Two 1-3 teams with questions face off tonight. One will leave with more questions, one will leave with a glimmer of hope.

Two allegedly prolific offenses that have been anything but prolific. Two defenses that have lived up to their shoddy reputations. Denver was expected to have a great offense again this season, but so far is ranked 18th in points per game (98.5) and 22nd in offensive rating (99.8). The Nuggets have not settled on a steady rotation (no players is averaging more than 33 minutes per game, with seven players averaging between 21 and 13 minutes per game).

This is how you get leading scorers averaging 12.5, 11.8, 10.8, and 10.0 points per game. This is abnormal to say the least, but it's not the bad part.

Cleveland has had it's own struggles. They are apparently feuding about ball distribution, shot selection, and that sieve of a defense. Two different teams, similar issues. One team will get on track tonight.

Key Matchup: Nuggets offense vs. Cavaliers defense

I haven't spoken about the Nuggets defense. One thing at a time folks. If the Nuggets are going to get anything back on track it has got to be their offense. If nothing else the Cavaliers defense, full of wide-open shots and slothful interior rotations. The "fleet-footed" Jazz (at a pace rating of 91.7, 24th in the NBA), scored 46 points in the paint and outrebounded Cleveland 41-30.

The Nuggets have to take advantage of this. As Nate pointed out earlier today;

Why weren't the Nuggets running against them? How were the Nuggets unable to get a running game going against a severely undermanned Thunder team? Shaw has said he wants to run, but we're seeing far more half-court post-up play.

Strategically Denver has been playing through the his bigs by having them initiate from the free-throw line down and with post-entry on both sides. Know that the best Nuggets offense features Ty Lawson in a high pick-and-roll. I should point this out again: Cleveland gave up 46 points to the Utah Jazz in the paint.

The post play takes Lawson away from the middle of the floor. It also makes his drives less effective. Last year Lawson averaged less drives per game (10 compared to 12), but had a higher shooting percentage (49.3 compared to 30), and scored more per game (5.5 compared to 3.5). I know it's a small sample size, but it's worth noting the current strategy leaves Lawson confined to one side of the floor.

His drives open up more shots for everyone else, recreating a "secondary break" within the half court. Shaw needs to adjust to his personnel and take advantage of holes in the Cleveland defense.

Settle the Rotation

Denver’s depth is well known and well seen. They legit go 12 deep, too bad there has only been one game where it was utilized correctly. The Nuggets first loss against the Sacramento Kings featured seven scorers in double figures with a good balance between the starting five and the bench.

Shaw isolated the key players that needed more than 30 minutes (in this case Ty Lawson - because he's the engine, and Wilson Chandler - to matchup with a red-hot Rudy Gay), while utilizing the players that could take advantage of the personnel (the Kings had no one that could stay with Randy Foye, a bench player, who scored 28 points).

Shaw needs to make sure he manages a solid rotation that is consistent with his strategy and the personnel that can take advantage of Cleveland's deficiencies. Denver is one of the only teams that can do this effectively.

Prediction

Well the Nuggets organization seems to think that the Cavaliers "Big Three" doesn't exist. I think they make their mark tonight, but it's not enough as the Nuggets win a close one, 111-108.

The Phoenix Suns entered the fourth quarter with a 88-77 lead, but struggled to score the rest of the night and lost in double overtime to the Sacramento Kings, 114-112, even after Boogie Cousins fouled out in regulation.

In the pregame, Phoenix Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said the Suns had to control the boards and keep the Kings off the foul line. But the Kings dominated the glass (60 rebounds to the Suns 42) and eventually pulled away from the Suns for a 114-112 win in double overtime.

Rudy Gay made the go-ahead bucket in the final minute of double OT.

---

The game started with the obligatory Miles Plumlee post up, but this time Plumlee shocked everyone in the gym by making his hook shot. I think even Miles was a bit shocked.

From there, Miles played well by tipping balls away from Cousins and committing a necessary foul on a fast break to make sure Ben McLemore didn't get too comfortable.  Then he made a jumper and another hook, all net. Where has this Plumlee been?

The Suns were active on defense, getting their hand on a lot of Kings shots in the first quarter, and on offense, by cutting to the basket on the weak side when the defender turned their head. Every Suns starter scored in the first five minutes of the game.

And then Goran became Goran again. The Phoenix rose from the ashes and became a Dragon. Breathing FIRE.

Halfway through the first quarter, coach Hornacek replaced Eric Bledsoe with P.J. Tucker and for the first time I can remember this season, the Suns were the Suns of February 2014 again. Dragic flanked by Gerald Green, P.J. Tucker, Alex Len (for Plumlee) and Marcus Morris. A PG, a big and some shooter.

And Dragic went OFF. By the end of the first quarter, Dragic had 10 points, 2 assists and 2 rebounds and more than anything looked like himself.

The Suns led 36-25 at the end of one.

Isaiah Thomas came into the game to start the second quarter and immediately became tentative. The Suns had an 11-point lead without him, so he didn't need to be a hero. But that just resulted in a 8-point run by Sacramento highlighted by 4 missed threes by the Suns (2 by Tucker, 1 by Green, 1 by Thomas) plus a traveling call on Shavlik Randolph because the tried to run himself off the line.

Hornacek, predictably, called a timeout. Presumably, he told them it's legal to shoot inside the line. In the Suns' defense, though, every one of those threes was WIIIIIDE open. Just missed em.

The Suns power outage lasted halfway through the second, but then when Bledsoe came back (and later Goran) the team got back on track to outpace the Boogie Cousins show. Cousins didn't take a shot in the first quarter, but then got himself going with drives into the lane.

At one point, P.J. Tucker ripped Plumlee a new one with his (lack of) fundamental defense on Cousins. After a great first quarter, Plumlee started becoming Cousins' sparring partner (you know, the kind who lets you win every time).

By halftime, Cousins had 10 free throw attempts (5 shooting fouls) simply by driving head down to the rim from just inside the three point line. Neither Len nor Plumlee could stop him, and the refs rewarded it.

Suns up only 3 at halftime, partially on the benefit of a Rudy Gay two-foot-step-back-for-three that was such an obvious travel that every single person in the arena saw it except the ref who was standing three feet away and who's only job at the moment was to call Gay's shot. He was quick enough to hold up the arm to indicate a three immediately, meaning HIS EYES WERE ON GAY'S FEET THE WHOLE TIME.

Anyway, I'll move on. They didn't call a couple of travels on Bledsoe either, but at least his were in traffic.

Suns up 58-55 at half.

The second half started with a Kieff jumper, followed by a Collison drive to the hoop for a foul. Cousins was back into passive form and the Suns built a 7-point lead that soon stretched to 9 on a Bledsoe feed from a sweet driving pass by Dragic on a fast break. When the Suns play with aggression, they look pretty good.

And then they stopped being aggressive. The Kings scored on three straight drives to the rim (one by Cousins, two by Collison) to pull within three.

Then Hornacek put in Isaiah Thomas to team with Dragic and they scored five on the next two possessions - an assist by Thomas and then a three by Thomas. After being disengaged, or tentative, in the first half he came out more aggressive in the second half.

But it was once again the Goran Dragic show. The Dragon shredded the Kings D like a politician ahead of the auditor's visit. You might recall that I called Dragic getting his first three and scoring 20+ points in the game preview.

Dragic had 20 points at the end of three. Bledsoe has 16. The Suns are 17-0 when both score 16+ points.

Suns up 88-77.

The fourth quarter opened a little sloppy, highlighted by Gerald Greens shots bricks but the Kings didn't have any firepower out there either so the Suns maintained a good lead.

Miles Plumlee continued where he left off in the first quarter and quietly is sporting the game of his season. He had 13 points, 10 rebounds and only 2 fouls with eight minutes left.

The Kings went on another 6-0 run to cut the Suns lead to four, and Hornacek called a timeout with 6:04 left to get Dragic back in the game. But that didn't help.

Cousins tied the game soon after on free throws, at 94-94. So much for that 11 point lead to start the fourth.

Cousins is a beast, and is still in that part of his career where he gets the benefits of touch foul calls on his drives but is able to heavily body up the other guy without calls. Cousins had to "work" for his three fouls, as two were in the open court after a bad Kings play.

The teams stayed tied, or within two points, for next few minutes. At least one fight almost broke out.

The Kings took a lead on another DeMarcus Cousins three-point play the old fashioned way. With bludgeoning. Cousins has 25 and 18, but with five fouls was taken out on defense in the final minute.

