like a guy worth of an eight-figure salary.

Cousins (22.1 ppg/11.8 rpg/54.9% true shooting), Thomas (20.5 ppg/6.3 apg/57.2% TS) and Gay (20.3 ppg/57.3%) all scored 20+ in Milwaukee in early March and that shouldn't be a surprise. The Kings are the only team with three 20 ppg scorers this season, and in fact the only team with more than one qualifying player above 20 ppg on the official NBA leaderboard. So with their ownership mess cleared up, attendance up (from 13,749 to 16,196), their top three playing better than ever...well, why are the Kings on pace to finish right around the 28-54 record of a year ago?

Consider it a lesson on the load road of rebuilding and the perils of optimizing a roster. While the Kings have no shortage of scorers, they rank dead last in the league in assists (19.0) and assist/turnover ratio (1.27), with Cousins, Gay and Thomas each coughing the ball up at least three times per game. They're also among the league's worst from three point range, which works against the excellent work they do getting to the line (3rd in free throw rate) and crashing the offensive boards (3rd). It all adds up to an offense that is capable of exploding on any given night, but overall ranks only a shade above average in points per possession.

Of course, what really ails the Kings is their defense. Though they rank among the league's best in defensive rebounding (4th), they're in the 21st or worse in each of the other three defensive four factors and 24th overall in defensive rating. Defense was a major talking point in Mike Malone's hiring last summer, but so far the Kings have only seen marginal improvements. The end result is a 24-45 record that places them squarely in the middle of the six-team Blob of Despair that starts with the Lakers (22 wins, 4th in lotto standings) and ends with the Cavaliers (26 wins, 9th).

Still, there is no reason to feel bad about things in Sacramento. A year after the franchise was in danger of being lost to Seattle, the Kings have an energized fan base, an all-star caliber big man to build around and are currently slotted 7th in the lottery standings. Though they're aiming to win sooner rather than later, Vivek Ranadive and the Kings' new ownership group have a long leash to get things right--nothing is guarantee, but odds are they will sooner rather than later.

Life after Naters. The loss of Nate Wolters (fractured hand) for the remainder of the regular season is hardly good news, though it will give Larry Drew an excuse to try some new lineups down the stretch. Early indications are that Giannis Antetokounmpo will return to the starting lineup tonight for the first time since January, with Ramon Sessions--the only point guard on the roster other than Brandon Knight--likely to continue coming off the bench.

However, the biggest beneficiary of Wolters' absence may be O.J. Mayo. Remember him? The Bucks' $24 million man has basically been MIA since a judo chop to Greg Stiemsma's throat earned him a one-game suspension in New Orleans, though the suspension seemed rather incidental to Mayo's return to Drew's doghouse. Via the Journal-Sentinel's Charles Gardner:

Drew also said O.J. Mayo likely will return to the backcourt rotation now that Wolters is sidelined. Mayo has sat out the last six games due to coach's decision.

"He definitely can get back," Drew said. "He's been working hard. I've got to give him credit. He's been working out twice a day."

Drew said he is not sure who will start at shooting guard but he indicated he prefers to keep bringing Ramon Sessions off the bench.

"Really I'm down to only two point guards," Drew said, referring to Brandon Knight and Sessions.

Drew has alluded to Mayo's conditioning issues repeatedly in recent months and the Bucks have scored a ton without Mayo since the all-star break, so it's not as though they've been missing his perimeter shooting. Still, there's an argument to be made for finding some way to make use of Mayo--if not now, then when?  Perhaps the Bucks have already given up on the idea of being able to dump Mayo's $8 million per season salary this summer, because letting him rot on the bench isn't going to make it any easier.

Whether more minutes is actually a good thing for Giannis at this point is debatable, though I would be in favor of seeing more lineups featuring Giannis, Middleton and Knight--ie the three non-bigs who have at least a shot at starting in Milwaukee long-term. Though the trio has struggled overall (-9.7 pts/100 in 441 minutes this season), they've been markedly better as a unit since the all-star break: 119.7 pts scored vs.116.5 allowed/100 possessions in 73 minutes, all while playing at an after-burner pace of 100.2 and scoring at a completely unsustainable 64% true shooting clip. Apparently playing fast can be both fun AND effective, eh?

Ersan vs. Evans. Ersan Ilyasova earned himself a one-game suspension for for shove-tackling the ever-obnoxious Reggie Evans the last time these two teams met, and they figure to renew acquaintances tonight. Drew said on Tuesday that he would rest Ilyasova and his sore ankle on the second night of back to backs the rest of the way, with tomorrow's game against the Clippers the first time that new tactic would come into play. More burn for John Henson? Huzzah!

That said, Ilyasova has quietly pulled himself together a bit since the all-star break. He's still not hitting threes, but 14.1 ppg, 7.2 rpg (on a PF-like 16.0% rebound rate) to go with 57% true shooting and just 0.6 turnovers per game is waaaaaaaay better than what we saw from Ersan the first three-plus months of the season.

The Kings dominated the Bucks thanks to big games from Cousins, Thomas and Gay, leading by as much as 40 before a big fourth quarter from Milwaukee made it a little closer.

The Kings had no problem with the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday, winning 124 to 107.  That final score is as close as it was thanks to a 37 point fourth quarter for the Bucks, primarily on the Kings bench.  Sacramento led by as much as 40 as late as the third quarter.

The Bucks had no answer for DeMarcus Cousins.  Cousins scored 32 points on 14-19 from the field, as well as 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a block in just 29 minutes.  Isaiah Thomas also scored 30 points for the Kings on a very efficient 9-13 shooting to go along with 8 assists and just 1 turnover.  The Kings as a team did a very good job of taking care of the ball, turning it over just 10 times.  Rudy Gay and Ben McLemore were the only other Kings in double digits with 24 and 15 points respectively.

Milwaukee was led in scoring by O.J. Mayo's 21 points off the bench.  Milwaukee's bench did a much better job than the starters.  Brandon Knight scored just 6 points on an abysmal 2-12 from the field while his backup, Ramon Sessions had 13 on 6-8 shooting.

Despite the blowout win, Michael Malone will not be happy with Sacramento's defense, particularly in the second half.  The Bucks finished the game shooting 49.4% from the field, and outscored Sacramento 37 to 20 in the fourth quarter.  It got to the point where Coach Malone brought back Isaiah Thomas for Ray McCallum to help stop the bleeding.  McCallum had probably his worst game as a pro, scoring just 2 points on 1-4 shooting, and also was a team worst -17 in his 11:15 of playing time.  The Kings bench as a whole did not have a single player with a positive +/- as play dropped dramatically with the starters out.

Interestingly, Royce White did not enter the game until 48.5 seconds remained despite the Kings holding a large advantage ever since the first quarter.  White attempted one shot and missed.

The Kings now get a couple days off before they face the streaking New York Knicks on Wednesday, winners of 8 in a row.

For the opposing perspective, visit Brew Hoop.

Three weeks after blowing out the Bucks in Milwaukee, the Kings did it again at home, riding huge nights from DeMarcus Cousins, Isaiah Thomas and Rudy Gay to a 124-107 laugher in Sacramento.

Box Score

In a season full of losing, the Bucks seem to have saved their worst for the Sacramento Kings.

After narrowly losing to the playoff-bound Warriors and Blazers on the road last week, the Bucks were completely overwhelmed by DeMarcus Cousins (32p/12 rebounds in 29 minutes), Isaiah Thomas (30 points and eight assists on 9/13 shooting), Rudy Gay (24 points on 9/16) and the 25-win Kings on Sunday, completely whiffing a 39-16 first quarter en route to a 124-107 defeat.

The Bucks effectively trailed the Kings by a quarter's worth of points throughout, trailing 70-44 at halftime and 104-70 after three quarters before a big garbage time effort narrowed the final margin to "just" 17. If all this seems familiar, it should be: despite losing 19 of their last 24 games, the Bucks have only been blown out a relatively modest four times in that span. Once each to the Celtics and Knicks...and twice to the Kings.

