The Rock is a Hall of Famer!

Kings legend Mitch Richmond was officially named to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Monday.

The announcement confirms Carmichael Dave's initial report last Wednesday that "The Rock" had made it in.

Richmond played seven seasons in Sacramento and was the first King to have their jersey hoisted into the rafters in Sleep Train Arena (then Arco Arena). He joins Alonzo Mourning, Bob Leonard, Nat Clifton, Nolan Richardson, Guy Rodgers, Gary Williams and one Mr. David Stern in this year's Hall of Fame class.

Here are some quick numbers that make the case for Richmond:

• Six-time NBA All-Star.
• 1989 Rookie of the Year.
• MVP of the 1995 All-Star Game.
• Olympic gold medalist in 1996 with Team USA. Bronze medalist in 1988.
• 2002 NBA champion (yes, with the Lakers).
• Career averages of 21 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.
• One of only 39 players on the NBA's all-time scoring list to amass more than 20,000 points.
• Ranks 29th in league history with 1,326 three-pointers made, 34th in scoring average and 37th in points scored.

The guy was solid on both ends of the floor, hence the nickname, and he gave the franchise from Sacramento a player that demanded attention across the league in the 90s, including Michael Jordan who has referred to Richmond as one of the toughest players he ever went up against.

Here he is dropping 37 points in Game 2 of the 1996 playoffs series against the Seattle SuperSonics.

Richmond currently serves as the director of pro personnel for the Kings. He also was one of the investors in the local group who stepped up to pledge $1 million in Mayor Kevin Johnson's efforts last year to keep the Kings in Sacramento. Johnson also was a finalist for the Hall of Fame this year. (In my opinion, he should be in too.)

Richmond will be inducted during a ceremony on Aug. 8 in Springfield, Mass. Check out The Rock's post about the announcement here.

Another day, another tough game as Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and company are in town.

Kevin Durant and the Thunder come into town (7:00 pm on Comcast SportsNet California and KHTK 1140) and will be looking to get back on the right track after suffering two losses in a row. Aside from an injury to Thabo Sefolosha, the Thunder are at full strength, while the Kings will likely be once again without Isaiah Thomas.

MATCHUP OF THE GAME

Rudy Gay vs. Kevin Durant

There's no stopping Kevin Durant. There's no containing him either, especially with the personnel on this Kings roster. Sacramento's only hope of mitigating the inevitable damage done to them by Durant is for Rudy to get going as well. So far this season, he's played terrible against the Thunder, the only team he's played against where he's averaged less than 10 points a game. To be specific he's only scored 6.5 points on 33.3% shooting over two games. Those are not Rudy Gay numbers, and the Kings won't stand a chance if he doesn't break the trend.

3 THINGS

1. As I mentioned above, the Thunder have hit a slight bump in the road, losing their last two games, although both losses came to good teams in Houston and Phoenix. At this point in the season, the Thunder will want to avoid any hiccups as they get ready for the playoffs.

2. Something completely arbitrary and unnecessary but still interesting that I'm watching as the season comes to a close: Can DeMarcus Cousins reach 50% shooting for the season? Right now he's at 49.7%, having hit 542 of 1090 shots. Assuming he continues to shoot his season average of about 16 shots a game for the rest of the season, he'd have to shoot about 53.8% to get to 50%. Over five games that's doable. Regardless of whether he makes it or not, he's made a big jump in his offensive efficiency this season, which is nice to see.

3. The McRookies have had a rough time against veteran teams like the Thunder this year. The Kings could use some big performances from them, although they'll have a tough task. McCallum's going up against perhaps the most athletic guard in the league in Russell Westbrook, and while McLemore won't have to go up against Sefolosha, he'll still see a lot of pressure thanks to Oklahoma City's good team defense. If just one of the McRookies can have a good game, I'll be pleased.

PRE-GAME HAIKU

That Russell Westbrook.
he must not be a point guard,
since he's not pass-first.

PREDICTION

Kings 84, Thunder 108 because even though it would be hilarious and exhilarating, we probably aren't winning this game.

Kings assistant coach Corliss Williamson spoke to us about the progress of DeMarcus Cousins this season.

As I walked out of the security exit following the Kings' two-point loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, I noticed assistant coach Corliss Williamson quietly leaving as well. The game was a Sunday afternoon matinee affair and with the sun still shining, Williamson was quickly mobbed by the eager fans waiting to see any players who may come through the doors.

He was more than gracious as he patiently signed autographs and posed for photos. With a smile, he said it is typically dark outside after late games so the mobs aren't usually waiting for him.

Williamson, who was drafted by the Kings in 1995 and played here until 2000 and then again from 2005 to 2007, was kind enough to chat with me for a few minutes as we both walked to our cars about his experience this season as a first-time assistant coach for DeMarcus Cousins.

The "Big Nasty" was an undersized power forward and wasn't the dominant big man Cousins is (his numbers in the 1997-98 season were impressive though at 17.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game), but he had the same flare and competitive nature that boogie has. Williamson, of course, has plenty of basketball experience that Cousins could glean from considering the fact he won championships at the AAU, NCAA and NBA levels.

Coming in as an assistant coach for DeMarcus Cousins, what was the approach you planned to take at the start of the season?

Coming in, I had seen him play in college, really didn't have a chance to see him play in the pros except for what I saw on film when I got here. I just tried to come in with an open mind, try to get to know him. With any basketball player if anyone is working with you, you've got to build trust with them, so that was my No. 1 goal was for us to learn to trust each other and then just try to offer some advice. He's already talented and skilled, it's just a matter of trying to give some suggestions.

Are there things that you see in him that you saw in yourself as a player?

I like his footwork in the post - that was something I tried to take pride in. But it's totally two different players...he has the height I wish I had (laughs). He's talented and we're just trying to give him some of the tricks of the trade that you learn as a player, different ways to get yourself open or get better position in the post; so those are kind of some of the things I've kind of tried to help him with.

Obviously, everybody talks about his emotions. I noticed in that Houston Rockets game that he got ejected from you were the one who came over to him and sort of separated him from the officials. In that area, are there specific things you have tried to help with?

You just try to talk to him. I mean, anyone when they're emotional or their temper is up and things aren't going well, it's hard to talk to people then so you give them a chance to cool off and then kind of pull them aside and just try to give them a different way of looking at things. Try to look at it from a different perspective, from a different point of view. But, you know, he's been very receptive, not only to me but our whole staff. I mean, everyone takes turns with talking to him, giving him advice. I think we've seen some improvement from him years before until now. Hopefully, he will stay on that same path.

Does he come up to the coaching staff regularly and ask for advice?

Not necessarily, it's more of us telling him things we see. He may ask some questions about what's going on in a game or particular fouls or something he did wrong, but it's just us giving him advice. I don't think too many people come up asking about "how can I control my temper?" I never did and I had a temper too (laughs). You just kind of learn and the good thing about it is that we've got a fairly young staff so we're still able to relate to him and talk to him in probably a different way than maybe an older staff would.

He said at the beginning of the season that he wasn't expecting a lot of wins immediately and that this season was more about showing signs of improvement. Would you agree that he has really bought into the direction of the franchise?

I think so, I believe he has. He wants to win, we all want to win. But we all understand it's a process. I think he's starting to understand that. It not only starts with bringing in new players, different pieces but it starts with the guys we have here now changing the culture and the way we are doing things and I think we have done that. We haven't arrived yet where we want to be, but you've seen the progress in the culture here and hopefully we'll continue that as the season ends and the offseason progresses.

The Kings stand in the way of the Clips tomorrow, Isaiah Thomas is injured, and Rudy Gay has a baby on the way. Let's take care of business.

2013-2014 NBA Season
	@
55-21 Lost 2		27-50Lost 2
April 8th, 2014
Sleep Train Arena, Sacramento, California
9:00 PM Central Standard Time
TV: Fox Sports Network Oklahoma, Comcast Sports Network California
Radio: WWLS 98.1FM OKC, KHTK Sports 1140
Injury Report: Thabo Sefolosha (Out), Russell Westbrook (Probably Out), Rudy Gay (Baby on the Way), Isaiah Thomas (Out), Carl Landry (Out), Jason Terry (Chillin')
Previous Matchups:  Dec 3 (W 97-95), Jan 19 (W 108-93), Mar 28 (W 94-81)
Probable Starters
Reggie Jackson	PG	Ray McCallum
Andre Roberson	SG	Ben McLemore
Kevin Durant	SF	Rudy Gay
Serge Ibaka	PF	Reggie Evans
Kendrick Perkins	C	DeMarcus Cousins
2013/14 Advanced Stats
98.1 (9th)	Pace	96.7 (14th)
107.9 (7th)	ORtg	103.0 (17th)
100.8 (5th)	DRtg	106.1 (23rd)

With two straight losses on their backs and six games left in the season, the Thunder have been all but eliminated from contention for the Western Conference's first seed. The San Antonio Spurs have simply been too consistent this season, taking care of business against bad teams while the Thunder dealt with injuries and rotating personnel.