The Suns scored on a Bledsoe layup and then Cousins was lost to an offensive foul on the next play. A questionable one, but we'll take it.

On the next possession, Marcus Morris missed a WIIIIIIDE open jumper and Plumlee missed an easy putback, but the Kings missed and it was Suns ball with 9.8 seconds left and the game tied.

Isaiah Thomas came back into the game for the final possession. Hydra time. But the Suns final possession failed badly and the game went to overtime.

OT baby! First time against Sac since 2008.

Without Cousins, the Kings didn't really have a good offensive answer. Marcus Morris and Tucker played good D on Rudy Gay, forcing two contested misses around three made shots by the Suns.

Once again, after the Suns took a comfortable seven point lead, the Kings came back to score on three straight possessions and pull within one. Bledsoe didn't help matters with two consecutive ball handling turnovers (giving him four for the night) where he simply lost the ball on the perimeter.

But Bledsoe kept possession on the next play, a long contested three, and the Kings came back down with a chance to take the lead but luckily for the Suns they only tied it. The Suns did not score in the last 3.5 minutes of overtime. Of their seven overtime points, P.J. Tucker had 5 of them.

The Kings had the ball with a chance to win it with 14.6 seconds left. But Rudy Gay dribbled the ball off his leg and ran out the clock on a heave.

Double OT! Game tied at 106-106.

The Suns struggled in OT as well, but held the lead with 2.5 minutes to go. But then the Kings took the lead on a three by McLemore and a jumper by Gay. And then Dragic missed another jumper and Sacramento had the ball. They missed a wide open shot but Carl Landry got the offensive board to save the Kings night.

The Suns had a final chance to tie (with 2) or win (with 3) but P.J. Tucker missed a contested corner three and Morris missed a fallaway jumper.

The Kings win, 114-112. All without Boogie.

Man, the Suns gave this game away.

A shaky team defense stiffens late as the Kings grind out a double OT thriller against the Suns

WOW.

Now that I've gotten that off my chest, WOOOW. The Kings and Suns fought tooth and nail for 58 grueling minutes, but at the end, the Kings did just enough to come out on top 114-112 in a heart-stopping affair. The Kings improve their record to 5 wins, 1 loss, their best start since the 1999-2000 season.

The game did not start as drawn up by Michael Malone. The Suns exploded to an 11 point lead in the first quarter as the Kings' improved defense seemingly evaporated. Darren Collison got into foul trouble two minutes into the game, so the rest of the quarter featured much of the rocky Ramon Sessions. Goran Dragic got to wherever he wanted to, scoring in the paint and finding shooters who nearly ran the Kings off the floor early. DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay were silent in the first quarter, shut out by Phoenix's fronting schemes.

But the Kings would hang around the entire game. The Suns' lead stayed between 4 and 11 for the majority of the game, but they never could really find that knockout punch to put away the pesky Kings. Ultimately, the Kings found themselves down 12 in the fourth quarter when the starters came back in for the bench. Riding Cousins and a suddenly alive Collison, the Kings managed to tie the game down the stretch. Unfortunately, Cousins fouled out in the final minute on a questionable illegal screen call, setting up a chance for the Suns to win it. Cousins finished the night with 25 points and 18 rebounds on 6/14 shooting.  Old friend Isaiah Thomas then missed a three point attempt at the buzzer on excellent defense from former protege Ray McCallum.

The Suns would burst out of the gates in overtime to a seven point lead, and without Cousins it looked like the end of the line for the Kings. But again, the Kings would grind their way back into a tie, riding the hot hand of Collison. The Kings would have a chance to win it at the end of OT, but a broken play resulted in Gay losing the ball and hoisting a desperation half-court attempt.

In the second OT, the Kings defense again came up huge. And on offense, Ben McLemore came alive, scoring five points in the quarter, including a beautiful running bank shot in the lane and a clutch corner three that Gay set up. Down by one, the Kings finally were able to find Gay in the low post, who hit a short turnaround two pointer to give the Kings the lead for good. Gay finished the night with 11 points on 5/22 shooting, but that was the biggest shot of the game. Afterwards, the defense remained stout, Collison hits one of two from the FT line, and the rest is history.

This was the gutsiest win I've seen from the Kings in some time. To be frank, the Kings had no business being in this game. The defense was porous for so long, Gay and Cousins (despite his massive numbers) were struggling, and there were massive difficulties containing the stellar Dragic/Bledsoe combination. But they never hung their heads. They stuck around for as long as possible, putting the in a position to steal the game in the end. And thats exactly what they did. This team has heart, and have an entire city believing them once again.

For the opponent's perspective, visit Bright Side of the Sun

Random Observations

• Ben McLemore just keeps getting stronger as the season comes along. He topped his season-best effort last game with an even better one tonight, scoring 15 points on 5/9 shooting to go along with stiff defense on Eric Bledsoe down the stretch. It wasn't a perfect outing, as he let Bledsoe get loose for a tough And-1 finish late, but he came right back down and nailed a clutch corner three to cut the Phoenix lead to one, setting up Gay's go-ahead bucket.
• The bench once again stepped up. Carl Landry is emerging as the leader off the bench; Pete D'Alessandro's big free agent haul last summer brings a stabilizing presence in the post. Nik Stauskas had his finest game as a pro as well, scoring 9 points on 4/7 shooting from all over the court. Omri Casspi didn't have gaudy numbers, but his hustle showed up on the glass.
• Phoenix's coaching staff is no joke. They completely had the Kings stymied early with an aggressive fronting scheme that prevented Cousins and Gay from getting the ball in good post position. Cousins would eventually get going by carving out space through sheer muscle and superstar talent, but Gay was forced out on the perimeter and had to create on his own with his notoriously shaky dribble. Props to Hornacek and Co. for being able to limit Rudy's effectiveness.
• Isaiah Thomas was extremely quiet in this game. Everyone expected a revenge thrashing; many Kings fans were nervous to have Isaiah line up across Sessions, who has been about as stable this season as Lindsey Lohan. But Isaiah just didn't have any fire tonight. One possible reason is the recent death of a family member; Isaiah attended a funeral last night. Best wishes and condolences go out to the Thomas family, regardless of what we think of Isaiah on the court.
• So, uhh, five wins? And one loss? Three straight on the road? In the Western Conference? This fanbase has been waiting eight years for this. Enjoy it. The rise is always the most fun part.

The best of last night's reactions.

Basketball twitter is a pretty loose concept, but for those of you who are unfamiliar it's the general term applies to the strong subculture of basketball fans who interact on twitter.  It's a combination of writers and fans sharing jokes, observations, and analysis.  And it's the tip of the sword when it comes to a narrative changing.  These are die-hard NBA junkies, much like the folks that fill the comments sections around here, except they represent a broader spectrum.  Let's see they're reactions to the Sacramento Kings being 5-1.

Again, Kings are 5-1, and still haven't deployed the Vivek cherry picking scheme. Scary.

— alex (@steven_lebron) November 8, 2014

Everyone to Vivek’s for samosas.

— Andrew Ungvari (@DrewUnga) November 8, 2014

The Sacramento Kings are 5-1. BRB, checking Hades' temps.

— Eye on Basketball (@CBSSportsNBA) November 8, 2014

HAPPY BOOGIE IS THE BEST BOOGIE

— Kevin Ferrigan (@NBAcouchside) November 8, 2014

*dusts off Lawrence Funderburke replica jersey*

— netw3rk (@netw3rk) November 8, 2014

The Kings are great, with great players. Boogie. Collison. Nick Something. Big Pete. T-Dog. Lil’ Ricky. Bald Guy. Mr. Shoes. Bald Guy No. 2.

— Dane Carbaugh (@danecarbaugh) November 8, 2014

I'M ALL IN ON THE KINGS GET ME A BOOGIE JERSEY ASAP LET'S DO THIS

— Jason Patt (@Bulls_Jay) November 8, 2014

Too early to dream about a Warriors-Kings first round matchup?

— Ethan Strauss (@SherwoodStrauss) November 8, 2014

McLemore should be yelling at IT2 "Look at me. Look at me. I am the Pizza Guy now."

— Andrew Han (@andrewthehan) November 8, 2014

I'm sorry all those bad things I said Vivek.

— Seth Partnow (@SethPartnow) November 8, 2014

Right now, it’s good to be the Kings.