In truth this game was all about the Kings' Big Three, all of whom gave the Bucks troubles seemingly from the opening tip. Cousins was utterly unstoppable with 9/10 shooting and 21 points in the first half, and he was back at it terrorizing Zaza Pachulia and everyone else the Bucks could throw at him in the third. Cousins buried jumpers, stroked fadeaways, bulled the Bucks inside, threw home-run pass outlets and even led the break on a couple occasions, pumping up both the crowd and himself with equal effect. Meanwhile Thomas and Gay had their way with the Bucks in more subtle fashions, killing the Bucks from midrange and off the bounce with equal ease.

The Bucks' 25th starting lineup of the season featured Giannis Antetokounmpo (9 pts, 3/7 fg, 6 rebs, 2 ast) returning in place of the injured Nate Wolters, but Milwaukee's starters struggled to get anything going early on, and Larry Drew needed a Herculean effort from his bench to keep the final margin (vaguely) respectable. The Kings' help defenders harassed Brandon Knight into missing his first seven shots, and only Ersan Ilyasova (14 points on 4/7 fg, all in the first half) cracked double-digits among the starters.

On the plus side, O.J. Mayo--he's alive!--returned to the rotation for the first time in a couple weeks and responded with 21 points and four assists on 9/14 shooting, taking advantage of a disinterested Kings' second unit and leading the Bucks' reserves to a 37-20 blitz in the fourth quarter. The only other Bucks showing a consistent pulse were Jeff Adrien (13 points plus a nicely-timed blind elbow to Reggie Evans' chin in the first half) and D-League call-up Chris Wright (9 pts, 4/5 fg, 4 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk), whose motor seemed to be revving a couple thousand RPM higher than anyone in the starting unit.

The good news is that the Bucks get a chance to bounce right back tomorrow...against the 49-win Clippers. YEESH.

Observations

• Giannis' start was disappointing for the same reason many of his starts have been disappointing: missed shots and early fouls. It was encouraging to see the Bucks go to Giannis in the post against the much smaller Ben McLemore early on, and good position plus a quick pump fake gave Giannis a simple layup attempt for his first shot...which he missed. A nice cut and dish from Zaza earned him a pair of converted free throws, but two quick fouls later (one on a charge along the baseline) and he was back on the bench for the rest of the first quarter.
  
  He came back with just under eight minutes left in the second, but missed an open three and a short banker after again using his size well going to his right. Sigh. The third started better when a leakout got him a layup off a nice feed from Knight, but a fourth foul again put him on the bench until midway through the final period. He buried an open straightaway three minutes later before capping off garbage time with a rebound and coast-to-coast layup in the dying seconds.
• Knight had scored 20+ points in three straight and seven of his last eight games, but saw his streak come crashing to a halt with just six points on 2/12 shooting. Five of his points came on a pair of aggressive drives in the final minute of the first half, but he never got his jumper going (0/4 on threes, all of them open looks) and the Kings' help defenders did a good job contesting his attempts inside. The only silver lining was a team-high seven assists, though he also had three turnovers in 23 minutes before sitting out the final quarter and a half.
• I have no idea how Ilyasova scored 14 points in the first half, but I do recall him hitting a pair of long twos (natch)...and then suddenly he had 14 points. #ANALYSIS
• Chris Wright played with the urgency of a guy on a ten-day contract, though it would have been nice if he wasn't the only one. Wright did as well as anyone guarding Gay one-on-one, and reminded us of his D-League all-defense credentials with a spectacular open-court spike of a Travis Outlaw attempted dunk in the second quarter. Offensively he was in attack mode at all times, throwing down a transition slam, splashing one long two-pointer and generally operating at a different speed than most of his teammates.
  
  Obviously we haven't seen a ton of Wright over the past week, but based on a limited sample size he certainly looks like a guy who should be on an NBA roster somewhere. The Bucks have also been linked to former Memphis swingman/human pogo-stick D.J. Stephens in recent weeks, so there's a good chance Wright is shipped back down to the D-League this week and another springy 10-day guy is brought in to replace him. But he probably shouldn't take it personally. The Bucks seem to be making a point of looking at as many guys as possible over the last month of the season. Might as well, right? At worst they'll know a lot more about some guys they could take with them to Vegas, and at best they might find a guy who could be an end-of-the-bench minimum contract guy next season..
  
• John Henson was barely noticeable in the first half and finished with a modest seven points, four rebounds and (less modest) three blocks, doing most of his damage with the game out of reach in second half. Drew announced last week that Ilyasova would sit out back-to-backs in order to rest his perpetually sore ankle, so look for Henson to start and see extended minutes tomorrow night in L.A.
• Adrien and Khris Middleton both picked up flagrant fouls in the first half, Adrien for a careless elbow to Evans' face and Middleton for horse-collaring Gay on a Kings' transition attempt. The irony of Adrien's foul was that he seemed to be flailing his right elbow in the direction of Jason Thompson as he came down for a rebound, only to instead catch Evans with his other elbow. Couldn't happen to a more deserving guy, eh?

A tough, tough week. Let's get nutty.

Last week the predictions were 2-2, which is respectable. But, the two I got wrong...hoo, boy.

It's not just that the Mavericks are making me look like an absolute fool lately. I could live with that. I have a rich interior life and the satisfaction of predictions relatively poorly done. What's more of concern to your humble prognosticator is that the Mavs are winning the games I'm most sure they're going to lose. I believe that my summations for the last OKC and Denver games were something like "nope" and "HAHAHA". Two 15 pointish wins later, one could think that maybe...just maybe...

The teams are aware of the power of my predictions, and are conspiring to erode my standing in your eyes before I grow too powerful.

Whichever. Two nasty, stinging losses last week, but things are never as simple as they feel in the aftermath of a close one. The Mavs are still good and there are plenty of other teams just as good.

Speaking of stinging, no truth to the rumor that when Plumlee hit Jose last night he shouted "I'LL SMACK YOU IN THE MOUTH, I'M NEIL DIAMOND."

Games this Week: vs. OKC (Tuesday, March 25), vs. LAC (Thursday, March 27), vs. SAC (Saturday, March 29)

Prognosis: ...uhhh....

General thoughts

As the enormous homestand continues, we need to take a minute to just appreciate how good the Mavericks are. Yes, they may end up the eighth or even ninth team in the West this year, but that doesn't change the fact that they'll be a top 10 or 11 team in the NBA. Which is an absurd fact, but so is the fact that you're adopted.

Since the beginning of February, the Mavs are 15-7. They're 14 games over .500. Did you figure that would happen when the Mavs' big offseason additions were Monta, Calderon and Dalembert? It's happening. It's real. And your parents are actually Batman, which is cool.

Still though, this is a tough week. Humanely paced and at home, but still two of the teams that have to be considered among the top five title contenders out there and a bad Kings squad still capable of giving the Mavs trouble, since they don't have an answer for either Isiah Thomas or DeMarcus Cousins. How many of these they need depends on how many the other guys get. But it doesn't get too much easier from here on out. Eight games left after this week, and they'll see GSW, LAC, SAS, PHX and MEM around another SAC game, a UTA game and a LAL game. So...

I'm just kidding, your parents are The Riddler.

Specific thoughts

Oklahoma City Thunder

The Mavs have earned me not dismissing this one as a loss out of hand. But unless you think the last game was really a sign of which team is better, the Thunder are still heavily favored here. Westbrook is apparently going to skip either the Denver or Dallas game, and one would imagine it would be Denver, since Dallas is both better and more on OKC's radar, but regardless the Thunder got a whole lot of wins without Westy this season. I'd love to say I thought that last game meant something, but I'd love to say our fling a few years ago meant something. I can't really pick against the Thunder here. And I can't tell you what you want to hear, Sharon.