So, the question now becomes this: What are the Thunder playing for? Currently, only the Clippers have a realistic shot of taking away their two seed. LA has played two more games than OKC, and lost them both. Thus, the Thunder would need to lose at least twice over the next six games in order to give the Clips some hope. Adding to the intrigue is the fact that the Thunder play the Clippers tomorrow, on the second end of a back-to-back after tonight's Kings game. Should OKC win tonight's game and tomorrow's game, the two seed would be almost virtually guaranteed.

However, there is another factor at play here. Should the Thunder make the NBA finals, seeding is irrelevant. The better team's record always gets home court advantage, and that can be essential in such a tightly contested series. I know that looking at it now is a bit premature, but the Heat have lost two games more than the Thunder, and have six games left in the season as well. As long as the Thunder can finish in front of them, they'll hold home court advantage against all but one of our potential playoff opponents. And we're 4-0 against the one opponent that would have home court on us, so that's pretty darn cool.

Thus, winning tonight's game against Sacramento is kind of a big deal. It should be a relatively painless task. I don't want to sound dismissive, but OKC has the Kings' number. I'm perfectly willing to admit that the league has produced a lot of effective Thunder-killing teams this season, but the Kings simply aren't one of them. Out of the three matchups both teams have played, the Kings have only managed to make one game competitive. And that was only on the back of a miraculous Isaiah Thomas fourth quarter run. He's not playing tonight.

Of course, the Kings still have Rudy Gay and DeMarcus Cousins. But those guys haven't ever seen much success against the Thunder. Cousins hasn't shot over 40% against Big Blue once in the past two seasons, and both of Rudy Gay's forays against Oklahoma City's team were horrible. Both of those players tend to struggle because they're off-the-dribble scorers who rely on their size. The Thunder have a ton of long and skilled defenders, so it's hard for them to score as consistently as they normally do.

The rest of this team really isn't much to write home about. Derrick Williams hasn't been an X-Factor in weeks, and their rookies are really struggling. Moreover, the team has no real defensive advantage that can open the door for them to win games. They're too small to out-rebound most teams, their 1 on 1 defense is nothing special, and they're not very good at forcing turnovers. Thus, the Kings are almost totally reliant on two big scorers to run over other teams, and it usually takes a bit more than that to beat the Thunder.

But if I've learned one thing about the Kings over the years, it's that you should never underestimate them. Obviously there's no huge "Here We Stay" movement to keep the fans motivated, but Sacramento's crowd is always ready to get involved in late-season games. Furthermore, Russell Westbrook will likely be sitting out of this game, so there's a good chance that Butler and Fisher could struggle from the floor and let the Kings' bench have a run.

At the end of the day though, this should be an easy win. Rudy Gay is expecting his wife to deliver a baby at any moment, so he could literally run out of the game at any time. Furthermore, I just don't see the Kings' offense having the ball movement needed. They're the leagues worst team in that regard, averaging just 18.8 assists a game. No dimes mean no floor space, and no floor space means no win against the Thunder.

Slammin' Notes: Durant's streak of 25 point games stands at 41. To beat Chamberlain's all-time streak of 80 games, he would only need 39 more games of scoring at that level......Grant Jerrett, the Thunder's second-round pick last year, was signed to a ten day contract today. He'll space the floor with his jumper in practice, but that's likely it.

Prediction: Oklahoma City Thunder 123, Sacramento Kings 99.

What do you think of tonight's game? Let us know in the comments!

With Rudy, Isaiah, and Reggie out, the Kings needed to step up big. Outside of a historic night from DeMarcus Cousins, and a season high from Travis Outlaw, this did not happen.

With Rudy Gay, Isaiah Thomas, and Reggie Evans all out, the Sacramento Kings knew that they had to play perfect basketball in order to have a chance against the Thunder, with or without Russell Westbrook. DeMarcus Cousins and Travis Outlaw got the memo, and with the starters in the game we were always in it. Then, the bench came in. The Kings' bench was especially stagnant, even by their own standards. They had amassed all of 5 points by the time garbage time came around, and they were able to pad their stats.The end result was a 107-92 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

DeMarcus Cousins finished with 24 and 14 on his way to his 50th double double of the season. For those keeping track at home that ties him with Chris Webber for the most double doubles in a single season by a Sacramento King. One has to assume that he will break that in these last few games, though I may have just accidentally put an Akisesque curse on him. Travis Outlaw was his typical self, with 24 pts, 5 boards, 4 assists, and 1 turnover. As predicted, he outscored Kevin Durant by 1 point. While Ben McLemore, Ray McCallum, and Jason Thompson didn't have record breaking performances, they didn't hurt the team, and they were actually in the game when this crew was on the floor. The bench, outside of a nice dunk and some solid effort by Quincy Acy did absolutely nothing worth noting.

The Oklahoma City Thunder were able to put themselves in cruise control for a majority of the game. Kevin Durant never had to do much, as guys like Caron Butler and Serge Ibaka carried the load for him. Kevin Durant finished with 23 points, which halted his 25- point game streak at 41. Caron Butler was on fire, shooting 6-6 from downtown on his way to 23 points. Serge Ibaka tallied 19 points on 4 boards, as well. Outside of the others stepped up when they needed to, and shocked the world by playing better than the Kings did.

The game was not without highlights. DeMarcus was on fire for a while, though it appeared that fatigue eventually got the best of him. He even appeared to spin away from Durant and break his ankles! (It was probably more due to the fact that Durant was stepping back, but I am going to tell it like I saw it.) McCallum, who was struggling with his shot now that defenses are making him create more, showed off those great handles we have learned to loe. And Travis Outlaw's was doing his typical turnaround jumper, fadeaway, and tip- in routine.

While the bench play was terrible, most of the rotation players played a good game, and we were basically in the game for 3 quarters. The big story was as simple as missing three starters from our lineup. As ideal as it is to continually lean on Travis Outlaw, who is just a few games away from his jersey retirement, we just can't always ride him off into the sunset and be fine. The Kings have some opportunities to play spoiler these last few games, so let's end it on a win streak!

For the other perspective, visit Welcome to Loud City!

The Kings start their last road trip of the season with a trip to Rip City.

Just four games left before the 2013-14 season is over, and tonight the Kings face Portland (7:00 pm on Comcast SportsNet California and KHTK 1140) in what will be their last "road trip" of the season, since they'll also play the Clippers in Los Angeles on Saturday before coming back home for the final two games of the season.  Portland's cooled off from their blistering start, but they're still very good.

MATCHUP OF THE GAME

DeMarcus vs. LaMarcus

While these two players likely won't see much time guarding one another, they're the focal points of both teams' offenses.  Cousins has been playing phenomenal lately, while Aldridge has been rounding back into form after coming back from injury.  Both players have done exceedingly well in these matchups so far this season, and the trick will be stopping Aldridge from going off while Cousins continues to do so.

3 THINGS

1. During the Kings relocation saga, I had many dark thoughts about what would happen to my NBA fandom if the Kings ended up leaving.  I know that if they had left, I probably would have become a Portland Trail Blazers fan for a few reasons, but mainly because they're the fan base that I most admire and respect aside from our own.  All my experiences with Blazers fans have been great.  Unlike most fans who attend Kings games to support the other team, I've rarely seen obnoxious Blazers fans (I can't say the same for Warriors or Lakers fans).  Also, I think Blazer's Edge is one of, if not the best, team blog out there and I love the work that Dave Deckard and Benjamin Golliver do over there.  It's one of the few non-Kings blogs that I'll check out regularly.

2. If I had to guess, no Isaiah Thomas again tonight.  I'm not sure why the Kings just haven't officially shut him down for the rest of the season.  Ray McCallum has been ridden to the maximum in Thomas' absence, and it's no surprise to me that his shot hasn't been falling lately.  He's essentially played the entire game in every game since Thomas went out, and that's a big jump from barely playing.  For McCallum's own health, Malone has to give him more of a break, even if it means a lesser chance of winning, because let's face it, even with McCallum playing all these minutes, we haven't translated that to much more winning anyway.

