I like the new guy already.

Ettore Messina had a winning debut Wednesday against the Pacers and will get to be in charge again Friday against the Kings as Gregg Popovich continues to recover from a minor medical procedure. Again, he'll be catching a big break on the injury front because, like Indiana, the Kings will be shorthanded tonight. Sacramento's best player, DeMarcus Cousins, is sidelined by a virus. Their second and third best guys, Rudy Gay and Darren Collison, will be game-time decisions. The Spurs last loss came against the Kings for their only blemish in their last nine games.

The important news, of course, is that Pop is getting better and that there's nothing serious with his condition. In fact, he was at the practice facility this morning. "He came by, talked to the team briefly and then went home to rest," Messina explained, adding "But it was a good thing to see him, to see that he's doing well, so I think everything is progressing the right way."

Messina shared that Popovich sat in on the coaches' meeting prior to his address to the players and that the staff went over the Pacers game as well as the scouting report on the Kings. All well and normal on that front, and it doesn't sound like Pop will be sidelined too much longer.

The major takeaway I came away with in these limited interactions with Messina, is that it's very easy to see why PATFO made the move to sign him over the summer. Not only is Messina especially close to Manu Ginobili, the player he coached more than a dozen years ago in Kinder Bologna, but he's the kind of warm, caring, and amicable person that fits quickly into whatever new environment he finds himself. We've all seen numerous times in games during time outs Messina huddling one-on-one with Tim Duncan as the two get to know each other and pick each other's brains and Duncan, who's famous for being distant at first with new people, already seems to get on well with Messina.

What's readily noticeable about Messina is that he's got that quick dry wit that's mandatory in the Spurs culture. If you can't make others laugh --and laugh at yourself-- then you don't belong in San Antonio. Messina's coaching resume speaks for itself and obviously his knowledge of the X's and O's is the most important thing, but he's a man who exudes confidence, who's very comfortable in his own skin and can make a roomful of grouchy reporters laugh in his fifth or sixth language with hardly any effort.

When asked if he'd be using the same starting lineup this game as the last one, he replied, without missing a beat, "Yeah, you like it?" and followed it up with, "I'm a soldier, I just do what they tell me do to. There's no creativity."

Later on, someone inquired if Pop graded his coaching performance against the Pacers.

"Family business," Messina said with a laugh. "For sure, that's family business."

He waited a couple of moments and offered a question of his own.

"Do you think if I didn't I'd still be here?"

Already it feels like Messina's been a Spur forever.

***

Messina announced that Cory Joseph, who's missed the last two games with a left ankle sprain, should play a bit tonight. "The doctors and coaches and strength coaches and everybody else, they worked him out and they said he might give us 10 minutes tonight," he said. "He wants to play. He really wants to play, so that's the most important thing. When you have a player that has a little injury, the fact that he wants to play is pretty big."

Messina also revealed that Tiago Splitter is doing more and more individual work on the practice court but that there's still no timetable for his return from his calf injury.

The Kings hung tough without their best player, but were unable to corral Tony Parker and the Spurs defensively

The Sacramento Kings haven't won a game without DeMarcus Cousins since 2012, and facing the defending champions San Antonio Spurs on the road was a tall task. Especially so considering the Spurs were looking to avenge a loss they suffered to the Kings just a few games back. The Kings fared well offensively, but defensively could not stop the Spurs' trademark dizzying aray of offensive execution and fell to the Spurs 112-104.

Rudy Gay was exactly who the Kings needed him to be tonight in order to compete. Gay looked like he barely missed a beat after missing two games to injury, scoring 23 points and added 8 rebounds and a season-high tying 8 assists on 9/17 shooting. Gay was excellent all game long picking his spots and making plays for his teammates, rarely forcing the action. The Kings also got a much-needed boost from Ryan Hollins, who shrugged off his lack of minutes and delivered about as well as you could hope filling in for Cousins. Hollins scored 15 points total and added 6 rebounds on only 7 shots. Ben McLemore continues to blossom as a player, scoring 14 points total (11 points in the third quarter) on 9 shots and 2/2 from three point range.

Unfortunately, the story of this game was the defense. Missing their defensive anchor, the Kings can be serviceable enough on that end, but serviceable will get you run off the floor against the Spurs. The Kings had particular trouble bottling up Tony Parker, who had a masterful game, scoring 27 points on 17 shots and adding 8 assists. Parker worked the pick and roll game to perfection; it was Parker drawing just enough Kings defenders to himself to find rolling bigs to the rim, Parker getting around defenders to collapse the team defense and find shooters open beyond the arc, and Parker punishing the Kings for going under screens with his midrange game. The Kings also had massive issues containing Manu Ginobili off the bench, who was an assassin in a similar style but at a much lower volume than Parker, chipping in with 7 points and 8 assists on 6 shots off the bench. The Spurs as a team shot 50% from the field and added 12 three pointers, doubling up the amount of threes the Kings hit (six).