Los Angeles Clippers

Well.....okay, let's go for this as the wildcard here, huh? For whatever reason, the Mavs match up pretty well with the Clippers. It doesn't make any sense--with their great PG play and monstrous rebounding capability, they should get basically a zillion good shots against the Mavs--but it's true. They're 0-2 against the Clips this season, but the games have been close, 119-112 and 129-127. Last year, the Mavs' best win of the season was against them. At the very least, the Clips don't seem to be season sweep better than the Mavs, and there will be a couple games in the very near future to prove that. So, why the hell not.

Sacramento Kings

I say the Mavericks take care of business here, though as usual, not without making it interesting. They win by two because a Boogie three rims out, or something. I'm not a scientist, just a prophet.

* * *

Predictions: 2-1, wins against Clippers and Kings.

The Kings are still bad at defense, make no mistake. But there are signs of improvement.

This season of Sacramento Kings basketball has been notable for a few key elements. Roster turnover. DeMarcus Cousins. Bad defense.

The defense is an oft-discussed issue around here. Michael Malone was hired with a reputation as a defensive coach, but that hasn't translated to improved defense on the floor. Sure, excuses could be made. Luc Mbah a Moute was traded away almost immediately, removing Malone's primary defensive player. And with the aforementioned roster turnover that has defined this season, there hasn't been a lot of time to work on defensive schemes in practice. Still, it would be nice to see some improvement from a coach who was supposed to be a defensive coach.

And then, quietly, the Kings have been improving on defense. The Kings are still not good at defense, but they are moving in the right direction.

Per NBA.com/stats, in March the Kings have a defensive rating of 103.7. That's a slight step backwards from February, when the Kings had a defensive rating of 102.9. But February and March signal a noteworthy improvement from December and January when the Kings defensive rating was over 108.

Delving deeper into the splits, the past 10 games have been the best 10 games of the season from a defensive perspective. Over the past 10 games, the Kings' defensive rating has been 103.3. Looking at the season in 10-game blocks, it's the best the Kings have been all year.

(Editor's Note: For the season, Sacramento has a defensive rating of 105.9. That's not very good, but it's also the best defensive rating the Kings have had since the 2006-07 season when it was 105.2. The Defensive Ratings for the seasons in between starting with 2012-13: 108.6, 106.8, 106.3, 107.2, 111.9, 107.2. If you're wondering why NBA.com's Defensive Rating data shows a slightly lower number than Basketball-Reference it's because the two sites calculate possessions differently, but the trend remains in both.)

With 12 games remaining this season, and with the Kings long-ago eliminated from playoff contention, it's good to see the Kings taking steps, however small, in the right direction.

With the Philadelphia 76ers hot on their trail in the lottery standings, the Milwaukee Bucks carry a 7-game losing streak into Los Angeles to do battle with the Clippers.

2013/2014 NBA Season
(13-57, 5-30 road)	vs.	(49-21, 30-5 home)
March 24, 2014
STAPLES Center | Los Angeles, CA
9:30 CT
FS Wisconsin | 620 WTMJ
Probable Starters
Brandon Knight	PG	Chris Paul
Giannis Antetokounmpo	SG	Darren Collison
Khris Middleton	SF	Matt Barnes
Ersan Ilyasova	PF	Blake Griffin
Zaza Pachulia	C	DeAndre Jordan
2013/14 Advanced Stats
91.9 (25th)	Pace	95.9 (7th)
102.4 (26th)	ORtg	111.7 (2nd)
111.2 (30th)	DRtg	104.2 (8th)

On the Clippers: Clips Nation | Clipperblog

Clippers Update. I don't see what the big deal is, it's not like the Clippers have some incredible winning streak, they just lost to Denver a week ago! What's that, the loss was on the road on the second night of a back-to-back? And they had won eleven in a row before that? Ummm...

Honestly, outside of the mechanical monster in San Antonio, it's hard to find a team playing better right now than the Clippers. A dynamo on offense since the arrival of Chris Paul, the Clippers have worked their way into the top ten in defensive efficiency as well, holding opponents to the fifth-lowest eFG% and turning them over at a top-ten rate. Strangely enough, despite the presence of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, the Clippers' most glaring weakness might be rebounding: they're in the NBA's bottom third in both defensive and offensive rebound rates. That hasn't kept LA from boosting their record to 28 games over .500, or outscoring their opponents by the second-highest margin in the league (7.17 per game).

Great Blake. The Clippers have six regulars with above-average PERs, led by Chris Paul at 26.2, but in the eyes of many, Blake Griffin has been the chief architect of success for LA this season. When Paul went down with an injury and missed most of the month of January, Griffin helped the team stay afloat, guiding them to wins in 12 of 18 games. During that stretch, Griffin averaged 27.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 4.4 assists while shooting over 55% from the field, hopefully killing off the "all he does is dunk" trope once and for all. While his rebounding numbers are slightly off of his career levels, he's scoring more, and more efficiently, than ever before.

Western Woes. Milwaukee's offense continues to hum along during their strange second-half surge, but the defense manages to amaze in its ineptitude night after night. The Bucks have given up over 100 points in 19 of their last 21 games and watched their defensive rating balloon to an NBA-worst 111.2. Against Western Conference opponents, Milwaukee sports a 102.3 offensive rating and a 113.6 defensive rating. That sneaky-good offense has kept some recent games close, in turn boosting their expected winning percentage by a very small amount, but the losses continue to pile up. In other words, #stealthtank.

Lowfat Mayo. Are we still making weight jokes about O.J. Mayo? Forced into service thanks to Nate Wolters' broken hand, Mayo took the court for the first time in almost two weeks and...well, actually played pretty well. Mayo dropped 21 points in a team-high 28 minutes, hitting 9 of his 14 shots (2-6 3PT) and recording four assists. Granted, the Kings had essentially put the game away after the first 12 minutes and their defense is awful, but still! Mayo isn't going to earn more minutes than Brandon Knight most of the time, but with little in the way of true guard depth behind Knight and Ramon Sessions, Mayo's going to have the opportunity to get his shots up, and rest assured, he will. It's unlikely he'll play well enough to give the Bucks a decent shot at dumping his salary this summer, but it wold be nice to at least be able to view his contract as more than sunk cost.

Starting Giannis All Over Again. With Wolters out of commission, Sessions pigeonholed into a bench role, and Mayo only just reentering the rotation, Giannis Antetokounmpo got the start as the nominal shooting guard. As Frank wrote in yesterday's recap, Giannis struggled with his shooting and foul trouble but delivered the usual highlights in garbage time. The Bucks tried him out in the post against the smaller Ben McLemore early on, which got him a layup attempt (missed). He also showed good instincts with the ball in the first quarter, dumping a pair of interior passes to Zaza Pachulia, who failed to pay off one assist while Giannis committed an offensive foul on the other. The execution was obviously lacking, but the ideas were good. Hard to say if Giannis will stick as the starting 2 (maintaining a consistent starting lineup is a very difficult thing to bet on these days), and Mayo would seem like the best bet to replace him. Giannis was averaging about 25 minutes per game off the bench and played 23 against Sacramento, so generally speaking there isn't much difference.

SIXERSWATCH. Next up for Philadelphia in the Great Tank-Off 2014? The San Antonio Spurs, who in their last game rested Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili on the road against the Warriors AND STILL WON. So, um, this will probably not be a night where the Bucks extend their lead.

The Bucks rebounded well after getting crushed in Sacramento, but found themselves losers of their eighth straight game.

Box Score

The Bucks were back to their competitive but non-threatening ways, as they battled back from an early 15 point deficit and surprisingly stayed with one of the West's best. However, the results remained the same, as they dropped their eighth game in a row, losing 106-98.