3. Willie Reed was recalled from the Bighorns, where he averaged 13.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 2.4 blocks in 25 minutes a game over 5 games, helping Reno secure a playoff spot.  Now he'll be with the Kings until the D-League playoffs start, and it will be interesting to see if he gets any significant playing time, and if he does, if he plays with Cousins.  I would like to see how the team looks with Cousins paired with an actual shot blocker.

PRE-GAME HAIKU

Thomas Robinson.
Your penchant for missed dunks is
surpassed by lil' Ben

PREDICTION

Kings 95, Blazers 110 as lack of depth bites Sacramento in the butt once again.

Welcome to the Gameday Open Thread at Blazer’s Edge! This is a place to hang out and enjoy tonight’s festivities with your fellow fans. Treat it as if you’re watching a game at the local watering hole, but hopefully without the language. Expect some disagreements, and a fair amount of changing emotions. But we'll get through it together.

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Injuries: Joel Freeland (knee) is still out, but hopes to play in the last few regular season games. Also, Allen Crabbe is activated in place of Mo Williams:

Trail Blazers place G Allen Crabbe on their Active List and G Mo Williams on their Inactive list for tonight's game vs. Sacramento. #RipCity

— Trail Blazers PR (@TrailBlazersPR) April 10, 2014

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The usual Gameday Thread rules apply:

1. No swearing
2. No pictures
3. No discussion of unlicensed Internet streaming
4. Be cool to each other!

Hang out and enjoy the game! -- Tim

Dorell Wright hit a clutch three with just over 7 seconds left, and while Ray McCallum got a look, it was just short. The loss doesn't take away from the excellent effort the Kings showed to come back from as many as 15 points while playing shorthanded.

For the recap tonight, I did something a little bit different, keeping a game diary as the game went. What follows are my thoughts on the game as it happened, including some final thoughts. I got lucky in choosing such a fun game to do this on, and although the Kings didn't come up with the win, it was still one of the more fun games of the season.

1st Quarter

7:02 pm: Telecast has started. No Isaiah Thomas and no Rudy Gay again. Time to grab a beer or fie.

7:03 pm: These KFC commercials are driving me crazy this season. Nobody gets this excited about KFC.

7:05 pm: Grant's interviewing Travis for the pre-game interview. Travis' accent is the best.

7:09 pm: Telecast shows a nice view of Portland.  I've never been up there, would like to visit both Portland and Seattle sometime soon.

7:10 pm: Remember when Wes Matthews was "discovered" by the Kings by playing on their summer league team? And then they ended up not signing him for peanuts and he went to Utah instead.

7:13 pm: Kings get first possession and the Blazers are whistled for a defensive three second violation in the first 15 seconds, but unfortunately McLemore misses the free throw and Jason Thompson misses a fadeaway.

7:13 pm: First score of the game goes to Portland thanks to a long jumper by Aldridge. He's mastered that mid-range jumper.

7:14 pm: Kings tie it up thanks to a nice drive from Ben.  That was nice to see, and finishing around Robin Lopez was even better.

7:15 pm: Cousins has missed his first two jumpers, a shot he's been hitting at a high rate lately.

7:16 pm: Cousins gets a backcourt steal, but those are the ones I don't like him trying to get because more often than not they end up in fouls.  Meanwhile Blazers race up the court after Cousins fails to convert and Aldridge gets to the line to make it 8-2 Portland.

7:18 pm: Jason Thompson should be called the Assists destroyer. Cousins just fed him a beautiful pass in the post, but Jason decided to take an extra dribble instead of going up strong and his shot went up after shot clock expired. Very poor recognition and execution from JT there.  Portland takes it down and scores on the other end to take a 12-4 lead and Malone calls a timeout.

7:21 pm: Out of the timeout, Kings post up Cousins, who gets doubled and finds McLemore at the top of the key for an open three.  More importantly, it goes in.  Good start for McLemore.

7:22 pm: Cousins gets on the board with a free throw line jumper and then Kings get a steal on the other end, where Cousins hits another free throw line jumper.  Back in rhythm and Kings have cut the lead to 14-11.

7:24 pm: Outlaw has had some nice passes lately, and he drives to find Cousins at the rim, where he makes the shot and gets fouled by Thomas Robinson.  Misses the free throw though.

7:25 pm: Yet another layup for the Blazers. Kings interior defense has stunk so far.

7:25 pm: The Kings actually finished a lob! Ray to Ben for a contested layup. Not a dunk, but hey, two points is two points.

7:27 pm: McLemore misses his first shot, a mid-range pull-up, but Cousins gets the offensive rebound and put back.  It's 21-17 Portland and we have another timeout.

7:28 pm: This Mark Cuban U-verse commercial with the doorbells always drives my dog crazy. It's pretty funny.

7:29 pm: Jesus, they just showed the shooting stats and the Blazers are 9-10, I hadn't realized they were shooting that well.

7:31 pm: Cousins is trying really hard on defense, but Blazers are exploiting his help d by finding the open man when he helps.

7:32 pm: D-Will has come in and missed his first two shots, but I like that he's being aggressive.  Lately he's been invisible on the court.

7:33 pm: Jared Cleverpork is really athletic. Got the defensive rebound and took it all the way down to the court, but an unlucky bounce cost him the basket.  Interesting that he's in for McLemore and not McCallum. Ray needs to rest sometime, doesn't he?

7:35 pm: First quarter's in the books, Blazers lead 27 to 20.  Good effort from Kings overall, but bad defense and a greater amount of offensive threats on the home team are proving too much.

2nd Quarter

7:36 pm: I like to think this guy actually did get a Pizza Guys tattoo for this commercial.

7:37 pm: Ray's actually getting a rest! Let's see how long it lasts. I give it 2 minutes of game time. Maybe 3.

7:39 pm: Another steal for the Kings leads to a breakout dunk for Acy. Kings have been very active in the passing lane so far tonight.

7:41 pm: Another basket around the rim by Ben McLemore.  He's playing very well and now has a game-high 10 points on 4-6 shooting.  His play to end the season has made me much more optimistic about his future.

7:42 pm: Another bucket for Ben! That cuts the lead to 29-27.  The Kings stop Lillard on the other end and Cunningham ties it up with a nifty floater.  Bench is playing much better than they were last night.

7:43 pm: Another miss for D-Will, but the aggression is a welcome sight.  If he keeps attacking, things will eventually go in his favor, or he'll get to the line.

7:46 pm: This bench unit's actually playing pretty well, so Ray's actually getting a decent breather.

7:47 pm: Then again the Blazers just got back to back uncontested dunks. Malone's not thrilled.

7:50 pm: Out of the timeout we have a possession that ends with a 20 foot jumper from Reggie Evans. Of all the players on this team that you would want shooting a 20 foot jumper, Reggie Evans probably is the last one.

7:52 pm: A 7-0 run by the Blazers to make it 38-31 gets Cousins and McCallum back into the game.

7:52 pm: D-Will takes it to the basket again and this time it goes in.  Now he needs to keep it up.

7:53 pm: Damian Lillard's at the line and it feels like the Blazers have been to the line a lot already.  A quick look at the box score shows them with 13 attempts to Sacramento's 5.

7:55 pm: Blazers just rotated the ball around the horn twice and missed the corner three on the second time around. I actually think Wes Matthews screwed up by not taking the corner three the first time, when he was more open.  The Kings did a good job of rotating though.

7:57 pm: Kings are in a bit of a shooting slump and Portland has an 11 point lead, their largest of the game. Someone needs to get going for the Kings.  These are the situations where we really miss Isaiah and Rudy, or hell, even Marcus Thornton.

7:58 pm: Ben badly misses a three, but it was so bad that Williams caught it cleanly and dunked it.  Can we just call that an assist?

8:01 pm: There's almost three minutes left in the half and the Blazers already have 17 free throw attempts.  That and the fact they're shooting 60+% from the field is a big reason they're up 48 to 35.

8:02 pm: Ben's missed his last three shots and is now 5-10 after being 5-7.  He's streaky, and finding consistency will need to happen at some point if he wants to make an impact in his league.

8:04 pm: Wow, Batum just threw a perfect lob pass from well beyond the three point arc with the Kings defense set, and Matthews made the even more difficult catch to put it in.  That was impressive.

8:05 pm: Man, if only Cousins ran back on defense as fast as he does to get down on offense... (he has been better about running back on defense this season though)

8:06 pm: Jason Thompson misses two free throws. I have no idea what has happened to his stroke since he came into the league.  He was right around 70% his first two years in the league, and despite a seeming resurgence last year, is at 58.9% this year.