— Mike Prada (@MikePradaSBN) November 8, 2014

KINGS DON'T DIE THEY MULTIPLY. THEY'RE BOOGIE'S KIDS.

— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) November 8, 2014

Thinking about making Vine of the Week a Boogie-only affair.

— Paul Flannery (@Pflanns) November 8, 2014

KINGS. Holy shit what a win. Holy cow.

— Dennis G. (@bigpumpkin4real) November 8, 2014

The Kings are real.

— Sean Highkin (@highkin) November 8, 2014

do we have to start admiting that Vivek Ranadive is smarter than everyone

— J. D. Hatings (@basquiatball) November 8, 2014

These are national writers.  These are fans of other teams.  These are unbiased observers.  And they all think what is happening in Sacramento is amazing.  We aren't just being homers, this is something special.  And the broader view of the Kings is beginning to change.

DeMarcus Cousins and the Kings are improved, but it's not just because of cooler heads.

DeMarcus Cousins has yet to be whistled for a technical this season. Sure, it’s only been six games, but Cousins set a goal of being tagged with five or fewer technicals this season -- and he's following through. His new-found maturity is certainly playing a role in the improved Boogie Cousins, but there's more to his play this season than a subdued attitude.

Cousins and the Sacramento Kings are off to a surprising 5-1 start thanks to an improved defense and a noticeable toughness and confidence on both sides of the court. Darren Collison has been a great addition so far while Rudy Gay has done what's expected of him and Ben McLemore has shown flashes. For Cousins, though, he's stepping up in more ways than one to lead the Kings to a fast start.

He’s playing fewer minutes but having a bigger impact

The one digression in Cousins’ game this season is that he can’t stay out of foul trouble. He’s averaging 4.8 fouls per game (he was at 3.8 last year) and it's keeping his minutes down. He fouled out in the Kings’ win over the Denver Nuggets in only 22:29 of play on Nov. 5. He's averaging 29.8 minutes per game (down from 32.4 in 2013-14) yet impacting the game more. He's scoring more points (24.2 per game versus 22.7 last year) and his usage rate is up to 31.1 from 30.7. Meanwhile, his PER is way up: 30.43 this season compared to 26.18.

He’s scoring more points on fewer shot attempts

Cousins shot 49.6 percent from the field last year on 16.8 shots per game and averaged 22.7 points. This year, he's averaging 24.2 on 50 percent shooting with 15.7 shots a game. Maybe the one less shot is because he's playing fewer minutes, but he's making up for it in other ways, like getting to the free throw line. Last year he shot 8.4 free throws a game. This year, he's shooting 10.5. Plus, he's making them, just like his teammates ...

Cousins and the Kings can shoot free throws

The Kings are averaging 82 percent at the charity stripe and Cousins is at 81 percent. Plus, they're getting to the line more. Cousins is getting to the line 10.5 times per game, and the Kings are shooting 39.8 free throws a game. That's tops in the league by over five shots a game, and since they're shooting at such a high percentage, they're getting six more points per game from the free throw than any team in the league (32.7 free throws made per game).

His teammates are stepping up

After Cousins fouled out with 39 seconds left in regulation on Friday night against the Phoenix Suns, it would have been easy for the Kings to fold. Instead, they ended the first overtime on a 7-0 run and the second with six unanswered to pick up an improbable win. The biggest difference is the team's defensive efficiency. Last year it was 106.3. This year it's 98.7, which ranks seventh in the league.

***

It's not just Cousins who matured, it's the entire Kings team. It's still early, but at 5-1 with only a loss to the Golden State Warriors, these Kings appear ready to stay near the top in the West.

A moment in time that could prove to be more important than any of us realized.

With just 34 seconds remaining in a tied ballgame against the Phoenix Suns, Sacramento's biggest star was relegated to the bench.  DeMarcus Cousins had just found himself on the wrong end of a VERY questionable whistle last night, when he fouled out of the game on a moving screen call.

Disappointed in the call but accepting his fate (Boogie was upset and rightly so), he kept his poise and headed back to the bench. Michael Malone was not dealing with the news that he'd just been robbed of his best player's presence quite as well however. That's when DMC noticed his coach, in full on MALONE RAGE MODE, heading on to the court to confront the officials. And we were treated to the highlight of the year. The kind of highlight that lets you know this whole thing isn't just a dream.

Boogie jumped into action, ran onto the court, restrained his head coach, and pulled him back to the sideline. DeMarcus quickly calmed Malone down, got his head back into the game, and started encouraging the team to push ahead. And they DID!! In a moment where a hasty decision could have cost his team a win, Boogie Cousins grounded the Kings and kept them on course. This was a DeMarcus Cousins we'd never seen before. Not like this. Not in such a pivotal moment.

Last year's DeMarcus Cousins would have probably exploded. But, it's how THIS YEAR'S DeMarcus Cousins dealt with adversity, that perfectly encapsulates his growth and maturation. In a field where he's largely without rival, he had been his own worst enemy. In previous seasons it's seemed as though the only player who could stop DeMarcus Cousins... was DeMarcus Cousins. In 2014-2015 however, Demarcus Cousins is UNSTOPPABLE.

Because if DeMarcus Cousins can't even stop DeMarcus Cousins... who can?

The Blazers return home tonight after a loss to the Clippers yesterday, taking on the struggling Denver Nuggets, a team that has lost four straight.

SBN Affiliate: Denver Stiffs | Timmay's viewing guide | BE's 2014-15 Nuggets Season Preview | Blazer's Edge Night

The Blazers return to the Moda Center tonight to face the Denver Nuggets on the second night of a back-to-back set of games that started with a loss to the Clippers yesterday.

The Nuggets have come slowly out of the gate this season, bringing a 1-4 record into tonight's matchup with Portland. Serious issues have arisen on both sides of the ball, as Denver is No. 28 in the NBA in three-point shooting (29 percent), No. 28 in overall shooting percentage (41.9 percent) and dead-last in the league in average points scored in the first quarter (20.2).

These offensive woes are compounded by a reeling defense; The Nuggets are No. 28 in points allowed in the paint (46.4 per game), No. 28 in total points allowed (106.4 per game), No. 30 in free throws allowed (36 per game) while allowing opponents to shoot 45.4 percent from the floor (No. 19 in the NBA).

This has led to Denver falling behind early in games, unable to dig themselves out of large deficits.

The Nuggets do a few things well, however: they block a lot of shots, defend the three-point line well and grab a large percentage of available defensive rebounds. For the most part, Denver is a middling team in most other statistical categories.

Who leads Denver in scoring? If you guessed point guard Ty Lawson, forward Kenneth Faried, or guards Arron Afflalo or Nate Robinson, you'd be wrong.

Shooting guard Randy Foye (!) is the Nuggets' leading scorer per game with 12.8 points per contest. Clearly, that's not a winning formula, and the results speak for themselves.

Lawson -- who led Denver in scoring last season with 17.6 points a night -- is playing on a bad ankle that kept him out of Friday's 110-101 loss to the Cavaliers. He's said he'll try to play tonight, though he may not be as effective as expected - Lawson is shooting 38.2 percent from the floor and 14.8 percent from deep in four games this year.

Drives to the rim are typically Lawson's bread-and-butter, but he's being used more in the midrange this year by coach Brian Shaw, which hasn't translated to wins. In two games against the Blazers last season, Lawson wasn't particularly effective, averaging 17 points but shooting just 37 percent from the floor. On a bad ankle, he'll likely continue his struggles shooting the ball. Lawson picked up 8.5 assists per game against Portland last year and averages 7.8 assists per game this season, so if his teammates are making shots, his drives to the rim could be fruitful via kick-outs. The issue there, however, is that Foye is the Nuggets' only bankable outside shooter at 44 percent for the season -- no one else on the team has made more than 28.4 percent of his three-point tries.

Big men Darrell Arthur, Timofey Mozgov and JaVale McGee were the only players to make 50 percent or more of their shots against the Blazers last season, but they average 12.8, 18.1 and 13.2 minutes per game this season, respectively. Denver's most effective scorers against Portland don't play many minutes and don't get up many shots.

Nate Robinson is shooting 48.6 percent from the field this year, but just 28.6 percent from deep. Faried has made 51.4 percent of his shots at the rim, but only gets up 9.2 shots per game. In 32 minutes a night, Afflalo has averaged 9.4 points on 33.3 percent field goal shooting, though he's made only 26.3 percent of his three-point tries.