It wouldn't be fair if I just chalked this up as another unremarkable loss. The Bucks came back after getting pummeled by Sacramento and played a pretty decent game. They weren't able to really stop Blake Griffin (27p/14r/6a), but nobody has been able to accomplish that over the last couple of months. Outside of Griffin, no other Clipper was really a constant thorn in the Bucks side, as the next highest scorer was Darren Collison with 15 points.

After a sluggish first quarter that found the Bucks down by 10, Milwaukee was able to gain a little ground against the Clippers second unit. The charge was mostly led by the older Bucks, as Ramon Sessions (28p/7a/6r), Jeff Adrien (14p/7r), and Zaza Pachulia (14p/8a/6r) were contributing in different ways, while keeping the Bucks looking active when it felt like the Clippers would pull away at any second. The 27 assists also kept the offense in a respectable balance as the close game wound down, but a few too many crunch time possessions ended up with turnovers or lack of execution, and the Bucks find themselves winless on their west coast road trip.

Observations:

• Brandon Knight has had back-to-back disappointing performances, this time mustering up 9p/3r/3a. He also had six turnovers on the night, looking more like the November version of himself rather than the encouraging February version. There isn't any real tangible thing you can attribute Knight's recent struggles to; he just looks a little bit more disconnected from what was working so well for him earlier, whatever that was. Maybe losing Nate Wolters has had some effect on Knight, though that is hard to really buy into right now. Let's just hope that these last two games were more blip than regression.
• One more thing about Knight. I think he set a record for most on-air silences following his shots by a TV telecast. "Brandon Knight for three!"

*crickets*

• Both John Henson and and Giannis Antetokounmpo played with good activity tonight. Henson, in a shade under only 20 minutes of action, tallied up 10p/7r, and was crafty under the rim when the ball was dumped off to him. That creativity is encouraging, but I'd like to see Henson catch a ball and gather himself to really go up strong once in a while. Maybe he chooses layups over dunks because he dreads the 30 seconds he would have to spend at the free throw line if he draws the foul, or maybe he just doesn't have the strength to finish with strong contact. But I'd like to see Henson go up strong because (to me) it would signal that he's thinking less, which I would consider a good thing. Henson is generally more effective when he makes his moves quickly. It not only makes his length more of weapon, but it doesn't give the defense a chance to refer back to their scouting report and alter their scheme to force him into a spot he isn't comfortable with. It's not a big deal right now, but might become one the more and more Henson plays (if he does get those minutes).
• Giannis had an up-and-down, 9p/3r performance, but did manage to complete another coast-to-coast superhighlight. These are always very enjoyable.

• Again, I ask you to not look at Khris Middleton's stat line. Just...don't.
• The Bucks will close out their road trip winless, but played three very good playoff team close and didn't lose any ground to the ''surging'' 76ers. Even if a largely disappointing blowout at the hand of the Kings happened in between close losses, could we consider this Pacific visit....encouraging?
• The Bucks host the Los Angeles Lakers Thursday. It is arguably one of their few ''winnable'' games left, and could factor largely in the race to the best lottery odds. Can they hold on to the bottom spot?

The Kings have been playing some good basketball lately, and aside from a hiccup against the Spurs, had a good week.

The Good:

1. Boogie Monster is real

See Player of the Week

2. Rudy Gay is clutch

The Kings were trailing the Washington Wizards by double digits in the 4th quarter early last week, and both DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay had been struggling. Then DeMarcus and Rudy came alive, carrying the Kings back into the game. Rudy hit some incredible shots, including the game-tying floater to send the game into overtime. Once it got into OT, it was the Rudy Gay show, as he hit jumper after jumper. The Kings are now 4-2 in overtime games this season, and I think it's partially because now that the Kings have Gay, there are finally multiple legitimate go-to options at the end of games with Thomas, Cousins and Gay, rather than the infamous 1-4 flat we'd been running the last 4 years. Rudy's been a phenomenal addition to this team, and I hope that he'll end up staying.

3. Isaiah Thomas, Playmaker

We all know Thomas can score, but this week he stepped up his passing game as well. His low numbers from the Spurs game hurt, but against the Wizards and the Bucks, Thomas totalled 18 assists to just 5 turnovers. One trend I really liked seeing (and I know HighTops did too) was Thomas getting the ball to his big men near the basket. Great point guards don't just get assists, they set up their teammates for easy shots.

4. "The Three Basketeers"

We've been calling the trio of DeMarcus/Rudy/Isaiah "the Only Three" but Jerry Reynolds' "Three Basketeers" is much catchier.

5. Sacramento's defense

As Greg pointed out yesterday, the Kings defense still isn't great, but it's been better this season, and much better as of late. The last 10-game stretch was the best 10-game defensive stretch the Kings have had all season. That bodes well for what Malone can do if given enough time. There's been so much roster turnover this season, it's a shock they've been playing as competitively as they have been.

The Bad:

1. Bench play

In three games this week, the Kings had two players score in double digits: Travis Outlaw against the Spurs (13 points) and Jason Thompson against the Wizards (10 points). No other King scored more than 7. The dropoff in quality between Sacramento's starters and the bench has been drastic. Against the Bucks, a 40 point lead dwindled to just 15 at one point because the bench could not get anything going. I'd especially like to see Derrick Williams assert himself more when he comes in with the bench.

2. Three point shooting

I've mentioned this a lot lately, but the Kings really don't have many legitimate three point threats. Isaiah's our best, but he's been hampered by a wrist injury. Ben McLemore is getting better but is inconsistent. Travis Outlaw is Travis Outlaw. While the Kings defense is a more pressing concern, I'd definitely like to see the Kings add some shooting this summer as well to help space the floor.

The Ugly:

1. Sacramento's offense against the Spurs

The Kings could not buy a basket against the Spurs, shooting 40%, turning it over 15 times and scoring a season-low 79 points. It's too bad too, because they did a decent job defensively against San Antonio.

2. No Royce White?

I'll admit, I didn't have the highest expectations for Royce White when we signed him to a 10-day contract. Yet the whole point of these 10-day contracts is usually to try these guys out in game situations to see if they're worth signing for a longer period of time. That being said, it's extremely peculiar that in a game the Kings led by as much as 40 points that White didn't get off the bench until there was less than a minute left. That seems like the perfect situation to give a guy like White some run, especially with the rest of our bench severely underperforming.

Player of the Week:

DeMarcus Cousins

23.7 PPG, .556 FG%, 13.0 RPG, 4.0 AST, 2.0 BLK, 1.7 STL in 32.3 MPG

Cousins came up big for us this week, coming back from a slow start against the Wizards to score 19 points in the 4th quarter and overtime. Against the Spurs he couldn't get his shot to fall, but neither could anyone on the Kings. He contributed in other areas though, blocking shots, passing, rebounding and playing stout defense of his own. Against Milwaukee, he looked like a superstar, partly because it was the Bucks, but even against the Bucks there aren't too many big men that could have performed like he did. Then there's the nice gesture off the court where he went up to Sean Elliott on Friday and apologized for his actions last year. By all accounts it was Cousins idea and nobody else's, and that's a step in the right direction.

Images / GIFs of the Week:

by Klam on Mar 23, 2014 | 6:16 PMupreply unrec (21)actions

Indeed

by TitleChaser on Mar 20, 2014 | 3:01 PMupreply rec (21) flagactions

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

by beeradgee88 on Mar 19, 2014 | 1:38 AMreply rec (22) flagactions

Comments of the Week:

On Royce White's lack of any positive or negative stat during his brief first NBA appearance.

I think we're all overlooking how good his defense was...