8:08 pm: Ray with a really impressive take to the basket but they call a foul and don't give him continuation. Ray has a really nice handle, and I'm as interested to see how he progresses next season as the more heralded McLemore.

8:10 pm: Wow, 2.1 seconds left and the Blazers foul the Kings before the ball is inbounded, meaning Kings get the ball to end the quarter instead and RAY MCCALLUM HITS THE THREE AT THE BUZZER. TREY MAC!  That cuts the lead to 10 at 56 to 46 entering the half.

3rd Quarter

8:27 pm: And we're back.  Portland gets a quick bucket from Lillard to start the half, but Ben gets open on the other end to answer right back.

8:28 pm: Cousins hits two jumpers in a row to cut it to 6. The way he's been shooting the ball from outside lately has been amazing. If that's a consistent threat, he'll be nearly unstoppable.

8:30 pm: Cousins is on fire, making his 4th of 5 attempts in the quarter.

8:31 pm: A nice stop leads to a fastbreak and Ray gets fouled. Robin Lopez gets called for a tech for being rightly frustrated at not getting a foul call on the other end. Ray hits the tech and both free throws to make it a 4 point game at 63 to 59. McCallum now has 11 points and 7 assists.

8:32 pm: Matthews hits another three. The Blazers just have so many weapons, especially on the perimeter. The only guy in their starting lineup that can't hit a three is Lopez.  Ben's three on the other end rims in and out.

8:34 pm: Cousins grabs more rebounds with one hand than anyone I've ever seen.  He's now at 8 boards for the game.

8:38 pm: Portland switches to a zone out of the timeout, but Cousins just takes the ball right to the rim for an easy dunk.  On the other end, JT has a nice block on Aldridge. The Kings take it to the other end of the court where Cousins finally connects with JT for an actual assist as JT converts the dunk.  Three point game!

8:40 pm: DeMarcus Cousins is eating Thomas Robinson alive in the paint, on both ends of the court.  He's just too big and strong for him.

8:41 pm: Ah there are those famous hands of T-Rob's, fumbling an easy pass from Lillard for another Portland turnover.  However the Kings turn it over themselves and Robinson converts the layup to extend the lead to 74-67.

8:44 pm: According to Jason Jones, Cousins has passed Brad Miller for 9th all time in Sacramento-era scoring.  He's also one rebound away from breaking C-Webb's single season double-double record of 50.

8:45 pm: Kings get whistled for a defensive three second call, which if they can get a stop on ensuing possession will be worth it, because otherwise the Blazers would have scored a layup.

8:45 pm: And they do get the stop! Thanks for shooting a jumper T-Rob!

8:46 pm: Travis misses again.  He's probably a bit tired after playing against Durant last night.

8:47 pm: Kings haven't scored in a while and now the Blazers have gone up 79-67 on a nice looking jumper from ... T-Rob.  That's an 11-2 run for Portland now.  Malone calls timeout.

8:49 pm: Cousins gets to the basket with a nice move, gets the ball on the window and T-Rob blocks it but it's a goaltend since it hit the glass first.  That's 22 points for Cousins now.

8:50 pm: Cunningham stopped a Blazers' fastbreak with a good poke from behind to get the ball out of Robinson's hands and McCallum again ends the quarter with a basket to make it 79 to 71.  The Kings outscored the Blazers 25 to 23 in the third, but will need their best quarter yet to have a chance to win.  Some threes would really help; the team has only hit 3 so far.  Sacramento's FG% has jumped from 35% to 42.4% and Portland's has fallen from 60% to 55.4%.

4th Quarter

8:54 pm: Kings start the 4th with a lineup of McCallum, Cunningham, Williams, Thompson and Evans. Let's see who handles scoring duties.

8:55 pm: Evans and Thompson apparently, as they score the first two buckets of the quarter to make it a four point game.  Portland misses a three on the other end, Cunningham pushes it all the way, misses a layup, but Evans is there for the putback and it's now just a two point game at 79-77!  The bench has stepped up tonight.

8:56 pm: Ha, the U-verse commercial.  My dog continues to be baffled at the source.

8:58 pm: Welp, Damian Lillard is awake. He drills a contested three to put Portland back up 5.

9:00 pm: Another steal and Ray McCallum with a sick behind the back dribble to blow by the defender and take to the basket to make it a one point game!  McCallum is holding his own against Lillard.

9:01 pm: McCallum misses a stop and pop that would have given the Kings their first lead and Wes Matthews hits one of his own on the other end.

9:01 pm: Trey Mac ties it up with a corner three! Great ball movement from the Kings, and that's 20 points for Ray. He's 3-3 from downtown.

9:02 pm: Ray takes it to the basket to try for the lead again but Lopez blocks it and Evans travels after getting the offensive board. All tied up at 84.

9:03 pm: Lillard breaks the tie with a couple of free throws after getting hacked by Cousins as he takes it to the basket.

9:03 pm: Kings get stopped inside, but they get it back thanks to a nice strip by McCallum to knock the ball off Matthews knee as he took it to the basket.  However Cousins airballs a jumper on the other end, by far his worst looking shot of the game.

9:04 pm: Batum takes it right to the basket for an uncontested dunk. That was too easy.  Cousins answers right back though with a drive and tip in of his first attempt, breaking C-Webb's double-double record in the process. Congrats Big Cuz!

9:06 pm: Jeez, Lillard.  He drills a deep three from the top of the key and the Blazers are back up 5 at 91-86.  (Try not to think we could have had him, try not to think we could have had him... dammit).  Timeout Kings.  With 5:30 left there's plenty of time, but Sacramento's going to have to step up another notch defensively.

9:09 pm: Cousins misses at the rim but Evans gets the offensive board and Trey Mac hits his fourth three from the top of the key!

9:10 pm: Cousins throws a very risky pass to Outlaw down low, but Outlaw gets it and even though he misses, gets fouled and to the line to try to cut it to two.  He gets one of two, and it's 93-90.

9:11 pm: Cousins misses another jumper, he's missed a few in a row now, and is just 12-25 now.

9:11 pm: Williams steals the ball, the 9th of the game for Sacramento.  He barely misses the layup but gets to the line, where he makes one.  93-91 Portland.

9:13 pm: Cousins ties it up at 93 with a reverse layup after Aldridge uncharacteristically misses a wide open jumper on the other end.

9:13 pm: With 4 team fouls and 3 minutes left, Cousins steps out against the driving Lillard and draws the charge! 2:58 left, timeout on the floor, Kings with a chance to take the lead after!  What a fun game.  That's Portland's 17th turnover of the game, compared to just 10 for the Kings.

9:16 pm: The Kings are thwarted from taking the lead once again as Reggie Evans doesn't clear the lane in time and gets whistled for a three second call.  Batum misses a jumper on the other end, but Aldridge is there to put it back.

9:17 pm: Travis Outlaw will save us! He hits the jumper to tie it again.

9:18 pm: Great defense on Aldridge by Evans forces a tough missed shot, and Cousins hits a jumper on the other end to give Sacramento their first lead of the night at 97-95!

9:18 pm: Another great defensive possession on Aldridge by Evans. Aldridge gets back his own miss but doesn't control it and it goes out of bounds. Kings ball!

9:19 pm: Cousins misses this time, and on the other end Lillard gets open for a three and every Kings fans hearts go in their throat, but it just misses. Lopez gets fouled by Evans as they crash the boards though and it's free throws with 42.3 seconds left. Lopez hits both and it's 97 all. Malone wants to talk it over.  Whatever happens, the Kings should be commended for their effort tonight.

9:22 pm: Out of the timeout the Kings get it to Cousins, who drives on Lopez, but Lopez plays good D and alters the shot.

9:23 pm: Cousins knocks the ball loose and McCallum gets it! Cousins goes up for the dunk but gets fouled and sent to the line with 14.8 seconds left. First one's good! Evans comes in for McLemore.

9:23 pm: Second one's good! Timeout, Portland!  99-97 Kings, 14.8 seconds left.

9:25 pm: Blazers have plenty of time to try to tie it but they've also got a lot of deep threats, even if they haven't hit very many tonight at 6-22. Dorell Wright comes in as well, so they've got all perimeter shooters in.

9:26 pm: And Lillard drives to the basket... gets swamped... finds Wright in the corner... and he drills the three. 100-99 Blazers but there are still 7.6 seconds left, plenty of time for Sacramento.  Who gets the final shot?