Will Denver's woes continue all season? Not likely -- the Nuggets had nine players shoot 34.8 percent or better from outside last year. Still, they are clearly in an early-season funk, and the Blazers -- No. 1 in the NBA in opponents effective field goal percentage (43.1 percent), No. 6 at defending the three-point line (29.2 percent) and No. 2 in overall opponent shooting percentage (40 percent) -- should be able to keep a lid on Denver defensively.

Portland's best scorer this season is power forward LaMarcus Aldridge, with 26.5 points per game on 47.3 percent shooting from the field. In three games against the Nuggets last season, Aldridge averaged 28.3 points, so expect him to have a big game tonight.

Blazers point guard Damian Lillard is struggling this year to finish at the rim, making just 38.5 percent of his field goals through six games. He has made 35.8 percent of his threes, though, and gets to the line almost six times per game, so Lillard's scoring output has been slightly buoyed by his ability to shoot from deep and get points at the free throw line, where he's made 94.1 percent of his attempts this year.

Shooting guard Wesley Matthews has been Portland's second-best scorer this season, putting in 20.8 points a night, making 54.8 percent of his field goals and 40 percent of his threes. He's roughly the same height as Afflalo and Foye -- who will likely get the defensive assignment on Matthews -- but he has a weight advantage over both, so again, he should be able to get some points off post-ups tonight, which has become a trademark for the sixth-year shooting guard out of Marquette University.

Center Robin Lopez has emerged as a legitimate option on offense this season, averaging 14.7 points per game while shooting 52.2 percent from the field, with a nice touch on his midrange jumpers. If the Nuggets leave him open, he should be able to make them pay. His backup, big man Chris Kaman, continues to produce off the bench, making 62 percent of his field goals for 10.5 points per game.

Small forward Nicolas Batum has been inconsistent from the field, attempting 10.2 shots per game but averaging just 11.5 points. On the bright side, however, Batum has proven himself to be one of the most well-rounded small forwards in the NBA, getting 7.2 assists and 8.3 rebounds per game while typically drawing the assignment of guarding the opposing teams' most potent wing scorers. If Lillard struggles to stop Lawson or Robinson from getting into the paint tonight, Batum or Matthews might switch onto them.

Off the bench, point guard Steve Blake and wing CJ McCollum have struggled to make baskets, while guard Will Barton has been ineffective in limited minutes. Forward Thomas Robinson has made half his shots, but plays 9.6 minutes a game and is used more circumstantially, particularly when coach Terry Stotts needs to insert some energy into the game. Kaman has really anchored Portland's bench unit, which is again one of the least productive in the league.

The Nuggets don't rebound well under their own hoop, but they do grab plenty of defensive rebounds when they force teams to miss. Mozgov, Faried and rookie center Jusuf Nurkic are all solid individual rebounders, and power forward J.J. Hickson makes his return to the lineup tonight after serving a five-game suspension for violating terms of the NBA's drug policy, so Denver should put up a solid fight on the glass. On the other hand, the Blazers are one of the best rebounding teams in the league, led by Lopez, Batum, Aldridge and Kaman. Lillard and Matthews are also some of the better backcourt rebounders in the NBA. Don't be surprised to see Portland out-rebound the Nuggets tonight, as their team-effort on the glass so far this season has often carried them.

On paper, tonight's matchup looks like a winnable game, as Denver has struggled so far this season to get any consistent production on either side of the ball. Still, earlier losses for Portland against the Kings and Clippers looked like good opportunities for wins, too.

If Lawson wakes up from his early-season slump, he could make life much more difficult for the Blazers' defense tonight and get the Nuggets back on the winning track after four straight losses. Denver will also need to see better performances from just about everyone besides Foye, though, and we'll see tonight if the Nuggets are indeed as bad as their 1-4 record would imply.

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

Welcome to a new weekly fantasy basketball column we'll be doing at Sactown Royalty this year in partnership with FanDuel.  To start, we'll be taking a look at Week 3 for the Kings.

FanDuel's basketball scoring system is as follows:

Point = 1pt, Rebound = 1.2pts, Assist = 1.5pts, Block = 2pts, Steal = 2pts, Turnover = -1pt

Starts

Darren Collison at Dallas (11/11/14)
The Mavericks are a very good team that improved a lot this summer.  They have a three man Point Guard rotation of Jameer Nelson, Devin Harris and J.J. Barea, all good offensive players but none being known for their defense.  Collison should be able to break down the defense and get to his favorite spot for mid-range jumpers.

Monta Ellis vs. Kings (11/11/14)
Ben McLemore has improved a lot as a defender, but Monta Ellis is a very crafty player and I could see him taking advantage of young Ben.  Ellis can score in a multitude of ways, both inside and outside, and he's one of the quicker players with the ball in the entire league.

Sits

DeMarcus Cousins at Memphis (11/13/14)
Cousins is a beast of a player and off to the best start of his career, but Memphis has a solid defense and Marc Gasol in particular has hurt Cousins in the past.  Cousins is not likely to make his high cap value up in this game, even if he still has a good game.

Rudy Gay at Oklahoma City (11/9/14)
Gay is questionable to play against the Thunder in the first place, as he's dealing with a stomach virus that probably helped contribute to his 5/22 performance against Phoenix on Friday.  Even if Rudy does play, I'm not optimistic he'll have the best game as he'd still be recovering from his illness.

Gambles

Ramon Sessions at Dallas (11/11/14)
Just like with Collison, Sessions faces a weak batch of defenders.  However unlike Collison, Sessions relies on getting to the rim and the Mavericks have a couple of very good rim protectors in Tyson Chandler and Brandan Wright.  That combined with Sessions' early season struggles make this a risky pick.

Nik Stauskas vs. San Antonio (11/15/14)
I don't know why I picked San Antonio specifically, but I feel like Nik is going to need some time to get in a rhythm and he showed a little bit of that Friday in Phoeniz.  Hopefully he continues to progress as the week goes on and by the time Saturday rolls along, combined with coming back home, he'll have a good game off the bench.

Disclosure: Even though this is a sponsored post with affiliate links, all of the opinions in this post are my own. And as an FYI, FanDuel gave me some cash to play its daily fantasy games.

The Sacramento Kings started off their four game road trip with a gutsy double-overtime win on Friday against the Phoenix Suns and now look to extend their win streak against the depleted Oklahoma City Thunder.  Despite the Thunder missing several important players, the Kings can't take any team lightly, especially on their home floor. Tonight's action tips off at 4:00 pm this afternoon on Comcast SportsNet California and on KHTK 1140.

3 THINGS TO LOOK FOR

1. The Thunder injury list reads like a very good NBA roster.  As most of you well know, both Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are out for the foreseeable future, but Perry Jones III, Anthony Morrow, and Andre Roberson are all questionable to play themselves.  That's without mentioning end of bench players Grant Jerrett and Mitch McGary also being out with injuries.  As a result of all these injuries (Reggie Jackson and Jeremy Lamb just came back from injuries of their own), Oklahoma City has started just 1-5 on the season, with their lone win coming against a Nuggets team that is proving to be kinda bad.  Sacramento has yet to have a player miss a game due to injury so far this season, but could be without Rudy Gay, who the Kings have listed as questionable to play due to a stomach virus that was bothering him in the last game.  Should Rudy not play, the Kings will likely start either Omri Casspi or Derrick Williams in his spot.

2.  Considering all the injuries to key players for the Thunder in this game, this is one that the Kings should win, which kind of scares me.  We've seen the Kings of years past lose to injured opponents over and over again, and if they're really turning the corner, games like this are ones that have to be won on a consistent basis.  Oklahoma City isn't going to simply lie down and go away either, and guys like Serge Ibaka and Reggie Jackson can be dangerous in their own right.  One thing the Kings have going for them is that Oklahoma City's offense has been awful without Durant or Westbrook, as their team is just 28th in Offensive Rating for the season so far.  The Kings meanwhile have the 9th ranked defense and 12th ranked offense and will hopefully get off to a better start than they did Friday in Phoenix.