While White was on the floor… NO ONESCORED.

by kfipp on Mar 21, 2014 | 11:34 PMupreply unrec (23)actions

In regards to the city winning the eminent domain case:

Just another example of big government trying to keep the helpless banks down.

by section214 on Mar 20, 2014 | 11:05 AMupreply rec (24) flagactions

On Cousins' dislike of Chris Paul:

I don’t think Cousins would follow Paul out of a burning building.

by Juan Primo on Mar 19, 2014 | 12:17 PMupreply unrec (25)actions

FanPost of the Week:

3 Best Case Scenarios for the Future after This Year's Draft by Mr. Hashtag

Highlight of the Week:

Caption Contest:

Link to Last Week's Picture

Last Week's Winner: outrider

Rudy Gay doing his Marcus Thornton impersonation. Not pictured: 10 missed shots in 12 attempts

Last Week's Runner-Up: section214

Rudy Gay finds the stash of Twinkies that he inherited when he was given Chuck Hayes' locker.

This Week's Picture:

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

Nostradumbass Prediction for Next Week:

3/26 v. New York W (The Knicks have been playing a lot better lately, but so have the Kings. This is their last home game before going back on the road, and I think they'll be trying really hard to finish this homestand 3-1)

3/28 @ Oklahoma City L (The Thunder as simply better than us, and Durant is on another level right now.)

3/29 @ Dallas L (The Mavericks match up well with the Kings, and being the second game of a back to back, it will be tough to beat the Mavs on their home floor.)

Nostradumbass Record for the Year: 38-32 (Nostradumbass is on a 10 game winning streak!)

Random Observations from around the league:

• Commissioner Adam Silver said recently that ads on jerseys will be inevitable and that he can see them happening in the next five years. I hope so, if only because I like seeing team names and cities featured prominently on jerseys, rather than how it is in soccer, where the team logo and name are inconsequential compared to the name of the sponsor.
• The Heat haven't been playing all that great lately, as their defense has been much worse than their two previous championship winning teams. Currently they have the second best record in the East, a few games back of the Pacers. But they're also behind three Western Conference teams (Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Los Angeles) with a fourth close (Houston). If the Heat are to win their third straight championship, they'll likely have to do so by winning on the road and dealing with a gimpy Wade. This will also have an interesting effect on this summer's Free Agency. All three of Miami's big three can opt out of their contracts this summer. A disappointing playoffs might encourage them to test the waters, although I think they'd still be heavily favored to re-sign in Miami.
• Eric Bledsoe is back for Phoenix at a very crucial time, as they're fighting for their playoff lives with the Memphis Grizzlies. Bledsoe was key in Phoenix's 22 point comeback win against the Timberwolves on Sunday, and having him healthy will make the race for the 8th spot an interesting one. Dallas isn't that far ahead at 7th either, just one game ahead of both teams.

Dave Joerger has done a remarkable job expanding his playbook throughout his first season as an NBA head coach. One of his latest installments is a side elevator doors play for sharpshooter Mike Miller.

Mike Miller, even at the ripe age of 34, is still one of the best shooters in the entire world. Ergo, it is not difficult to understand why coach Dave Joerger tries to create open looks for him a variety of ways. Miller has been lights out since the All-Star Break, holding a league high 70% eFG% since that time. All he needs is a tiny sliver of space to let it fly. This side elevator doors play gives Miller just that.

To begin, Miller, the beneficiary of the play, is setup on the perimeter on the right side of the floor. Marc Gasol begins at the right elbow facing the ball to know when he should begin his action. As Nick Calathes dribbles far beyond the three-point line biding his time until the play begins, Tayshaun Prince and Zach Randolph make the first moves. Randolph saunters to take Prince's spot on the low block, all the while setting a weak pick with his motion for Prince to shoot to the top of the key somewhat free of his man, thus enabling him to receive the ball.

Once Prince receives the ball, Gasol briefly pretends like he is setting a screen on Prince's man to begin a pick-and-roll before jogging down to the paint to position himself next to Randolph. The fake screen is just enough to keep the Kings guessing and off guard.

Several simultaneous actions are next on the agenda. For Calathes, his action is to cut through to the right side of the floor after delivering the ball to Prince in order to take a defender away from the side of the floor the play is being run to as well as create space for the forthcoming pass to Miller. Next, Prince dribbles, almost in place, a few small steps to the right to create confusion amongst the defense and keep them off balance thinking the play is going to the right. The last step is for Miller to begin his sprint across the paint to split the screens of Gasol and Randolph, even though Gasol has yet to reach his designated spot. This play is all about perfect timing.

As Miller gets about halfway across the paint, Randolph and Gasol are in position to set their screens. For now, they are just loosely setting them so the defense cannot read what's coming. At the top of the key, Prince pivots to ready himself to deliver the pass to Miller.

Just as Miller squirts between Gasol and Randolph's screens, the two giants shut the elevator doors, prohibiting Miller's defender from shooting the gap, too. By now, the Kings realize what is happening, but it's too late to do anything about it. Miller is now wide open. That's bad news for any team not named the Grizzlies. Prince delivers the pass at exactly the right moment, right when Miller is turning to get in his stance.

Miller's man is finally able to fight through the massive screeners, but it is way too late to contest the shot from one of the best shooters in the NBA.

The only thing left to do is for Miller to let it fly, which he does. He misses the shot, but the play design is beautiful. It was perfectly timed, and it got an incredible shooter a wide-open look.

Joerger has called this play more than once, and it has gotten Miller a really good look at the rim the majority of the time. The one instance it did not get Miller open was in a recent matchup with the Pacers. However, the good thing about the play is the multiple options if things break down for Miller. You will notice this in the first clip in the video below.

Miller has missed most of the shots that resulted from the play, but that should not deter Joerger from continuing to call it. It is an excellent set that gets the Grizzlies best shooter open, and it could be a great call when the Grizzlies need a three late in a game, particularly if this team makes the playoffs.

Sacramento adds a shotblocker.

The excellent Mark Deeks of Shamsports.com (which should be your go-to source for player salaries if it isn't already) is reporting that the Sacramento Kings will sign forward/center Chris Johnson tomorrow.

Johnson is a 28 year old shot blocking big man who most recently played in China.  He has played sparingly in the NBA for the Trailblazers, Celtics, Hornets and Timberwolves.  He has career averages of 2.9 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.6 blocks a game.  In other words, he's not a game changer.

Most likely the Kings will try him out to see what a true shotblocker looks like next to DeMarcus Cousins.  The deal is most likely a 10-day deal, much like the contracts of Orlando Johnson (now gone from the team) and Royce White (on his 2nd 10-day deal).

Johnson last got decent time playing for the Timberwolves, where he put up decent numbers in limited minutes.  His advanced stats show someone who can make shots efficiently and block them.  He's not a great rebounder for a big man though, at least on the defensive end (he's above average on the offensive glass).

Johnson's signing would put the Kings roster at 15.  No word on what this means for Royce White, another big man the Kings have given a tryout but who has yet to meaningful action on the court.

The Kings end their homestand against Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks.

The Kings end their four game homestand tonight against the New York Knicks (7:00 pm on Comcast SportsNet California and KHTK 1140). The Knicks recently came off an 8 game winning streak, but are still a few games back of the Atlanta Hawks for the 8th seed in the East. As such, they'll be treating this game as a must-win.

MATCHUP OF THE GAME

Rudy Gay vs. Carmelo Anthony

Few players have been playing as well as Carmelo Anthony recently. Anthony is putting up almost 30 points a game on 45% shooting, and he's also rebounding and passing the ball well. I personally think the Knicks are most dangerous when Anthony is playing Power Forward, as he creates an incredible mismatch opportunity. Gay did not have the best game the last time these two teams met, scoring 20 points on 22 shots, and most of that coming in the second half and overtime. Gay will have to do a much better job of containing Anthony if the Kings are to win the game.