9:27 pm: McCallum gets the ball, dribbles around, steps back and fires... and it comes just short as time expires.  It was a great look too, but alas it wasn't meant to be.  Fantastic effort and fun game for the Kings though.

Final Thoughts

The Kings were without two of their highest scorers and still managed to have a chance to beat a team with almost twice as many wins as them.  That's more than can be expected, and we got huge games from DeMarcus Cousins (30 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals) and Ray McCallum (23 points, 9 assists and no turnovers).  Ben McLemore stepped up with 16 points of his own.  Unfortunately the Blazers hit the big shot, and all five of their starters finished in double figures, led by LaMarcus Aldridge's 22 points.  Damian Lillard has 19 points and 10 assists, including the game-winning pass to Wright for three after drawing the Kings defense in.

The Kings now have just three games left, and have lost five straight.  There's a very good chance that they could end the season on an 8 game losing streak.  Still, as long as they give this type of effort every night, that's all I can ask for.

For the opponent's perspective, visit the excellent Blazer's Edge.

Dorell Wright hits a late-game three to boost the Portland Trail Blazers over the Sacramento Kings.

The Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Sacramento Kings 100-99 on Wednesday night in a mostly paint-by-numbers affair punctuated by a thrilling last-second three to earn the victory.  Down 97-99 with 14 seconds remaining Damian Lillard penetrated, drew coverage, and found Dorell Wright in the opposite corner.  The pass was low and Wright did a masterful job corralling it and getting the shot over the closing defense.  It was quite the thrill, a fantastic way to send the crowd home happy.  With the win the 5th-place Blazers skip 2 games ahead of 6th seed Golden State and gain a game on 4th seed Houston, as the Rockets lost tonight.

Wonderful ending, wonderful result...happy times!  Yay!  Woot!

Now that we've got that out of our system, we also have to say, "Really, Blazers?"  You really had to escape a game with the Sacramento Kings by the skin of your teeth, an inch on your final possession and an inch and a half on their final shot making the difference?  You really couldn't protect a recurring double-digit lead?   Not only could you not guard the opposing center no matter which configuration you tried, you couldn't keep yet another backcourt player from getting a season high (and almost winning the game)?

Throughout most of this contest I was thinking, "If the Kings could shoot at all, they'd be running away with this game."  They couldn't and they didn't, but they made it plenty close enough.  At the exact time the Blazers should be announcing their intent to hold onto their playoff spot and to make some post-season noise, they're demonstrating that they're just not ready.  They have a week to fix that, 3 more games to practice with.  But if something doesn't turn around before Game 1 of their first-round series, this isn't going to be pretty.  To wit:

--The Blazers knew they had a major matchup issue with DeMarcus Cousins tonight, every bit as serious as they'd have against Dwight Howard or DeAndre Jordan...albeit in a different style.  Admirable they tried different schemes against him: Robin Lopez single-covering, Robin Lopez with help, Thomas Robinson at center, Thomas Robinson with help, and sending the whole farm at Cousins up to and including triple-teams.  The experimentation was great!  The problem was, nothing worked.  Not even the triple teams.

--All that extra attention in the middle left guards free.  Ben McLemore and Ray McCallum had good nights compared to their norm.  But they're hardly world-beaters.  Those two guards should look average at best, probably much worse.  They looked good tonight.  Again we saw that the Blazers can only concentrate on one thing at a time on the defensive end.  Sacramento couldn't take full advantage but a playoff team will.

--Not being fools, the Kings picked up a tip from recent Portland opponents and ran their offense quickly.  The Blazers ended up containing them, giving up only 11 fast-break points.  But the cost was offensive rebounding.  The Blazers got only 5.  The Kings ended up dominating them in that department with 14 of their own.  Against a bad opponent it didn't end up costing, but having to choose between transition "D" or second chance points is a bad situation for this team.

--The Blazers had this game in hand several times.  They led 27-20 after one.  Within 4 minutes they let the Kings right back.  Portland led  52-37 with 1:47 left in the second period.  7 points in the last 30 seconds put Sacramento back within 10 and gave them hope.  The Kings closed to within 3 with 4:00 left in the third but the Blazers took it back to 12 points again with 1:00 remaining.  By 9:15 in the fourth Sacramento had the lead down to 1 again.  The Blazers got up a little then gave it right back.  This game had more accordion action than the Lawrence Welk Show.  Sacramento was carrying 51 losses coming into the evening.  How much would it have taken to make them go away?  But every time the Blazers got an edge instead of finishing the job they let the opponent right back in.  A turnover, a botched play, a sorry defensive stand...the hammer just never came down on the Kings.

This has been a season-long issue.  Every game is close.  But the other guy in your playoff matchup won't be interested in playing close games.  When he's got you down he's going to break you because he knows he better take advantage of every opportunity.  How many chances will the Blazers get to put away a playoff foe?  If they don't capitalize on every one they're going to be in serious trouble.

--Portland's bench had some nice individual moments tonight.  As a group it was a better outing than some we've seen.  But Coach Stotts limited their exposure by keeping them in with 2-3 starters and the continuity still went south.  The rest of the bench makes you wish for Mo Williams.  Wishing for Mo Williams might not be the best sign of health for your team.

--All this and the Kings didn't even play Rudy Gay because of back trouble.

I know folks are going to say, "Here's our parade, Dave.  Why don't you just rain on it?"  But as Sam and I discussed in the latest Videocast, just about the ONLY purpose of the remaining games on the schedule is to gather momentum and resolve for the post-season.  There's an outside chance the Blazers could end up in a different seed, but the odds of moving up are small to the point of vanishing.  The Blazers are tuning up here.  Everything they were supposed to tune tonight fell flat, despite the win.  It's really easy to envision the same kind of game ending up in a horrid loss against the Rockets or Clippers.

If the Blazers do have a different gear, a fresh approach, now would be the time to show it.  They didn't tonight.  It was business as usual.  That amounts to a win against a sub-par team.  Given the nearly-sealed standings and the battle ahead, that might not be good enough anymore.  The lens through which we view these games has changed.  The demands have changed.  The Million Dollar Question: Will the Blazers get the sense of urgency and rise to that challenge or will playoff basketball catch them by surprise?

Individual Notes

Dorell Wright did a GREAT job hitting that shot.  Given the pass and the pressure, it was not easy.

Damian Lillard looked like he was making an effort to play more true point guard tonight, particularly with Mo Williams out.  The result was an impressive 10 assists and a less-impressive 5 turnovers.  Lillard's still at his best when he's scoring first and everything else second.

Thomas Robinson was overmatched defensively at center but he did manage 9 rebounds and 8 points in 14 minutes.  (4 turnovers and 3 personal fouls too.)

Everybody else had a pretty good, not really great, up and down night...pretty much what we've come to expect.

The Blazers play the final road game of the regular season Friday night in Utah.  There's not much to get up for in that matchup.  Let's see if the team can find some much-needed internal motivation.

Boxscore

Timmay's Instant Recap and Gameday Thread Review

Sactown Royalty might be encouraged by the proceedings tonight.  They probably wish DeMarcus Cousins could play the Blazers every night.

Your Jersey Contest scores and the form for Friday are HERE.

Follow Dave on Twitter @DaveDeckard and everything on the site @Blazersedge.

You can also check out the latest, hottest questions answered by Portland media folks in the Trail Blazers' Running the Break feature.  Dustin Hawes does a good job eliciting responses from all of us curmudgeons.

--Dave (blazersub@gmail.com)

NBA Global Games 2014 will feature five total games played all over the world.

As part of the NBA Global Games 2014 schedule announced by the NBA today, the Miami Heat will face off against the Cleveland Cavaliers on October 11, 2014 at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The NBA announced five games will be played that month in five different cities in four countries around the globe. Additionally, regular season games will also be part of the NBA Global Games 2014 schedule, but those will be announced at a later date.

"As the passion for the game continues to grow globally we are focused on finding unique and meaningful ways to connect with fans worldwide, and the NBA Global Games are part of those efforts," said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. "Basketball brings people together across cultural and geographic lines, and these games are a great opportunity for our fans to experience the excitement of the NBA first-hand."

The NBA press release notes that "along with the oncourt action, NBA Global Games 2014 will feature a variety of off-the-court activities, including NBA Cares community programs and interactive fan events in each city. The games will also be supported by a variety of marketing and merchandising partners, and will be available to fans globally on television, digital, and social media."

The Heat game against LeBron James' first team represents the second-ever NBA game to be played in South America.