3. DeMarcus Cousins has been incredible this season aside from one category: fouling.  He's still fouling too much for his own good, especially when he's not going up against particularly great offensive centers.  That will again be the case today, as neither Steven Adams or Kendrick Perkins are huge threats.  The Kings need Cousins on the floor, and the more time he spends off of it due to foul trouble hurts us as a team.  According to basketball-reference.com, the Kings offense has been 11.5 points better with him on the floor and the defense has been an obscene 21.1 points better, for a net rating of +32.5.  Right now Cousins is averaging just 29.8 minutes a game compared to 32.4 last year.  Ideally, he'd be somewhere around 34-36 minutes, but he'll have to keep himself in the game and cut out some of the silly fouls he still picks up (like reaching in the backcourt).  He's shown huge progress in many areas this season, so I'm optimistic that his fouls will also come around.

MATCHUP OF THE GAME

Jason Thompson vs. Serge Ibaka

With Durant and Westbrook out, Ibaka is the de facto star of this Thunder team.  Once known as merely a defensive force, Ibaka has developed a diverse offensive game over the years and has become an exceptionally good outside shooter as well.  In 6 games so far this season he's averaging 17.7 points a game on 54.2% from the field and a very good 46.7% from three despite shooting 5 attempts a game.  Thompson meanwhile, has become a bit of a defensive stopper for Sacramento this year, with Sacramento being 13.1 points better defensively with him on the court.  According to NBA.com, he's allowed just  41.4% shooting against him despite the average field goal percentage of the players he's guarding being 49.3%.  If Thompson can keep Ibaka in check, the Thunder will have even less to work with and Sacramento will have a great chance to extend the winning streak to six.

PREGAME LIMERICK

Who knows if the Kings are for real,
but this opportunity is pretty ideal.
The Thunder are hurt,
it's up to the Kings to convert,
and make the opponents kneel.

PREDICTION

Kings 104, Thunder 89 after Scott Brooks is forced to become "Player-Coach" due to Reggie Jackson and Sebastian Telfair fouling out.

The Golden State Warriors visit the Phoenix Suns for an uptempo Pacific Division showdown and look to maintain the NBA's only perfect record.

Off to a blistering start for the season. the Golden State Warriors will travel to Arizona for the backend of a back-to-back against the Phoenix Suns with hopes of extending their current 5-game win streak. How has Golden State bursted out of the gates? There are a number of factors and here is one simple explanation: more possessions = more opportunities to score.

The 2014-15 Warriors lead the NBA in pace at an astounding 103.2 possessions per game according to Hollinger's NBA Team Statistics. Also factor in the notion that the Warriors are averaging 107.2 points per game and shooting .493 from the field as a team (both league highs), you have a winning offensive combination. However, Golden State is not just playing one end of the floor, the squad is holding opponents to 92.4 points per game and a league-best .399 opponent FG% via ESPN NBA Statistics, which is good for the league's best defensive rating. Andrew Bogut is our defensive anchor but Curry may be a great defender after all.

Stephen Curry vs. Goran Dragic will be an intriguing must-see matchup tonight. Curry is coming off a 34 point, 10 rebound, five assist and four steal outing against the Houston Rockets with efficient shooting from the field and three-point territory. In a loss against the Sacramento Kings on Friday, Dragic got back on track and dropped 22 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals after a slow start to the season. Two elite point guards; two fast paced teams. This should be an interesting point guard duel and we haven't even talked about the shooting guards.

The Phoenix Suns are a team known to push the ball and run the floor with their trio point guard rotation of Eric Bledsoe, Goran Dragic, and Isaiah Thomas. A live-ball giveaway to Phoenix will likely end in fastbreak points on the opposite end. Consequently, this game will be affected by the Warriors' ability to minimize turnovers. In last night's post game session, Steve Kerr expressed concern over the 26 turnovers despite the undefeated start. When the pace is pushed, there is a tendency to make unsound playmaking decisions in transition at time. Turnovers will undoubtedly become a major concern in bad shooting nights.

Optimistically, over the course of the season, I think we should see Golden State play more comfortably with control and take care of the ball better.

The 5-1 Kings come to town to take on the 1-5 Thunder. That seems weird.

In a bit of a role reversal, the red-hot 5-1 Sacramento Kings come to town to take on the depleted, 1-5 Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder have showed plenty of heart in their losses, but sooner or later that is going to need to translate into wins.

Anthony Morrow was considered a possibility to return from injury, but Scott Brooks has ruled him out for tonight's game. That means the Thunder will have the same nine guys available as they did in Friday night's game. Will they take the lessons they learned from that close game into tonight's matchup with the biggest surprise team of the season, the Kings?

This was incredible!!

The Oklahoma City snapped their three-game losing streak with timely plays to beat the streaking Sacramento Kings 101-93 Sunday night.

Box Score | Sactown Royalty

With a well-balanced attack, including five players in double-figures, the Oklahoma City Thunder snapped their three-game losing streak, knocking off the previously 5-1 Sacramento Kings, 101-93. on their home floor Sunday night.

It feels good to see the Thunder back in the win column. It was a game where a lot of people stepped up throughout the game in key times, something that was rarely happening in previous games.

Kendrick Perkins scored around the rim in the first half and played excellent defense on DeMarcus Cousins, who finished with just 16 points and 7 rebounds on 7-15 shooting. When the Thunder were struggling to get it going in the third quarter, newly-acquired point guard Ish Smith came in and scored seven points in seven minutes and got the Thunder back on track. Nick Collison nailed two big 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. Everyone played a role in the win.

What was, overall, the main reason why the Thunder won/lost?

While the Thunder did not play great, they made the plays when they needed to. With the Thunder up by five and less than a minute to go, Cousins caught the ball on the right block, got by Steven Adams and looked like he had what should be a an easy reverse layup to make it a one possession game, but Serge Ibaka came flying across the lane to reject the shot. Jeremy Lamb was then fouled by Cousins and knocked down two foul shots to extend the lead to seven. This was just one play among many others that stood out in the win.

The Thunder also responded with only one turnover in the fourth quarter after eight in a brutal third quarter.

Lastly, after going 3-of-11 from the foul line against the Grizzles Friday, they went 23-of-27 from the line tonight.

***

Atmonavage's Awards

Thunder Wonder: Reggie Jackson, 22 points, 6 assists, 9-of-10 from foul line

Thunder Down Under: Nick Collison, A dunk, two 3-pointers and a charge, all in one game. Boom.

Thunder Blunder: Ish Smith getting in the way of Rudy Gay R.I.P.

Thunder Plunderer: Rudy Gay 23 points, 10 rebounds and making Ish Smith Vine famous

***

Next game: @ Milwaukee Bucks Tuesday 11/11 @ 7:00 PM CDT

The Kings lose their first road game against a feisty, undermanned Thunder squad.

That crash you heard was the Sacramento Kings and their fans plummeting back down to earth, as the Kings dropped their first road game of the season 101-93.

Behind Reggie Jackson's 22 points, the Oklahoma City Thunder jumped all over the Kings, playing a physical and aggressive style that had the Kings on their heels. Usually, its Sacramento who is the aggressor in the paint, but the Thunder feature some quality defenders down low in Steven Adams, Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins. The lane was barricaded and loaded up all night, as the Thunder employed a zone scheme to choke off the precious painted area from the Kings' offensive players.

DeMarcus Cousins was limited tonight to 16 points on 7/15 shooting. Perhaps the biggest reason is that Cousins failed to get to the free throw line at his usual rate. Give credit to the Thunder's defensive gameplan. Their zone had the Kings struggling to find their way into the paint to draw fouls all night. Cousins in particular did not see the same volume of possessions he normally sees in the post, and the budding superstar was largely held in check.

The Kings needed the perimeter game to step up big, and got mixed results. On one hand, Ben McLemore had a breakout game. The sweet stroke he was reputed to have at Kansas shone through in a big way as he bombed his way to 16 points on 6/9 shooting. Rudy Gay had a bounceback game as well, scoring 23 points on 9/19 shooting. On the other hand, Darren Collison struggled mightily on the night, scoring 12 points on 5/15 shooting, and only 1/6 from three point range, most of which were wide open. For the most part the three point shooting let the team down, with the team going 6/24 overall. Pete D'Alessandro made it a point to improve the shooting of the team, but it seems like the team has a ways to go in that category.

The Kings again got off to a slow start offensively and defensively, much like Friday's affair with the Phoenix Suns. The Thunder seemingly got where they wanted, led by Jackson, Jeremy Lamb, Sebastian Telfair and Ish Smith. On offense, the Kings were rattled by Oklahoma City's physical play in the paint. The referees allowed a lot contact go uncalled, which played right into the hands of the Thunder's physical defenders like Adams and Ibaka. The Thunder led the first half 52-39.