3 THINGS

1. Isaiah Thomas is questionable for tonight's game with a thigh contusion, sustained when taking a knee from Zaza Pachulia in the last game against the Bucks. Thomas has yet to miss a game this season, and should he sit, that means we will be seeing a lot of Ray McCallum and probably also Rudy playing Point Forward, because as of right now those are the only two guys aside from Thomas that can reliably handle the ball. McCallum is coming off perhaps the worst stint in his career, going -17 in a game the Kings were up by 40 with Sacramento's offense looking completely out of sync, and that was against the Bucks. The Knicks aren't great, but they're still way better than the Bucks. To be honest, I'm kind of worried. Still, seeing the Kings play without Thomas might convince the Kings to re-sign him more than by seeing the team play with him, given our other options.

2. Coach Malone said in his most recent media availability that he wants to give Royce White a chance tonight, and not one where it's just garbage time. He made a solid point that playing a guy during a blowout doesn't mean much, but then again, not playing him at all means you can't see anything. I'll be interested to see how much time White is given. Without Thomas, another passer might be necessary.

3. Can Sacramento's bench step up please? The bench has been miserable for a while now and it shouldn't be. Jason Thompson is a solid big man. Derrick Williams has shown he can score in this league. Those guys should be looking to prove that they can lead this bench, especially Williams.

PRE-GAME HAIKU

Those Knickerbockers.
Why can't they be pantaloons,
or even trousers?

PREDICTION

Kings 84, Knicks 124 as without Isaiah Thomas, the Kings have literally nobody they can trust to run the offense.

The Kings made a big run in the fourth quarter, but fell just short in their comeback effort.

The Sacramento Kings made a valiant attempt at a comeback, but fell short against the New York Knicks, losing 107-99. After trailing by double digits most of the game, the Kings found a spark in the fourth quarter, but they could never cut the Knicks' lead to less than four.

The Kings were without Isaiah Thomas, who rested a quad bruise suffered against the Milwaukee Bucks.  Ray McCallum got his first career start, with mixed results.  Nerves were likely a factor, but McCallum was simply dreadful to start the game.  As the night went on he settled in, though, and played really well in the fourth.  While it would obviously be preferable to see McCallum step into the starting role with no issues, I was encouraged by the way he played through his struggles.  I've been really impressed with his growth this season.

DeMarcus Cousins was huge for the Kings.  Cousins finished with 32 points, 15 rebounds, and eight assists.  It was Cousins second straight game scoring more than 30.  The night also marked Cousins' 45th double-double of the season.  Cousins had 35 double-doubles all of last season.

Rudy Gay and Carmelo Anthony battled each other all night long, with Carmelo coming out on the winning end of the match-up.  Despite some big plays down the stretch, Rudy was held to 14 points, three rebounds, and three assists.  A lot of that is due to some stellar defense by Carmelo, who doesn't tend to get much credit as a defender.  Carmelo finished with 36 points, five rebounds and two assists.

The Kings comeback effort fell short for a number of reasons, but J.R. Smith was one of the biggest.  Smith finished with 29 points, and was 9-12 from beyond the arc.  The Kings remain bad at defending three point shooters.

This is a disappointing loss for the Kings.  New York has really been struggling, and was on the second night of a road back-to-back, having been absolutely embarrassed by the Lakers the night before.  The Kings had a chance to win this, but dug themselves too deep of a hole early on.  But it was encouraging to see this team never quit.  The Kings demonstrated a sustained effort, even when down by more than 20.  The Kings kept grinding, and made a game of it.  Considering they were without one of their big three, it was a really entertaining game down the stretch.

I give the credit to Michael Malone for that effort.  In his post game press conference he had a great quote on what he said to Ray McCallum to encourage him.  Malone told McCallum "if you're going to make a mistake, make it an aggressive mistake."  I love that mentality, that it's OK to make mistakes but it's not OK to be timid or indecisive.  It reflects in the team's play as of late.

For the opponent's perspective, be sure to visit the always-delightful Posting and Toasting.

The Raptors survive another anomalous Jared Sullinger explosion to end their 11-game losing streak in Beantown.

The Toronto Raptors are scratching and clawing -- stumbling and fumbling -- their way to the post-season. It ain't pretty -- at times it's pretty ugly, in fact -- but Casey's boys are still pulling out wins when they need them, inching closer to a first playoff berth since the 2007-2008 season. With a 99-90 win last night in Boston, the Raps moved back into 3rd place in the East; and thanks to Al Jefferson and friends in Charlotte, they extended their narrow lead over Brooklyn in the race for the Atlantic Division crown.

Last night was one of those ugly, harder-than-it-should've-been-type wins, over a gritty, but extremely limited Boston Celtics team. In theory, at this stage of the season, the Raps should be blowing teams like the Celtics (24 games under .500, heading into last night) out of the water. But at times, over the last few games, the Raps have looked tired and tense -- not an ideal combination.

The Raps have more talent than teams like Boston and Cleveland, but the chasm isn't wide enough that they can win without playing hard. At their best the Raps approach each game with a blue-collar, we are going to out-work you-type attitude. They cannot get away from that approach.

Prior to last night's tilt, the Raps hadn't won in Boston since the War of Spanish Succession -- or at least since that last playoff season, back in 2008. That history seemed to weigh on them a little last night. They seemed to be playing against the idea of the Celtics -- 17 NBA championships, always big, always scary -- rather than the Celtics who were on the floor, many of whom won't be Celtics for too much longer. Looking at you, Kris Humphries.

When you've been as mediocre a franchise as the Raps have been over the past few years, you accumulate your fair share of ugly, and bemusing losing streaks -- slumps in Sacramento and Charlotte attest to that. The Raps' 11 straight loses in Boston is a little more understandable, however, considering that the Celtics have been a very good team until this season, and the Raps...well...have not.

That losing streak thankfully ended last night, despite Jared Sullinger once again morphing into some kind of terrifying combination of Kevin Love and an in-his-prime Charles Barkley. He only does this against the Raps, right?

The Raps needed to get off to a good start last night, and they did. Awful starts against the Hawks and Cavaliers had placed them firmly behind the eight ball, and have, as the HQ's Braedon Clark stated in his game preview, put a lot of pressure on a bench unit that quite frankly isn't adept at dealing with anything resembling pressure.

Jonas Valanciunas looked good early on, taking advantage of an undersized Celtics front-line. Jonas had 9 points and 5 rebounds in the 1st quarter and would finish with 15 and 14 -- a solid outing. DeMar DeRozan, although he would get away from this as the game wore on, made the very smart decision to attack the basket throughout the first 12 minutes -- he ended the quarter with 11 points, attempting 7 free-throws. The Raps led 31-22, after one quarter.

In came Nando de Colo, John Salmons, Greivis Vasquez, and Chuck Hayes. Out went the Raps' advantage.

Hayes, without scoring, was solid last night -- i'll give him that. He did a good job defending the post and cleaning up the glass, against one of the few teams he can be effective against. Unfortunately, the rest of the bench was less-than-stellar, and this is becoming a theme -- well, more of a reality.

Vasquez was the only bench player to score last night for the Raptors -- he finished with 7 points. Combined, the bench unit was a cool minus 30. The Raps are a good team -- but a good team as far as their starting 5 goes. They are not a deep team. Not even close. With Patrick Patterson in the lineup they go 7 deep -- or 6.5 depending on which Greivis Vasquez decides to show up.

After a 13-2 run by the Celtics, Casey took a timeout and threw Amir Johnson back in -- then DeRozan and Lowry. The bleeding stopped. Lowry took control of the game, as he has done so often this year. 5 straight points by the floor general gave the Raps the lead back, 40-39; and one those of slow-motion, sling-shot action 3-pointers from Amir extended the Raps' lead to 4. The offense began to dry up for the Celtics, as you would expect it would from a team that ranks 28th in offensive efficiency, and the Raps extended their lead to 9, 55-46 at the half.