The San Antonio Spurs will open the schedule with two games in Europe, first against eight-time German champions Alba Berlin on Oct. 8 in Germany at O2 World Berlin. San Antonio will then travel to Istanbul, Turkey to take on five-time Turkish champions Fenerbahçe Ülker Istanbul at the Ülker Sports Arena.

After the Heat vs Cavs game, the Brooklyn Nets and the Sacramento Kings will play on Oct. 12 at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, China then travel to Beijing for a game on Oct. 15 at the MasterCard Center.

The Brooklyn Nets made it official today, in announcing the team will play two preseason games in China against the Sacramento Kings in 2014. The games will be October 12 in Shanghai and October 15 in Beijing. The games are part of the NBA Global Games 2014, the NBA’s comprehensive international schedule that will include five preseason games in four countries this October.

From the release:

"It’s an honor for us to represent Brooklyn and the League in China," said Brooklyn Nets Head Coach Jason Kidd. "The borough and the Nets have connections to fans all over the world and it’s a great opportunity to play on a major international stage in China."

"Our games in China not only allow us to bring our brand to such an important global market, but from a business standpoint it gives us a chance to be in front of Chinese companies who have expressed an interest in the Nets and Brooklyn," Brooklyn Nets and Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark said. "We will be very active during our trip in seeking to create strategic partnerships by demonstrating the powerful benefits of growing their business through the Nets in the No. 1 media market in the United States."

The games will be televised globally, as well as locally.  The news was first reported two months ago by NetsDaily.

With just three games left in the season, it's very unlikely the Kings finish anywhere other than 7th in the draft lottery.

With the season winding down, draft positioning is becoming clearer and clearer. The Sixers, despite a 26 game losing streak, still weren't able to catch the Bucks for the worst record, and Milwaukee has a real chance of finishing the year with just 14 wins. Just a few weeks ago, Boston was in the race for 4th worst with the Kings, Lakers and Jazz, but valiantly tanked their way into the conversation for 3rd by losing 14 of their last 15 games.

The Kings currently sit with the 7th worst record in the NBA at 27-52 with three games remaining and that's unlikely to change in a week's time. In 6th, we have the Lakers at 25-53, who would have to beat two of the following teams to even get into a tie with the Kings (assuming the Kings lose the remainder of their games): Golden State, Memphis, Utah and San Antonio. The Utah game is certainly very winnable, but the rest aren't, even if San Antonio likely will rest their starters for that final game of the season. In 8th, the Pistons are 29-50, with games against the Bulls, Raptors and Thunder. Even if they lose all three, the Kings probably aren't going to beat two of the Clippers, Wolves and Suns to catch them in the standings.

So realistically, the best Kings fans can hope for is maybe tying with the Lakers for 6th place, but probably settling for 7th in the lottery. Honestly, that's about as good as you can hope for given the fact that the Kings are better than their record indicates. Even without taking into account the various injuries that have plagued the Kings this year, and the Rudy Gay trade early in the season, point differential shows that the Kings have played more like a 32-47 team, a record which would put them in the conversation for 10th or 11th.

At 7th, the Kings have exactly a 15% shot of moving up into the Top 3: 4.3% chance at landing the 1st pick, 4.9% chance at 2nd, and a 5.8% chance at 3rd. The most likely scenario at 59.9% is remaining at 7th, followed by a 23.2% chance of dropping to 8th. Theoretically the Kings could drop even further, but there's only a 1.8% chance of dropping to 9th and less than 0.1% chance of getting 10th.

Should the Kings end the season in a tie with the Lakers, their odds will be combined and split, raising Sacramento's odds at the top pick from 4.3% to 5.3%. A coin toss would decide the rankings should neither team jump into the top-3.

In the current NBA lottery system, the 7th worst team has won the lottery just once, when the Nets won the lottery in 2000 to get Kenyon Martin.

Drafting 7th would put the Kings in a range that would include players like Marcus Smart, Noah Vonleh, and Aaron Gordon, but likely missing out on the big names like Wiggins, Parker and Embiid.

The Kings have been slated to draft 7th more than any other pick in the draft during their time in Sacramento, getting that position six times in 29 years. Those picks include Lionel Simmons (1990), Walt Williams (1992), Bobby Hurley (1993), Jason Williams (1998), Bismack Biyombo (2011 and then traded for #10 pick Jimmer Fredette), and current rookie Ben McLemore.

Since the most current lottery system was implemented in 1994, the Kings have never managed to improve their position. Who knows, maybe this is our year.

Sactown Royalty's own Bryant West joins us to talk about the Kings' season thus far. Bryant is also our resident draft expert (meaning he watches more college ball than the rest of us), so we'll talk about the tournament and players of note.

The Sactown Royalty Show is back! This week I'm joined by Sactown Royalty's newest contributor, Bryant West.

We had a lot to cover this week.  We talked about DeMarcus Cousins' double-doubles, Ray McCallum's continued development, and impressions of the season as a whole. And, since Bryant actually watches college basketball, he's going to educate me on what happened in the NCAA tournament.

It was a really great discussion. Be sure to check it out.  And be sure to vote in this week's poll question, telling us which roster member you want to release a music album.  If you're so inclined, explain your vote in the comments section.

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

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

As always, thanks for listening.

We haven't done this in a while, but now, with the playoffs upon us followed by the Draft and free agency, we figured it was time. Not to mention that we've ditched the roman numerals.

So here goes, from next week through next preseason.

April 16 - 19 -- Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, Portsmouth, VA. the first pre-draft camp, this one for college seniors projected at either the end of the second round or undrafted. Jorge Gutierrez played there in 2012. https://www.portsmouthinvitational.com/

April 16 -- NBA regular season ends in Cleveland

April 19 -- NBA Playoffs begin somewhere, but likely Chicago.

May 5 -- Playoff second rounds begin (possible move-up to May 3 or 4)

May 20 -- Conference Finals begin (possibly move-up to May 18 or 19)

May 20 -- NBA draft lottery. The Tankers Ball. For second straight year, Nets are not involved.

June 5 -- NBA Finals begin. Just saying.

June 26 -- NBA draft. The Nets currently have no picks in either the first or second round, but intend to buy a second rounder with the $2 million in cash considerations they have. Undetermined if the Draft will be in Brooklyn or back at the Garden.

June 29 -- Decision day for Andray Blatche, Andrei Kirilenko and Alan Anderson, all of whom have player options for 2014-15. 

July 1 -- First day Nets can officially talk to free agents, including their own.  That means Paul Pierce, Shaun Livingston and Jason Collins.  Although July 1 begins a nine-day signing moratorium, rumored deals get leaked starting that morning.

July 6 - 11 -- Orlando Summer League. Who will play for the Nets?  Too early to even speculate but Gutierrez, Marquis Teague and Mason Plumlee are probables.  Whoever the Nets take in the Draft is likely to participate as well unless he's a European.

July 10 -- First day  free agents can sign contracts.

August 30 – September 14 -- FIBA World Championship in Spain. Gutierrez will play for Mexico, Andray Blatche may play for the Philippines and the Nets two Euro-Stash will play for the national teams: Bojan Bogdanovic for Croatia, Ilkan Karaman for Turkey.

October 7 -- Preseason: Nets vs Maccabi Tel Aviv, Barclays Center

October 12 -- Preseason: Nets vs Kings at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai

October 15 -- Preseason: Nets vs Kings at the MasterCard Center in Beijing

The Blazer's Edge Mailbag tackles multiple questions about defense, considers the merits of LaMarcus Aldridge at center, and talks Most Improved Trail Blazers.

Catching up on even more of your questions.  Enjoy!

Dave-

After watching Ray "Allen" McCallum tear up the Blazers during the Kings game, it made me want an answer to the following question: how many players scored their season and/or career high against the Blazers this year? I can recall a number of performances of no-name players on teams quickly becoming household names after playing against the Blazer's defense.

Brandon

You're not wrong about that.  Forgive me if I give a different answer than expected here.  Somehow the thought of poring through boxscores and cross-checking opponent season highs seems...depressing.  So let's look at the larger point stemming from your question.

Generally speaking the Blazers have 3.5 significant defensive weaknesses:

--They have trouble with athletic centers.

--They have trouble with quick, penetrating guards.

--They have trouble guarding screens.

--Every once in a while they have trouble closing out on deep shooters.  "Every once in a while" becomes "always" if those shooters play center.

Each night the Blazers can be expected to close down one of those weaknesses.  They have to choose.  If they collapse the lane against the center they're going to give up the long ball.  If they're doinking around in the mid-range trying to shut down picks they're going to lose coverage inside.