The second half began with the starters roaring back. Beginning to match the physicality the Thunder showed in the first half, the Kings ramped up the defensive intensity, getting their hands in passing lanes, forcing turnovers, and getting out in transition. One particular fun fast break led to Gay romping over a hapless Ish Smith on a spectacular poster dunk. The Kings sliced the deficit down to only two heading into the fourth quarter.

Unfortunately, the reserves could not keep pace with the Thunder bench. Omri Casspi and Carl Landry chipped in their roles, but their contributions were overshadowed by the again disappointing play of Ramon Sessions. Sessions' bad defense and terrible decision-making have made bringing the bench at all a risky proposition. If this play continues, its only a matter of time before Ray McCallum takes over the backup PG spot. The lead swelled back up to double digits, and by the time the starters came back with six minutes to go, they were facing a 9 point hole.

Behind sharp shooting from McLemore and with Collison chuggins his way back to some semblance of life, the Kings would whittle the lead down, but would ultimately be let down by several mental errors and defensive breakdowns. Reggie Evans inexplicably picked up a technical foul off the bench, and Gay fouled Adams after he had gotten rid of the ball, which results in a technical under the new Hack-a-Shaq rules. Meanwhile, the Kings were unable to keep Jackson out of the paint, and ultimately the Thunder's promising young guard drained a difficult fadeaway with Collison draped all over him to essentially ice the game.

After a magical start to the season, it felt like the Kings would never lose. A 5-1 start against tough competition had the team and its fans on cloud nine. Unfortunately, this is the NBA, and no team is ever going to go 81-1. There will be nights such as this where the team doesn't have it in them to win. It doesn't mean that the team is back to the doldrums, but it does present a unique situation for the team to respond after a deflating loss against an undermanned club. On with the marathon.

For the opponent's perspective, visit Welcome to Loud City

It was another good week for Sacramento even though it ended on a sour note.  The Kings went 2-1, with their sole loss being against a very scrappy Oklahoma City team without their main stars.  Sacramento still ends the week at 5-2, a better record than any of us expected at this point, but the rest of the month is a meat grinder so we'll see what this team is truly made of in the next couple weeks.

The Good:

1. Well hello Mr. McLemore

See Player of the Week

2. There's (almost) no stopping DeMarcus Cousins

Cousins has been playing on another level lately, and although the Thunder did a good job of containing him, he was a force in the other two games, only limited by foul trouble (he fouled out both games).  When Cousins gets position down low, it's really hard to stop him, and he's drawing fouls at a ridiculous rate.  Cousins' improvement has been the biggest reason for Sacramento's early success.

3. Turnovers are down

The Kings did a much better job of taking care of the ball this week.  They had turnover totals of 13, 15 and 10 (funnily enough the 10 turnover game was the only loss).  Darren Collison has been an excellent floor general so far, averaging 6.3 assists a game to just 1.7 turnovers.

4. Jason Thompson's post defense

Although he got into a little bit of trouble with Serge Ibaka on Sunday, Thompson deserves some credit for his excellent defense, particularly in the paint.  The only guys that really seem to bother JT are the ones that can take it outside, as we saw in parts with Darrell Arthur, Markieff Morris and Ibaka.  Still, he's worked hard on that end of the court and deserves recognition.

5. Omri Casspi and Carl Landry off the bench

Sacramento's bench has been pretty bad this season, but Casspi and Landry have proven to be valuable contributors.  Casspi is shooting over 50% from the field and not settling for jumpers while also pushing the pace and moving the ball well.  Landry has settled into the post and is shooting over 60% from the field, and probably should be getting even more touches than he is.  Both players are also doing a good job of getting to the line.

6. Rudy Gay is more hit than miss

Rudy only had one bad game this week, a 5-22 outing against the Suns.  However he was dealing with a stomach virus all game and still toughed out 47 and a half minutes of play and hit what would be the eventual game winning bucket.  Rudy's currently averaging 22.3 points a game on 45.6% from the field and 37.5% from three and is also hitting the glass (7.1 rebounds) and passing (2.7 assists).  Rudy will have off-nights, but as long as his good nights continue to be as good as they have been, we can deal with it.

The Bad:

1. DeMarcus Cousins' foul trouble

In three games this week, Cousins fouled out twice and reached 5 in the other game.  He needs to curtail these fouls and stay in the game.  Sacramento's so much better with him on the floor.

2. Nik Stauskas is coming along slowly

Nik had a better week this week but it still wasn't great.  His shot isn't falling with any consistency (32.3% from the field and 25% from three) and teams continue to attack him night after night in the post.  I thought he did a pretty good job in stretches against the Suns, but he's still got a long way to go.  Hopefully as the season progresses we'll see those shooting numbers go up, because Sacramento is still in desperate need of shooting.

The Ugly:

1.  Kings get off to slow starts in Phoenix and Oklahoma City

The Kings probably should have been 1-2 this week, losing both against the Suns and Thunder.  Both games saw the Kings get off to terrible starts, and while they were able to grit it out and come back against Phoenix, they weren't able to do so against Oklahoma City.  That was a game the Kings should have won and could have won, and even though the refs were bad, you can't expect to play only one good half and win a game against any NBA team.

2. What's wrong with Ramon Sessions and why is Ray McCallum not playing ahead of him?

To put it bluntly, Ramon Sessions has been awful to start this season.  He had his best game of this season against the Suns on Friday and that was only a 9 point, 4 assist effort that still saw him with a negative +/-.  Sacramento gets noticeably worse on both ends when Sessions comes in, and on the season he's shooting just 23.3%, with a lot of those coming right around the basket.  This is abnormal for Sessions, who was pretty good in preseason and has been good during his career.  However, I don't understand why his leash is so long, especially when the Kings have Ray McCallum on the bench.  McCallum has been called "one of our best defenders" by Coach Malone in various radio interviews, and he gets put in for defense at the end of quarters, so I don't understand why he's seeing time ahead of McCallum.  McCallum has also proven to be versatile offensively, and I'd rather see him develop.

Player of the Week:

Ben McLemore

13.7 PPG, .560 FG%, .467 3P%, 4.0 RPG, 1.7 AST, 0.3 STL, 0.3 BLK in 31.0 MPG

Pizza Guy 2.0 found his offense this week and it was a breath of fresh air.  McLemore came out this week much more aggressive, and continued to play very good defense.  Against Denver he helped hold Arron Afflalo to just 2 points.  In Phoenix, he hit some clutch shots in the overtime periods to help Sacramento win the game and against Oklahoma City he was the only one hitting shots down the stretch, including some pretty difficult step backs.  McLemore was once considered a top 3 pick for a reason, and we're finally seeing him hit his stride a little bit.  Now we'll need to see consistency, something he hasn't been able to do for long stretches yet.  If he can do that, we have a very promising young player on our hands.

FanPost of the Week:

"Oh Captain, my Captain!": Collison making compelling case by Fireplug

Images/GIFs of the Week:

by Bradley Geiser on Nov 7, 2014 | 10:33 PMupreply unrec (99)actions

CUZ IS GROOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

by Bradley Geiser on Nov 5, 2014 | 9:42 PMreply unrec (61)actions

Guess I was pretty excited

by Aykis16 on Nov 5, 2014 | 10:34 PMreply55 recs flagactions

by claimento on Nov 7, 2014 | 9:35 PMreply rec (62) flagactions

There are no words, only primal grunts for victory

by LALakerHater on Nov 7, 2014 | 9:40 PMreply unrec (69)actions

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

by Bradley Geiser on Nov 7, 2014 | 9:46 PMreply unrec (71)actions

by X_47 on Nov 8, 2014 | 12:24 AMreply unrec (71)actions

Comments of the Week:

I was at the game tonight in the upper section, great win!!

Couple things I noticed while attending that stood out for me.
Reggie Evans It’s hard sometimes to watch him have the ball in his hands on offense but i fully understand now as to why he is given the ball. Yes it is to run the offense, but the guy has a knack for drawing fouls. It had to have been late in the third quarter where he drew something around 3 fouls on their bigs and got to go to the charity stripe to shoot two, two times. I think Pete loves that about him because it starts to put the Suns at a disadvantage when you are forced to play guys like Shavlik Randolph.