After a half-time interval in which fans in Canada got to watch Jonas' ice-fishing escapades, the Raps began the 3rd quarter on fire. Lowry, who again was excellent all night (23 points, 9 rebounds) drained two 3-pointers to extend the Raps' lead to 15. The Celtics brought themselves to within 8, but a Jonas mid-range jumper, and a Terrence Ross step-back, buzzer-beating 3 to end the quarter, pushed the Raps' lead up to 15, at 77-62.

And then the Jared Sullinger show...

Compared to his 20-20 performance in their last meeting, Sully appeared fairly well contained through 3 quarters. However, he exploded in the 4th and made things a little uncomfortable for Raps fans. Sullinger finished with 26 points and 8 rebounds off the bench, but had 19 of those points in the 4th.

Boston opened the quarter on a 19-9 run, with a Sullinger 3-pointer cutting the Raps' lead to just 3, at 84-81. At the other end, as alluded to above, DeRozan got away from his earlier success at driving to the hoop, instead settling for the mid-range game. He attempted just 4 free-throws in the final 36 minutes of the game.

Kyle Lowry, however, understood what the situation called for, putting the ball on the deck and driving to the bucket. He put the Raps up by 7, 92-85, driving right through the middle of the paint, and scoring over Sullinger. Minutes later Chris Johnson closed the gap to just 3 points, cutting and scoring off what was ruled a goal-tend. At 93-90 the ship was wobbling. That is, until Lowry drained a huge 3-pointer to put the Raps up by 6; and after some great Hayes defense, Ross drained another trifecta, his 5th of the night, to seal the game and end the losing streak in Boston.

The win means the Raps are on the verge of clinching a playoff spot. If Rudy Gay and the Kings -- in what would have been some big-time irony -- had beaten the Knicks last night, that would've sealed the deal. But alas, the Kings are the Kings, and the Raps will have to wait a little longer to confirm their trip to the dance. But not too much longer.

The Raps meet the Celtics again on Friday -- this time at the ACC.

Additional Game Notes

• Terrence Ross has struggled lately, but he was excellent last night -- 24 points, on 9-16 shooting.
• Over the last few games Kyle Lowry has been kneed in the head, has tweaked his groin, and has had some kind of stomach issue. All of these aforementioned ailments have positively terrified me because this team without Kyle Lowry would be in big trouble.
• Again, we saw the best and worst of DeMar last night. The new and improved DeMar -- aggressive, attacking the hoop -- then frustrating, 2009-2013 DeMar, way too many contested 2s. Against an undersized guy like Avery Bradley, it would've been nice to see him pull out his underused, and underrated, post game.
• The Raptors bench really is horrible right now, and was outscored 51-7 by the Celtics' reserves. If two of the Raps' starters aren't on the floor at all times, it's a disaster offensively.
• I hate to pile on the guy, but John Salmons played 13 minutes last night, and had 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 1 steal, and was a minus 10. Is there really no other option?
• Pssst, hey it's me, Landry Fields. I get paid way too much, but I can still do some things on a basketball court. I've been banished to the basement of the ACC by coach Casey for reasons undisclosed. I can still play basketball. Really, I can.
• Have Celtics fans become numb to the enigma that is Jeff Green? Or does the fact that he's so naturally gifted, yet so frustratingly ineffective, still bemuse them as much as it bemuses me?
• This was my first game watching Rajon Rondo since last season's injury. Yep, he's still super fun.
• That said, a couple months back there were rumours that the Masai Ujiri might swoop in to make a trade for Rondo, which is something that I was never too enthusiastic about. A hypothetical Rondo-DeRozan back-court gives the team MAJOR spacing issues. Neither guy can shoot the 3-ball.
• Credit to the Celtics, they're a bad team, but they're a level above bad teams like the Bucks and Sixers -- both in terms of talent, and because they actually try hard, and are well-coached.

Willie Reed's hashtag, #CallWilleUp, seems to have finally worked. Reed has been signed by the Kings for the remainder of the seasons, sources told RealGM.

The Sacramento Kings have signed forward Willie Reed of D-League's Springfield for the rest of the season, agent Joel Bell tells RealGM.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 27, 2014

The deal includes a team option for the 2014-2015 season.

Reed has dominated this season in the D-League for the Springfield Armor, and many were calling for the Nets to give him an opportunity in Brooklyn. Reed is averaging 14 points and 10 rebounds in 31 minutes per game while shooting 59% from the floor this season in Springfield.

This comes on the heels of the report that the Armor are being sold and will be moved to Grand Rapids where tehy will become the Pistons' D-League affiliate. As of now, the Nets have no D-League affiliate for next year

Reed went to training camp with the Kings in 2012, but was cut before the season started.

The Kings are continuing to try out new players as the season winds down.

Earlier this week, the Kings attempted to sign a shot blocking big man in Chris Johnson.  That signing never happened, and although it has yet to be confirmed by anyone, rumor has it that Johnson failed his physical.

RealGM is now reporting that the Kings have moved on to Plan B, Willie Reed (h/t to t3-glaze for the FanShot).  Reed is a 23 year old big man who came to training camp with the Kings last season and was cut shortly before the season began.  Reed has spent this season and last as a member of the D-League's Springfield Armor, where he's averaging 14.8 points on 59% from the field, 10.1 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks.  Reed's contract is for the final 11 games of the season, and RealGM says it contains a team option for next season as well.

Royce White's future with the Kings remains uncertain.  Last night he got his first meaningful playing time, but didn't do that much.  He also had to play in what was possibly the weirdest lineup of any NBA team this season for most of that time (White, Gay, Williams, Outlaw & Thompson) due to Isaiah's injury.  White's 2nd 10-day contract is close to expiring so if the Kings want to keep him, they will have to sign him to a contract for the rest of the season.  According to Yahoo's Marc J. Spears, the Kings do like White, but still haven't decided on keeping him on or not.

Kings still contemplating whether to sign Royce White for rest of season, but love his play, professionalism and how he fits in w/teammates.

— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) March 27, 2014

UPDATE 1:30 P.M.:

Michael Malone said Willie Reed will sign with the Sacramento Kings but will be assigned to their D-League affiliate in Reno #NBAKings

— Sean Cunningham (@News10Sean) March 27, 2014

Royce White no longer a member the Kings for the moment will not travel with team on road trip. #NBAKings

— Sean Cunningham (@News10Sean) March 27, 2014

That's not to say Royce White refused to travel, but he will meet with Kings GM Pete D'Alessandro within coming days to discuss future.

— Sean Cunningham (@News10Sean) March 27, 2014

Here's a look at some links from around the web pertaining to the NBA D-League.

There's plenty going on surrounding the NBA D-League this week, so let's take a look at the biggest stories making headlines this week in the minor league.

The Springfield Armor are moving to Michigan, with the Detroit Pistons poised to take over the team and form their own single affiliation, according to a report. Such news still takes officials from the city by surprise. No word as to whether the Nets will look for another single affiliation, or join the party with one of the hybrid teams who host multiple NBA affiliates.

While the Armor may be on their way to Michigan, Springfield big man Willie is on his way to Sacramento, his agent tells RealGM. Our buddy Gino Pilato hears that Reed will finish up the (D-League) season on assignment with the Reno Bighorns to kick things off.

Even more Armor related news: earlier this week, D-League All-Star Devin Ebanks was suspended five games for violating the league's anti-drug policy. The young gun also has an outstanding suspension for whenever he returns to the NBA, due to a previous violation.

To close things out, here's an interesting video clip with a look at a day in the life of Canton Charge guard Gilbert Brown.

Sactown Royalty's own Adam Beddawi joins the show to talk all things Kings.

The Sactown Royalty Show is back!  This week I'm joined by Sactown Royalty's own Adam Beddawi.

We covered a variety of topics in this week's show.  We talked about Kings/Knicks, the growth of Ray McCallum, and Travis Outlaw Forever!  We went on some fun tangents about Adam's origins as a Kings fan, and as a Sactown Royalty member.  And we talked about how ancient I am!  Finally, we got back on track and discussed the draft and the coming offseason.  It was a really fun show, be sure to 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.