This is, in part, a function of team build.  The Blazers are long and strong.  They're not quick.  Once they commit to a particular part of the floor they have a hard time recovering.  Robin Lopez provides the most obvious example but even guys like Wesley Matthews and Nicolas Batum defend better in a 3-foot radius than they do while rotating.

Those career-highs from obscure guards don't happen because the guard is so great.  They happen when that guard is playing alongside a star the Blazers are invested in (or having trouble) shutting down.  If Random Guard B went at the Blazers one-on-one--making like a knight of old and declaring, "Prepare yourselves, varlets!  I intend to storm your castle and emerge with 30 points this evening!"--the Blazers would shut him down without problem.  He would become the one thing the Blazers defended well.  Instead they're defending his teammates well and he's the outlet.

This is one reason the Blazers really, really, really, really need Dwight Howard to be hobbled by his bum ankle if they meet the Rockets in the playoffs.  Houston presents not one, but two difficult matchup problems for the defense.  It's not just what Howard and James Harden can do on their own, either.  Their outlets include Chandler Parsons, Patrick Beverley, Jeremy Lin.  If the Blazers focus on Howard as the defensive target, they're not just dealing with Harden but with a raft of teammates waiting to be "that guy".   Being able to watch a slowed and injured Howard with Robin Lopez alone would ease Portland's burden immeasurably.

Dave,

As everyone knows the Blazers cannot guard elite centers (and probably not above average centers either). This was on display against the Kings, as you mentioned in the post-game recap. The Blazers a myriad of ways to defend Cousins but nothing worked.

In my opinion, LMA is the Blazers only legit option to guard good centers. Why dont we see LMA guard centers that are too athletic for Lopez more often? Is it because LMA just doesnt like guarding centers? Can the Blazers win a playoff series against the Rockets or Clippers without LMA guarding the opposing teams best big man for at least some extended stretches?

TheBlazers1986

You may see tactics change in the playoffs based on the specific matchup.  In general, though, Portland's small-ball lineups featuring Aldridge at center haven't worked well.  You'd think, for instance that a Lillard-Williams-Matthews-Batum-Aldridge lineup would be packed with potential but they score less, allow more points, and produce less efficiently than the starters or most other lineup combinations that keep Aldridge at the 4.

Part of this may be Aldridge's preference.  He's not billed as an individual defender even against power forwards.  He's an opportunistic rebounder but he's not the guy who will hulk up and grab 10 contested boards over all opposition.  Aldridge is magnificent when he's in his comfort zone but not the most adaptable guy outside it.  Matching up against centers qualifies as "outside".

System factors in as well.  The Blazers are doing less strict play calling this year than at any time in memory.  The players have responsibility for the offense.  They start with a simple screen or post then play options off of it, reading the defense and making moves accordingly.  That works well as long as everybody plays their accustomed role.  When you put the mid-range-posting and play-finishing Aldridge into the pick-setting or weak-side rebounding center role, the offense gets muddled.  Those aren't his strengths, nor can the new power forward replace him.  Aldridge ends up out of the offense, taking face-up jumpers from the weak side, or back in his usual role but now much smaller players are responsible for offensive rebounding.

This brings up another larger theme that's developed over the year: the Blazers should be more interchangeable than they actually are.  Normally when you look at a bunch of guys with height, length, a little athleticism, and the ability to shoot jumpers you think that they could mix up looks and positions like the Showtime Lakers used to.  The closest thing the Blazers have is Mo Williams and Lillard playing on-off ball together or Batum taking over somebody else's defensive assignment.  Outside of that the players are so specialized that they can't take over for each other easily.  Matthews doesn't have Batum's passing ability.  Neither Matthews nor Batum can dribble-drive like Lillard.  Nobody sets picks but Lopez.  Aldridge is the only multiple-threat player from the post.  (Switches on defense don't end up happily either.)  Portland's ball movement and unselfishness should create mass hysteria for the opponent.  Instead you can determine exactly what's going to happen based on who's getting the ball next.  This is one of the subtle issues keeping the Blazers in "pretty good" instead of "breakout" territory.

Hi Dave,

As the season winds down, it's fun to consider which Blazer improved most during the season. Some Blazers have looked better and better as the year has progressed (Robinson and Barton leap to mind), others not so much (sorry, Leonard and Claver). Working on one's approach to the game during the grind of an NBA season must be difficult, so any in-season improvement is laudable. Which Blazer do you think has improved the most so far this season?

-Ralf

This is a hard one.  Sentimentally I want to say Thomas Robinson.  He blends in more now than he did at the start of the year.  He's just so far short of helping outside of dunks, rebounds, and the occasional amazing block that it's hard to credit the improvement as significant yet.  He's leaps and bounds ahead of where he was but that's more a reflection on how far down he started than on how far up he's climbed.  Also the window is short...a chronic issue for all "improvement" discussions on this team.  Guys will look better for a game or two, maybe a week or two, then they'll regress or disappear.  Will Barton, C.J. McCollum, even Mo Williams and Joel Freeland go up and down.  Plus there's no telling what the young guys will show up with in training camp next year.  They could start at the current level plus a few skills added over the summer.  They could also be back to square one.

For all of those reasons, I'm going to go with Robin Lopez.  I'm not sure he's flat-out playing better than he was at the beginning of the year but he's certainly been given a niche and has filled it seamlessly.  He looks comfortable in his own skin and his teammates are more than comfortable with him, plus he can be counted on to affect the game no matter what the scoreboard and his own statistics say.

This seems like a good question to throw out for comments.  Who's your most-improved player on the Blazers this year?  I could see arguments for almost everybody from Aldridge on down.  Give us your thoughts in the comment section and keep those Mailbag questions coming to the address below, marked "Mailbag" in the subject line.

--Dave (blazersub@gmail.com)

The Blazers play the No. 15 team in the West tonight when they face the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City. Damian Lillard, LaMarcus Aldridge and Wesley Matthews have all averaged 21.3 points or more in three games against the Jazz so far this season.

The Sacramento Kings will take on the Brooklyn Nets in China for two preseason games in 2014-15. It's been 10 years since the Kings traveled to China for the preseason (and 10 years since Brad Miller rode a camel with a flower blanket).

The Kings made it official on Thursday that the team will play two preseason games in China in the 2014-15 season. Specifically, they will take on the Brooklyn Nets on October 12 in Shanghai and again on October 15 in Beijing.

The announcement confirmed February's report by SB Nation's NetsDaily.

This isn't the first time the Kings will have played in China. It was 10 years ago when Chris Webber, Mike Bibby, Peja Stojakovic and crew played in the inaugural NBA China games. They went up against Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady's Houston Rockets.

"We're thrilled to bring the Kings experience back to our fans in China," said Vivek Ranadivé in a team statement. "Over 300 million Chinese men and women play basketball so there's huge potential to connect with new and existing fans. We'll be volunteering in the community, as well as utilizing technology and social media to share our trip with Kings fans around the world. We look forward to playing the Brooklyn Nets, who share our philosophy that basketball is the preeminent global sport of the 21st century."

The trip falls in line with Ranadive's NBA 3.0 concept. On his trip to Sacramento earlier this season, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said he anticipates a preseason game taking place in Ranadive's home country of India in the future.

The full 2004 China preseason games are actually on YouTube if you want to check them out. In one of the games, Bobby Jackson nailed two late shots to beat the Rockets 91-89.

The Kings featured a gallery of photos from the 2004 China trip on Kings.com, which included this gem of former King Brad Miller in an awesome outfit riding a camel with a flower blanket.

#ThrowbackThursday: 20 memorable photos from 2004 Kings trip to China - http://t.co/YIiV1hfjKYpic.twitter.com/dYPrazGtM5

— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) April 10, 2014

Photo captions are very much welcomed in the thread.

Welcome to the Gameday Open Thread at Blazer’s Edge! This is a place to hang out and enjoy tonight’s festivities with your fellow fans. Treat it as if you’re watching a game at the local watering hole, but hopefully without the language. Expect some disagreements, and a fair amount of changing emotions. But we'll get through it together.

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Injuries: Joel Freeland (knee) is still out, but hopes to play in the last few regular season games.

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The usual Gameday Thread rules apply:

1. No swearing
2. No pictures
3. No discussion of unlicensed Internet streaming
4. Be cool to each other!

Hang out and enjoy the game! -- Tim

The Clippers are almost certainly going to finish as the third seed no matter what they do for the rest of the season, but this is a chance to get Jamal Crawford back on the court and find a playoff groove.