To defend the Spurs, you need to have guards that will efficiently navigate screens and a big that can take away multiple threats with their positioning. While Hollins and Jason Thompson are effective defenders in certain spots, neither is as good as Cousins in this regard. Cousins has the ability to deny the pass, the lob, and the drive simultaneously for just long enough for his guards to recover off of screens. Today, along with the fact that Darren Collison was just coming off an injury, the Kings would usually successfully take away two or three threats of the pick and roll, but both Parker and Ginobili were able to diagnose exactly where the weakpoint was in the defense, causing the rest of the rotations to scramble and fall apart. Whether it was a pass slicing through two Kings defenders to a rolling big man, a split of the trap to get to the rim, or an open midrange jumper, the Spurs' guards were laser-like in their dissection of the defense.

Defensive issues aside, it wasn't a terrible loss for the Kings. The team is a little banged up from injuries, but overall held serve at 2-2 on a tough road trip. Standing at 9-7, the Kings are now off until Sunday where they begin a lengthy homestand with some unfinished business against the Memphis Grizzlies.

For the opponent's perspective, visit Pounding the Rock

Tony Parker is the leading three-point shooter in the NBA. Everyone might as well just go home.

Game 15 Vs. Sacramento: Spurs 112,Kings 104   Rec: 11-4  T-3rd in Southwest, 5th in West  Streak: W-6

The Spurs still aren't quite "beautiful" just yet, but their game --and their record-- continues to get prettier by the day.

Slowly but surely, well maybe not so slowly since they're actually starting to pick up the pace, the Spurs offense is starting to find the ethereal form of last spring that launched a thousand YouTube videos and lord knows how many coaching clinics. Friday night at the AT&T Center against a hot-shooting Kings squad missing their best player in DeMarcus Cousins, who was out with a virus, the Spurs scorched the nets, scoring 61 first half points and connecting on 12 of 24 threes in a 112-104 win that was never a runaway but fairly comfortable throughout.

Again the Spurs were led by assistant coach Ettore Messina, filling in for Gregg Popovich, who's recovering from a minor medical procedure and on track to rejoin the team on their four-game Eastern swing, possibly as early as the first stop at Boston Sunday afternoon. Whereas the Spurs were carried almost entirely by their "big four" in Messina's first win against the Pacers on Wednesday, this time around it was a more balanced effort with eight Spurs contributing at least seven points. Tony Parker led the way with 27 and eight assists and the straggler of the group, Manu Ginobili, also tied his season-high with eight dimes.

In fact, the Spurs 29 assists tied their high water mark they set previously on this homestand against the Nets and their seven turnovers was the lowest they've had all year.

"I think today we were a little different than the games before," noted Ginobili. "We were talking how reliable we were defensively lately, and that our offense was not quite there. Today was the opposite."

A lot of credit must go to the Kings, who had no answers for the Spurs in their own end but refused to run out of the gym even without the unguardable Cousins. Both Rudy Gay and Darren Collison returned from injury and combined for 38 points, with Gay in particular proving to be a handful again with 23 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. If that wasn't enough, little-used veteran center Ryan Hollins, who had seen only 11 minutes of action all season, scored 15 points on 5-of-7 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the line. It was the most he'd scored since Mar. 3, 2012 as a Cavalier and tied for the sixth-highest scoring night of his 443-game career. The Kings also got productive games from emerging Ben McLemore (14 points, 6-of-9 shooting) and Carl Landry (12 points, 10 rebounds).

Afterward however, all Kings coach Mike Malone was interested in was  their poor defense, which is a good sign that team-wide expectations are on the rise and there are no moral victories for the Kings, now 9-7.

"If you don't get into these guys and have some physicality, they're going to get wherever they want to go," lamented Malone," adding, "They're the defending champions for a reason. (It) was a marked difference from when we played them last week and beat them at home, when our defense was great and we took care of the basketball and that's why we won."

Indeed, the Spurs have won six straight since dropping the finale of their four-game California road trip at Sacramento and now they will visit the opposite coast. Not only will they likely have Pop with them but also the league's hottest marksman in Parker, who set an NBA record for highest three-point percentage through 15 games at .667 after canning a 30-footer at the first quarter buzzer against the Kings. Ginobili even remarked that teams have started to pay attention to the Frenchman out there, to the point where they're staying closer to home against him when the ball is elsewhere or closing out really aggressively when its swung his way.