Boogie Cousins Good job for not being suckered into getting angry by the cheap out of bounds box out by the Morris Brother (Still don’t know which one it was if yall can help me out with that), Of course being in Phoenix the Jumbo tron focused on Cousins grabbing him by the neck and not the initial point of contact. Boogie may have retaliated or not but I’d like to see more videos before I make a decision. Also saw him pull Malone over for the 20 second timeout after that BOGUS blocking call, he’s bought into the system and I love it!!

Phoenix Arena When I first moved out here to Phoenix back in 2005 it was definitely a Suns town, stadium would always be packed and they were the best sport team to watch in town. Now almost 10 years later, Cardinals own Phoenix. Now a Friday night in Phoenix is is a tough sell to fans out here. Literally just across the street Krewella (EDM Concert) was also taking place, ASU students have been for the past week camping out in front of Wells Fargo Arena for the ASU vs Notre Dame game. And it’s also friday night, Old town Scottsdale and Mill Ave’s Bars are packed. Considering all of that, it was a little disheartening seeing A TON of empty seats. It was also never loud like howARCO was back in the day. They literally turned up the volume in the Arena to make it seem like its louder. Just a little disappointed in that. How ever some of the Suns fans I talked to are great people. Nicest fans to talk to.

With all that said, my post game picture

by DBohdan on Nov 7, 2014 | 10:42 PMreply rec (45) flagactions

Omer Khan is picked up by STR. Kings subsequently go 4-1. Aykis is looking like a genius.

by LaBradford on Nov 5, 2014 | 10:17 PMreply unrec (47)actions

Too early to dream about a Warriors-Kings first round matchup?

What you think the warriors are gonna fall to the 8th seed?

by Naka Naka on Nov 8, 2014 | 12:37 PMreply rec (34) flagactions

Highlight of the Week:

Caption Contest:

Link to Last Week's Picture

Last Week's Winner: Mr. Hashtag

Stauskas?

Last Week's Runner-Up: Dub_TC

Vivek: "I'm telling you, Mark .... it will work."
Mark: "I don't know, Vivek. I can get the 4 on 5 defense, but having a Mitch Richmond hologram as our starting SG?"

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:

11/11 @ Dallas W (The Mavericks have the best offense in the league to start this season, but one of the worst defenses.  Hopefully the Kings can show some fortitude and bounce back from their loss to the Thunder to win in Dallas for the first time in forever.)

11/13 @ Memphis L (The Grizzlies are a very tough matchup for the Kings, matching up well at every position.)

11/15 vs. San Antonio W (It's StR night and the Kings have played the Spurs very close the last couple years, only to fumble at the end.  The Spurs are also playing Friday night, so perhaps they rest some of their big names on Saturday. Here's hoping the Kings have grown up a little bit and can figure out how to close this game)

Nostradumbass Record for the Year: 2-4

Random Observations from around the league:

• Gordon Hayward is doing some really nice things in Utah.  He was huge in their win against the Cavaliers, helping keep LeBron in check and hitting the game winner to boot.  I thought a maximum contract was too much for Hayward this past summer, but so far he's definitely living up to the expectations that come with the money.
• Jason Kidd's doing alright in Milwaukee.  They're 3-4 and have the 4th ranked defense in the league.  Giannis Antetokounmpo is having a good sophomore year too, and Brandon Knight has improved a lot.
• Denver might just be a bad team, which is surprising given how good they were a couple years ago with largely the same roster.  Gallinari is not nearly the same player as he was, and Brian Shaw's system doesn't seem to be getting nearly the same results as George Karl's.

Sacramento's definitely done well for themselves to start this season.  At 5-2, the Kings have exceeded just about everyone's expectations, especially given the tough schedule they were dealt.  Unfortunately for Sacramento, the schedule doesn't get much easier the rest of this month.

Here are the remaining 10 games on the docket for November:

11/11 at Dallas (Sacramento hasn't won here since February 27th, 2003)

11/13 at Memphis (Sacramento has lost 7 straight to Memphis and 12 of 14 in Cousins' era)

11/15 vs. San Antonio (Sacramento has lost 9 straight to San Antonio and 12 of 13 in Cousins' era)

11/18 vs. New Orleans (Sacramento won season series 3-1 last year but they are healthy this year and have improved depth)

11/20 vs. Chicago (Sacramento has split season series past two seasons)

11/22 at Minnesota (Sacramento split season series last year, but no Kevin Love anymore and Ricky Rubio out with injury)

11/25 at New Orleans

11/26 at Houston (Sacramento split season series last year)

11/28 at San Antonio

11/30 vs. Memphis

To come out of November with a .500 record or better, the Kings need to go 4-6.  Of those games, only two seem like the Kings should be considered favorites (and we saw how much good that did Sacramento against Oklahoma City on Sunday): at home against New Orleans and at Minnesota.

If the Kings really want to be fighting for a playoff spot, they'll have to beat some of these tougher opponents.  The December schedule is incredibly favorable for Sacramento, with 11 of 15 games at home and 9 of 16 opponents being likely non-playoff teams.  They've started off the season well, but these next 10 games will provide a nice measuring stick of just what this Kings team can actually do.

This road trip hasn't gotten off to a great start for Sacramento with a near loss to Phoenix and an actual won in Oklahoma City.  These following games against Dallas and Memphis provide even tougher challenges and Sacramento will have to play much better than they have been if they hope to continue to surprise the league.  Tonight's action tips off at 5:30 pm this afternoon on Comcast SportsNet California and on KHTK 1140.

3 THINGS TO LOOK FOR

1.  The Thunder had a lot of success playing zone defense and denying the ball to DeMarcus Cousins down low.  While most teams don't find much success playing zone, the Mavericks are actually one of the few teams that have been known to run the zone.  I expect we'll see it again today until the Kings prove they can beat it.

2.  Dallas currently has the best offense in the NBA and Dirk Nowitzki is still chugging along at age 36 averaging over 20 points a game on 52.3% from the field and 46.9% from three.  They've still got Monta Ellis filling it up at an efficient rate, and this summer they added the likes of Chandler Parsons and Jameer Nelson this summer.  This is a team that can score in a variety of ways and they have one of the more creative coaches in the league in Rick Carlisle.  Sacramento's defense has been better this season but they'll have to bring their A-game to combat Dallas' multitude of weapons.

3.  Ramon Sessions continues to play ahead of Ray McCallum in the rotation despite playing incredibly poorly.  The Mavericks have three very good scoring guards in Jameer Nelson, Devin Harris and J.J. Barea, and if Sessions continues to play poorly, I'd like to see him get the early hook for Ray.  Veterans usually get playing time over young players because of consistency and production, but Sessions is currently providing neither.

MATCHUP OF THE GAME

DeMarcus Cousins vs. Tyson Chandler

There aren't that many guys who consistently give DeMarcus Cousins trouble, but Tyson Chandler is one of them.  The former defensive player of the year has the right mixture of size and strength to deal with Cousins down low, and he's given him fits in the past.  Chandler is so effective defensively in part because he doesn't foul much at all.  He also doesn't block as many shots as you'd think but rather settles for altering them instead.  On the other end of the floor, he's able to punish you in the Pick and Roll and Cousins will have to keep that in mind when switching on defense.  DeMarcus will have his work cut out for him tomorrow, but if he can get going against Chandler, the Mavericks are in trouble.

PREGAME LIMERICK

In Oklahoma we snapped our win streak,
the rest of the month is pretty bleak.
Time to bounce back,
and give the Mavs a good thwack,
so we get back some of our mystique.

PREDICTION

Kings 109, Mavericks 104 as the Pizza Guy delivers a larger combination of defense and threes.

The Mavericks look to bounce back from Sunday's loss to the Heat. Sacramento, though, is off to a strong start to the season and will be a stiff test for Dallas.

What didthe Kings do over the summer?

The biggest move the Kings made over the summer was to not resign point guard Isaiah Thomas. Both parties were not on great terms towards the end of last season and their parting was seen as mutually beneficial. To replace Thomas, the Kings signed Darren Collison. They also brought in Ramon Sessions to be the backup point guard.

What has Sacramento done lately?

The Kings have opened the season with a 5-2 record with their only losses coming on opening night to the Golden State Warriors and again on Sunday to the short-handed Oklahoma City Thunder. They've notched wins against the Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns, and beat the Denver Nuggets twice.

While the Kings aren't a good 3-point shooting team, it hasn't mattered. They take the most free throws of any team and are the best defensive rebounding team in the league. A lot of these numbers can be attributed to the play of DeMarcus Cousins.

Which Kings player might be due for a big game?