2013/2014 NBA Regular Season
	vs
55-24		27-52
April 12th, 2014, 12:30 PM
STAPLES Center
Prime Ticket, KFWB 980 AM, KWKW 1330 AM
Win-Loss Breakdown
21-9	East	13-17
34-15	West	14-35
32-7	Home	16-23
23-17	Road	11-29
29-17	.500+	12-37
26-7	.500-	15-15
7-3	L10	3-7
Probable Starters
Chris Paul	PG	Ray McCallum
J.J. Redick	SG	Ben McLemore
Matt Barnes	SF	Rudy Gay
Blake Griffin	PF	Jason Thompson
DeAndre Jordan	C	DeMarcus Cousins
Advanced Stats
98.37 (6th of 30)	Pace	96.64 (14th of 30)
109.3 (2nd of 30)	ORtg	102.9 (18th of 30)
101.9 (7th of 30)	DRtg	106.2 (23rd of 30)
Injuries/Other
Jamal Crawford (calf) probable		Isaiah Thomas (bruisied quad) out
Danny Granger (hamstring) out		Carl Landry (meniscus surgery) out
		Jason Terry (knee surgery) out

The Back Story (The Clippers lead the season series 3-0):

The Big Picture:

The playoff picture is becoming more clear, although it has still yet to snap into place completely for the Clippers. Houston's loss last night to Minnesota clinched no worse than the third seed for the Clippers, their highest playoff seed since moving to California. The loss to Oklahoma City on Wednesday doesn't put the second seed completely out of reach, but OKC would have to lose three of their remaining four games while the Clippers won all of theirs -- no likely. So it's all but certain that the Clippers will be the third seed. Who they'll play is less clear, although the Warriors are currently in sixth and have the best chance of finishing sixth. Having said all of that, even if the Clippers are essentially locked into the three seed, it doesn't mean they have nothing left to play for during the regular season. It's further down the road, but in a finals matchup with Miami, the Clippers would currently have the home court advantage as they have a better record -- but they're only a game ahead in the loss column and Miami owns the tie breaker. It may not come into play, but if it does the Clippers would certainly want to have have HCA in the NBA Finals against the defending champs. There are other advantages to playing well -- for one thing, they need just one more win to tie last season's record for wins in a season, and two more wins to break the record. And of course playing well is a goal unto itself heading into the playoffs. To that end, Jamal Crawford is likely returning to the lineup tonight after sitting out off and on since the beginning of March. If Crawford does play, the Clippers take one more step towards full health for the first time this season. Only Danny Granger, whose hamstring will keep him out until the playoffs, is still hurt. The Clippers have beaten the Kings three times this season, all of the meetings coming back in November, though none of the victories have come easy. Since those meetings, Sacramento has traded for Rudy Gay.

The view from the Capital

Sacramento Kings

Follow

The Antagonist:

The Kings have three players averaging over 20 points per game -- and the third worst record in the western conference. That tells you about all you need to know. DeMarcus Cousins, Rudy Gay and Isaiah Thomas (who is currently injured) can all score, but it's far from clear that they are winners. Thomas has had a break out season -- which actually works against the Kings now, as he was a second round pick and is a free agent. In other words, he's going to be making a whole lot more than a second round salary next season -- and that might be somewhere other than Sacramento. The Kings don't have much more than pride to play for right now, but they truly don't like the Clippers, so that's probably motivation enough.

The Subplots

• Comparison of key metrics. The Clippers defensive efficiency has gone from 28th to 21st to 16th in the last two games. They haven't been able to stop the Kings so far this season, so they'll have to play better if they want their defensive rating to continue improving.
• Different team. The Clippers played the Kings three times way back in November. Over four months have passed since the last meeting, and the Kings have completed three fairly important trade since the start of the season. They traded Luc-Richard Mbah a Moute to Minnesota for Derrick Williams. They traded Greivis Vasquez and three other players to Toronto for Rudy Gay. And they traded Marcus Thornton to Brooklyn to make room on the court for rookie Ben McLemore. At least Blake Grifffin won't have to deal with the departed Chuck Hayes.
• Bad blood. We've known for a while that DeMarcus Cousins does not like Blake Griffin. At this point it has become obvious that Boogie doesn't much like Chris Paul either, and in fact it seems like maybe he doesn't like anybody on the Clippers. Cousins was on the edge in all of the first three games; watch him closely in this one, because something is going to happen.
• McLemore. When the Clippers played the Kings four months ago in the third game of the season, I asked Aykis of Sactown Royalty when he thought lottery pick Ben McLemore would crack the starting lineup in Sacramento. Well, it turns out that the correct answer was Game 7 of his rookie season. He hasn't exactly been a world beater in the NBA so far -- he's shooting a dreadful 37% from the field -- but at the same time, they like him and they expect him to be a big part of their future.
• The other rookie. The Kings have another rookie guard they like a lot in Ray McCallum. In fact, with Thomas out, they'll start a rookie backcourt tonight.
• No Thomas. The Clippers showed little ability to stop Isaiah Thomas in the first three games so it figures to be a bit of good fortune that he's not playing in this one.
• Connections.Travis Outlaw (who has been surprisingly productive off the Kings bench) was briefly a Clipper in 2010 and he was signed by the Kings after being amnestied by the Nets last season. Matt Barnes played high school basketball and football at Del Campo High in Sacramento. Willie Green and Kings rookie Ray McCallum are the two active NBA players from Detroit Mercy (Go Titans!). The recently acquired King Reggie Evans was a Clipper two seasons ago.
• Get the Kings perspective at Sactown Royalty.
• Shakespearean reference:
  Sonnet LXIV (69)
  Against my love shall be, as I am now,
  With Time's injurious hand crush'd and o'er-worn;
  When hours have drain'd his blood and fill'd his brow
  With lines and wrinkles; when his youthful morn
  Hath travell'd on to age's steepy night,
  And all those beauties whereof now he's king
  Are vanishing or vanish'd out of sight,
  Stealing away the treasure of his spring;
  For such a time do I now fortify
  Against confounding age's cruel knife,
  That he shall never cut from memory
  My sweet love's beauty, though my lover's life:
  .   His beauty shall in these black lines be seen,
  .   And they shall live, and he in them still green.

The Kings are in Los Angeles to take on the L.A. Clippers for their last road game of the year.

The last road game of the 2013-14 season is here, as the Kings are in Los Angeles to take on the Clippers (12:30 pm on Comcast SportsNet California and KHTK 1140).  The Kings haven't played the Clippers since November, when they faced them three times.  Each time the Kings managed to keep it close and interesting, and we'll see if fourth time's the charm.

0MATCHUP OF THE GAME

Ray McCallum vs. Chris Paul

Isaiah Thomas and Chris Paul have had some fun head to head matchups the past few years, but with Thomas likely out once again, it will be up to the rookie Ray McCallum to try to hold his own.  McCallum is coming off a fantastic game against Portland's Damian Lillard, but Paul is a much better defender.  I will be very interested to see how McCallum does against Paul on the defensive end as well.  Paul's one of the few guys who can go scoreless the entire game and still kill you with his precise passing, but he's also good enough that most of the time he's scores anyway.

3 THINGS

1. DeMarcus Cousins always seems to get really hyped to face the Clippers.  There might not be a team or player he dislikes more than the Clippers, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin.  Cousins has been playing incredibly well lately, and if he can take it even further against the Clippers, that will be fun to see.  DeAndre Jordan gets a lot of attention as a defensive player, but there's a lot more to defense than blocking shots.  On another note, the Clippers actively try to get into Cousins' head each time we play them, so let's see if Cousins can keep his cool and not earn his 16th technical.

2. Under Doc Rivers, the Clippers have become the best offensive team in the NBA, with an offensive rating of 111.9 points per 100 possessions.  For comparison's sake, not even the glory-era Kings teams, widely regarded as some of the best offensive teams in history, ever had an offensive rating above 110.5.  These Clippers aren't nearly as good defensively, but they're still not bad, at 8th in the league.  This wouldn't be an easy game for Sacramento even at full strength.

3. Rudy Gay is back in action tonight after practicing with the team yesterday.  This will be his first game against the Clippers as a Sacramento King thanks to the scheduling quirk that saw us play them so much early on in the season.  One thing the Clippers don't have is a star wing player, so this could be a good opportunity for Rudy to do some damage.

PRE-GAME HAIKU

I hate the Clippers,
but we're not good enough really,
to have a rival.

PREDICTION

Kings 104, Clippers 123 as the Clippers prove too much down the stretch.  Also, no fan predictions today because of the really early start.