"We (tried) to post up Boris (Diaw), and they never doubled," Parker recalled in amazement. "Usually they always double off meat the top and all three times we posted up Boris they didn't come. Off the last play, Hollins came so fast to me in the corner and I penetrated and got a three for Kawhi (Leonard) and he made a big one. They are respecting my three right now, so hopefully I can keep making them. That will definitely open some stuff for my game."

There aren't many players in the league than Parker who make you cringe at the idea of closing against them in desperation, but what are teams to do when he's this hot? He's scored over 20 for the fourth consecutive game, a streak he never pulled off last season (he did it seven straight times from Jan. 18 to Jan. 30 in 2013).

In an ironic twist, Parker who's groused forever at the mention of Jason Kidd after the Spurs courted him in free agency so heavily during the summer of 2003, freely volunteered Kidd's name as someone he's hoping to emulate as a three-point threat now that he's in his thirties.

"As I am getting older, Pop was like 'You need to start working on your three in the corner because as you get older you are going to need to make threes, a little bit like Jason Kidd," Parker explained, while making sure to add that he had knocked down over 40 percent of them from the corners the past two seasons. Now he's trying to extend that range to other spots on the arc.

Parker's found the rhythm that he never quite had last season, but it must also be noted that Leonard is getting closer to the form he showed last June after a rough start to his season. He'd never scored 20 points in three consecutive contests until doing it in Games 3-5 of the Finals to earn MVP honors, but he came within a point of doing it tonight, with 19 after scoring 21 in the previous two games against the Nets and Pacers. Leonard knocked down a season-high four threes and wreaked his usual havoc on defense as well with three steals and a career-high-tying four blocks. Popovich said on media day that the next step in Leonard's development would be to consistent night after night and we are starting to see it happen.

Though the wins still count toward Pop's official record and not his, Messina is unofficially 2-0 as an NBA head coach and seemed well at ease about the likelihood of not adding to that anytime soon.

"We didn't talk about that," he said when asked whether he expected Popovich to be back at the helm at Boston, "But the fact that he was here (at shootaround) this morning speaks for a very, very good development of everything. That's what I assume. He hasn't said anything, but I assume that he is moving in the right direction. I would not be surprised to see him soon."

And we shouldn't be surprised to see Messina with a head coaching gig in this league soon, whether it's in San Antonio or elsewhere.

Your Three Stars

3. Tim Duncan (23 pts)

2. Kawhi Leonard (22 pts)

1. Tony Parker (35 pts)

It's nothing to do with this game, but something about a Spurs-Kings playoff series sounds delicious.

Well, shoot. Russell Westbrook has returned to the Thunder, who romped all over the Knicks last night, and as a result, a potential Spurs-Kings playoffs tilt seems to be in jeopardy before we can even start speculating about it. Not that Friday night's game, a 112-104 Spurs win, would have been an accurate preview, given that DeMarcus Cousins sat out with a turkey coma stomach virus. (Seriously, though, how much would you not want to be in line behind Cousins for Thanksgiving dinner?) Back in action for Sacramento were Rudy Gay and Darren Collison, who'd both missed the previous two games. Not back in action for the Spurs was Gregg Popovich, meaning Ettore Messina got more sideline burn and Becky Hammon got a seat in the front row. So everything felt a little bizzaro. The fourth quarter felt a little like garbage time, even though a Spurs lead that wavered between 7 and 12 meant that it really wasn't, but things were entertaining nonetheless.

The presumably temporary fall of the Thunder provided an ephemeral playoff spot which up 'til now has made the Kings look a bit more postseason legit than they actually are. You'll have to forgive the deluded, since Cousins is having the type of year which makes you think he could just drag them there single-handed; there seems little doubt he's headed for his first All-Star game, and he deserves whatever MVP consideration he manages to steal from LeBron and The Brow. He currently leads the NBA in rebounds and possesses one of the more impressive sub-Davis PERs over the season's first four weeks. With Ryan Hollins manning the paint in Cousins' stead, the Spurs predictably got what they were looking for inside. Tony Parker posted up Collison repeatedly and scored 3 of the Spurs first 4 baskets on his way to 11 first quarter points. (Note to Carl Landry: you have to guard Parker at the 3 point line now, too.) Cousins' athleticism and his ability to come over from the weak side covers what is, Jason Thompson aside, a roster of minus defenders.