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DeMarcus Cousins, Rudy Gay, and Isaiah Thomas. For the rest of this season, those players are the driving force behind the Sacramento Kings.

2013-2014 NBA Season
	@
25-46 Lost 1		52-19Lost 1
March 28th, 2014
Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
7:00 PM Central Standard Time
TV:  Fox Sports Network Oklahoma
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM/640 AM), KHTK Sports 1140
Injury Report: Kendrick Perkins (Out), Thabo Sefolosha (Out), Isaiah Thomas (Questionable), Carl Landry (Out), Jason Terry (Not With Team)
Previous Matchups: Jan 19 (W, 108-93)
Probable Starters
Isaiah Thomas or Ray McCallum	PG	Russell Westbrook
Ben McLemore	SG	Andre Roberson
Rudy Gay	SF	Kevin Durant
Reggie Evans	PF	Serge Ibaka
DeMarcus Cousins	C	Steven Adams
2013/14 Advanced Stats
96.9 (14th)	Pace	98.2 (T-8th)
103.5 (15th)	ORtg	107.6 (7th)
106.2 (24th)	DRtg	100.5 (5th)

Over the last few years, the Sacramento Kings haven't been hard to define. They were a team defined by their arena struggle, with a passionate fanbase that would do anything to keep their squad from moving a few hours south. But the team itself has always been mediocre. The Kings have never been able to land a franchise-level player through the lottery, and the closest thing they had was a wild big man with behavioral problems.

The Kings of today still aren't the greatest team, but they finally have a a nice trio of players to hang their hat on. Demarcus Cousins, the first of the three, is quietly having the best season of his career. He's scoring 22.5 PPG, grabbing 11.8 RPG, and shooting darn near 50%. His numbers have never been that consistently high before, and his effort on the defensive end has improved recently as well. The only real knock on him is his low assist-to-turnover ratio, but with how well he scores, it's not much of a knock.

The second player, Isaiah Thomas, has been one of the hugest surprises for the Kings this season. He's a former second round pick who's seen his game evolve significantly over the last couple of years. Thunder fans will remember him for his monster fourth quarter performance last year, where he used his high-level speed to tear through the Thunder's slow, lanky defense. He's definitely a lot less consistent than Cousins is, because his short stature forces him to rely on great expendictures of energy to score. He also turns the ball over a bit too much for his position. But when it's all said and done, the Nate Robinson-like "spark" that he can provide really trumps all else.

The third and final piece of the Kings' new triumvirate is Rudy Gay, a mid-season acquisition from the Toronto Raptors. Gay has always been a very talented scorer, but his injury history and hefty price tag has seen him kicked around between a couple of different teams. Most recently, the Raptors didn't like how Gay worked with Demar Derozan in the context of their offense. Furthermore, Gay was seen intercepting the post-game stat sheets in Toronto, speaking of how the team didn't play for stats.

It's surprising, then, to see how well Gay has developed in Sacramento. For all intents and purposes, he's playing the best ball he's played in two or three years. His shooting percentages are up (to 45%), he's getting to the line more, and his PPG is the highest it's ever been (20.3). You can attribute his renaissance to a more post-oriented game, as well as the gift of playing alongside more talented scoring threats.

So what's the problem, then? As has been the case for years, the Kings are a terrible defensive team. They had brought in Mike Malone, the guru credited with resurrecting the Warriors from an assistant's chair, to remedy that situation. But the results have been mixed. He's obviously working with a roster that wasn't tailor-made for defensive effectiveness, and, to his credit, the defense has improved in recent months. But really, the Kings are only going to beat you by outscoring you or out-rebounding you. Unless you're headed for the lottery, the defense has no bite.

Furthermore, outside of the starting lineup, this team doesn't have any consistently effective players. Rookie Ben McLemore has found a bit of a groove recently, and Reggie Evans does his regular rebounding thing. But the rest of the team reads like a list of guys full of failed potential. Ray McCallum. Derrick Williams. Travis Outlaw. Jason Thompson. Royce White, for Pete's sake. Things might be better if Carl Landry had been able to go this season, but still, even Caron Butler and Derek Fisher should be able to do work against these greenhorns.

So really, for me, I can only see the Kings winning this game in three ways:

1. They dominate the offensive glass. Hopefully Brooks doesn't elect to go small for too long.
2. A random bench player decides to stave the Kings through hard times. Royce White's coming out party?
3. The Thunder fail to hold their lead and have a catastrophic failure at the hands of Isaiah Thomas.

Also, Isaiah Thomas must play. At the time of writing, he's traveling with the team but didn't practice yesterday due to a bruised quad. It's anyone's guess as to whether he'll see court time tonight.

I should also mention that this should be an easy win because DeMarcus Cousins has always struggled against OKC. He's only shot over 41% against the Thunder once in the past three seasons, and hasn't shot over 40% against the Thunder in the past two. He's simply not very good at pushing Perk out of the way, nor is he good at dealing with OKC's excellent help D at the rim.

Anyway, on our end, we've got the usual ongoing storylines. KD is four 25 point performances away from tying Jordan's record. Jeremy Lamb and Perry Jones are in the doghouse. Caron Butler is mediocre. Thabo Sefolosha and Kendrick Perkins are still injured. And Russell Westbrook is still on a minutes restriction. Same 'ol, same 'ol.

Let's take care of business tonight, so we don't have to watch the entire friggin' playoffs on the road!

Prediction: Oklahoma City Thunder 107, Sacramento Kings 99.

What do you think of tonight's game? Drop a comment and let us know!

The Kings could be without Isaiah Thomas again as they face one of the best teams in the NBA.

The Kings are on the road again, this time to face the Oklahoma City Thunder (5:00 pm on News10 and KHTK 1140) for the start of a very tough back-to-back.  The Kings are coming off a tough loss to the Knicks, but the Thunder want to get back on track even more after falling to the Mavericks in Overtime a few days ago.

MATCHUP OF THE GAME

Rudy Gay vs. Kevin Durant

Rudy didn't have the best game matched up against Carmelo Anthony on Wednesday, and he faces an even tougher test tonight against Durant.  Durant is going to get his, and Rudy is unlikely to stop him there.  Hopefully though, Rudy can get going himself and make Durant work hard on that end so he doesn't have as much energy to expend offensively.

3 THINGS

1. Thomas is again questionable for tonight's game, which means we'll see a lot more Ray McCallum and Rudy Gay, Point Forward if he doesn't play.  Russell Westbrook is a much better player than Raymond Felton, so Ray's in for another tough night should he start.  Hopefully he can find his rhythm offensively a little bit sooner.  If Thomas does play, the Kings will still be in a tough spot in trying to win, but Thomas has had some incredible games against the Thunder in the past, particularly in bringing the Kings back from 20+ point deficits.

2. One area where the Kings should hopefully dominate Oklahoma City is at the Center position.  The Thunder are without Kendrick Perkins and Hasheem Thabeet, meaning Cousins will go up against rookie Steven Adams and veteran Nick Collison, perhaps with some Serge Ibaka thrown in.  Cousins has been playing great basketball lately, and the Kings will need a sterling performance from him to have a chance.

3. Ben McLemore has been having the best month of his career.  He's noticeably slowing down and taking more things in rhythm, while also trying to be aggressive.  I want to see if he can keep it up the rest of the season, which would be a good sign for his future.  Fortunately for him, he won't have to go up against Thabo Sefolosha tonight, but the Thunder are still a phenomenal defensive team.

PRE-GAME HAIKU

That Kevin Durant,
shoo-in for the MVP.
He's incredible.

PREDICTION

Kings 72, Thunder 105 because if we go down to the Knicks by 24 without Isaiah, we're probably going to do a lot worse against the Thunder.