It stands to reason that Cousins is likely going to have a big game. If Tyson Chandler gets in foul trouble, the Mavericks don't have anyone who can battle with Cousins down low. Sure, Greg Smith will give it a try but Cousins is just too big and too strong. It's times like these when one has to think the Mavs would've been better off keeping Bernard James on the roster rather than bringing in Charlie Villanueva.

Aside from Cousins, look for Collison and Rudy Gay to put up good numbers. These three players are the core of the Kings' offense. Gay has seemingly transformed his game since joining Sacramento becoming a more efficient and reliable scorer. Collison, meanwhile, has continued to be extremely effective since leaving Dallas two seasons ago. With the Mavs' perimeter defense resembling a colander, these two players could have an impressive evening.

What do the Mavs need to do to be successful against the Kings?

Dallas needs to get back to the balanced scoring it displayed in its wins. We know that Dirk Nowitzki and Tyson Chandler will do their part so the onus falls on Chandler Parsons, the guards, and the bench. Parsons has put up several statistically uninspiring performances this season and needs to find some level of consistency going forward. It's not time to panic, the season is still young, but Parsons' efforts are worthy of some concern.

Sacramento isn't a deep team. When their second unit is in the game, Dallas needs to capitalize. This will involve getting Brandan Wright and Devin Harris going.

The Mavs also must make a concerted effort to rebound better. Three guard lineups have dominated Rick Carlisle's rotations early on. This has made rebounding more difficult, with the size and length of the Kings; it might be wise to get away from the smaller lineups in an attempt to secure the basketball. There's no reason to give opponents more opportunities.

Another shot at history.

Nowitzki needs just 17 points to pass Hakeem Olajuwon for 9th on the NBA's all-time scoring list. Dirk is averaging 20.6 points per game this season so it stands to reason that he will surpass another milestone against the Kings.

The Mavericks executed the third-largest comeback in franchise history by recovering from a disastrous first quarter and beating the Kings 106-98 in the second of a four-game homestand.

What didthe Kings do over the summer?

The biggest move the Kings made over the summer was to not resign point guard Isaiah Thomas. Both parties were not on great terms towards the end of last season and their parting was seen as mutually beneficial. To replace Thomas, the Kings signed Darren Collison. They also brought in Ramon Sessions to be the backup point guard.

What has Sacramento done lately?

The Kings have opened the season with a 5-2 record with their only losses coming on opening night to the Golden State Warriors and again on Sunday to the short-handed Oklahoma City Thunder. They've notched wins against the Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns, and beat the Denver Nuggets twice.

While the Kings aren't a good 3-point shooting team, it hasn't mattered. They take the most free throws of any team and are the best defensive rebounding team in the league. A lot of these numbers can be attributed to the play of DeMarcus Cousins.

Which Kings player might be due for a big game?

It stands to reason that Cousins is likely going to have a big game. If Tyson Chandler gets in foul trouble, the Mavericks don't have anyone who can battle with Cousins down low. Sure, Greg Smith will give it a try but Cousins is just too big and too strong. It's times like these when one has to think the Mavs would've been better off keeping Bernard James on the roster rather than bringing in Charlie Villanueva.

Aside from Cousins, look for Collison and Rudy Gay to put up good numbers. These three players are the core of the Kings' offense. Gay has seemingly transformed his game since joining Sacramento becoming a more efficient and reliable scorer. Collison, meanwhile, has continued to be extremely effective since leaving Dallas two seasons ago. With the Mavs' perimeter defense resembling a colander, these two players could have an impressive evening.

What do the Mavs need to do to be successful against the Kings?

Dallas needs to get back to the balanced scoring it displayed in its wins. We know that Dirk Nowitzki and Tyson Chandler will do their part so the onus falls on Chandler Parsons, the guards, and the bench. Parsons has put up several statistically uninspiring performances this season and needs to find some level of consistency going forward. It's not time to panic, the season is still young, but Parsons' efforts are worthy of some concern.

Sacramento isn't a deep team. When their second unit is in the game, Dallas needs to capitalize. This will involve getting Brandan Wright and Devin Harris going.

The Mavs also must make a concerted effort to rebound better. Three guard lineups have dominated Rick Carlisle's rotations early on. This has made rebounding more difficult, with the size and length of the Kings; it might be wise to get away from the smaller lineups in an attempt to secure the basketball. There's no reason to give opponents more opportunities.

Akis Yerocostas of Sactown Royalty answers a few questions about the surprising Kings before they take on the Dallas Mavericks tonight.

Though the sample size is small, the Kings possess an offense and defense that are both near the top 10 in the league. This is a complete 180 degree change from last season. What is Sacramento doing differently this season?

The Kings have definitely surprised many to start this season, and it's largely due to the play of their two stars, DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay. Both Cousins and Gay have been forces to be reckoned with in the early going. A big part of Sacramento's offense is getting to the line, where they are 1st in the league in attempts at 37.3 a game. Cousins and Gay alone are averaging almost 18 combined attempts a game.

The Kings have also made big steps forward on the defensive end, and newcomer (and former Maverick) Darren Collison has helped lot here. Collison has gone up against some of the league's toughest PGs already this season and has more than held their own. Penetration hasn't been as much of a problem as it has in year's past. We've also seen big defensive improvements from guys like DeMarcus Cousins, Jason Thompson and Ben McLemore.

A lot of Sacramento's success can be attributed to the play of DeMarcus Cousins. He's ranked towards or just below the top in a number of league-wide stat categories and Zach Lowe recently tweeted that Cousins could be the MVP frontrunner right now. Does the potential success of the Kings hinge on Boogie continuing this high level of play and is it unreasonable to toss his name into a very early MVP discussion?

I think the Kings will go as far as Cousins can take them. There are few players that have played as well as he has to start this season and to be honest, I think he's still a ways away from his ceiling. He's only averaging 30.4 minutes a game, largely due to continued foul trouble, and if he can curtail that, we should see his numbers grow even more. He had 30 points and 11 rebounds in just 22 minutes against the Nuggets the other night and made it look easy to boot.

That being said, I think it's way too early to be talking about MVPs. The Kings haven't proven anything yet, and to me the Kings would not only have to make the playoffs but do so as a top-5 seed for Cousins to warrant MVP consideration. I don't see that happening this year. I do see Cousins making his first All-Star and All-NBA teams this year though.

Our old friend Darren Collison has landed in Sactown. How has he played thus far and is it time for Mavs fans to finally admit that Collison is actually a good point guard?

Collison has been fantastic so far in Sacramento. He's been a very capable floor general, averaging 6.3 assists to just 1.7 turnovers a game and also providing some very good defense on the perimeter. Offensively he's been struggling with his outside shot (just 15% from three for the season) but that will likely come around as the season progresses. Collison has been a difference maker for the Kings which has been a pleasant surprise.

If the Kings have one glaring weakness, on paper at least, it's that they don't have much depth. After Rudy Gay, Cousins, Collison, and sixth man Carl Landry, the scoring drops of dramatically. Can the team rely this heavily on four players or is it looking to groom other players to step up their scoring contributions?

Someone else is going to have to step up. Ben McLemore has recently started to hit some of his shots, which is a very good sign. He had 16 points on 6 of 9 shooting against the Thunder on Sunday, including some very difficult step backs and fadeaways. Rookie Nik Stauskas has yet to find his rhythm however though, especially from beyond the arc where he's just 25%. If Stauskas eventually gets going that should help our bench depth.

Most perplexing however has been Ramon Sessions. Sessions was brought in to be a change of pace, scoring Point Guard and so far he has provided none of that, all while being a big defensive drop-off from Darren Collison. Coach Michael Malone is seemingly intent on letting him work out of his slump (4.7 points on 23.3% from the field in the first 7 games) instead of playing promising sophomore guard Ray McCallum, but who knows how much longer he can hold out.

It's early but is it realistic to believe that the Kings can continue their high level of play and fight for a playoff spot at the end of the season?

This start is definitely promising, but I still think it's too early to tell. The West is incredibly tough, and Sacramento's November schedule is brutal. The Kings have 10 more games left in November and they are as follows: at Dallas, at Memphis, vs. San Antonio, vs. New Orleans, vs. Chicago, at Minnesota, at New Orleans, at Houston, at San Antonio, vs. Memphis. If they can come out of this month with a .500 record, then I'll be a believer.

Thanks, Akis! Be sure to follow Akis on Twitterand head over to Sactown Royalty for more on the Kings.