On the other end of the floor, Cousins forces teams to send multiple defenders to guard his forays to the rim, and he opens up room for Collison, Gay, and Omri Casspi to create. With their offense more reliant on Gay, the Kings become far too predictable, which leads to a plethora of blocks and steals against a team full of webslingers like Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green (6 blocks and 4 steals between them, to go along with 7-9 shooting from deep.) Only Sacramento's own hot shooting allowed the score to remain as respectable as it was.

As for the Spurs, don't look now but they're 11-4, winners of 5 in a row and 8 of 9 since falling to Davis' Pelicans way back on November 8th. Their offensive production and point differential aren't quite elite yet, not in this Western Conference, but the win keeps the Spurs a mere 2.5 games behind Memphis for the catbird seat.

Last night didn't have the feel of a revenge game, but the team was surely mindful that a 94-91 loss in Sacramento was their only black mark over the past three weeks. That game was a bit bizzaro as well, with the winning team making not a single three pointer. The Kings did not repeat that performance in San Antonio, shooting 6-10 from beyond the arc. This would've been a pretty solid four-quarter effort, had the Spurs not equaled it by the 4:00 mark of the first half on their way to shooting 12-24 from three. Predictably, the amount of attention required by Parker in the lane opened up some air space for Verde and the gang. After Sacramento threatened late in the game, Kawhi added "back-breaking three" to his repertoire of steals and behind the back open court dribbles, sinking a triple with under a minute left to push the lead back to double-digits. Parker starting games and Leonard finishing them: welcome to the New Good 'ol Days.

Without DeMarcus Cousins, the Kings are high-quality lottery team, good enough to not get blown out by a title contender, but not deep or versatile enough to create any match-up problems or take anything away defensively. With Cousins, they're a balanced and entertaining team who - in Mark Cuban's world, at least - would be a shoo-in for the bottom half of the playoff bracket, where they'd no doubt put a real scare into someone. Should the Thunder start to ascend over the next couple of months, it will further muck up the logjam for the 5-8 playoff spots in the Western Conference. So we may never get that Spurs-Kings showdown which on paper seems so promising. After facing each other twice in November, these two teams don't play again until February 27th. Let's hope that game gives us a better taste of what could be.

Game MVP

Tony Parker - 27 points, 8 assists, 10-17 shooting, 8-14 shooting on contested shots, 6-6 free throws, 1-1 three pointers. Tony even had his own Claw moment with a strip of Collison and a layup on the other end. He's picking his spots well, especially with regard to the three pointers. Many, if not most, would give in to the temptation to milk Parker's insane percentage for all its worth, hastening the regression to the mean. While Tony is taking more threes this year by design, his refusal to force-feed the triple has sustained his otherworldly percentage. I mean, check this out:

METAL. \m/ RT"@spurs: Tony Parker is 66.6% from beyond the arc this season, making him the NBA all-time leader in 3FG% through 15 games."

— Pancho Villa (@dead2fall) November 29, 2014

Numbers

+16 - Points in the paint, in favor of the Spurs

+15 - Uncontested field goals, in favor of the Spurs

- 8 - Turnovers, in favor of the Spurs

38:13, 32:22, 38:09 - Minutes played by Kawhi Leonard, Tim Duncan, and Tony Parker

0:00 - Minutes played by Austin Daye and Kyle Anderson

2.83 - Distance in miles run by Tony Parker during last night's game

0 - Distance run by your humble author the day after Thankgiving

Quotes of the Night

"We're still going to run our stuff. It's just a different voice. But I think in the locker room, we have a lot of respect for Messina. The European players, we all know what he did and what he accomplished. He's definitely big time."

- Parker on Messina

"I don't think he likes being at home watching on TV."

- Messina on Pop

"Quote" of the Week

"The Spurs are so admired, so precious, they don't just come in normal people colors. They're more like furnishings out of an upscale, fancy catalogue; they're walnut and pearl, burnt sienna, and chestnut."

- Frank Deford on NPR

Game #17 of 17 for the month of November.

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Grind Prophecies November Scoreboard

Grizzlies vs. Kings Grind Prophecies

1. Game Score and Winner (correct predictions receive 3 points, if no correct predictions, 2 point awarded to member(s) with closest differential)
2. The Grindmaster/Game MVP (3 points awarded to correct predictions; if Grindmaster title is split between 2 or more players, 2 points go to each member who predicted one of those players)
3. Total assists for Marc Gasol(3 points awarded to correct predictions; 0 points awarded to incorrect answers)
4. Which team will score the final points of the game? (3 points awarded to correct predictions; 0 points awarded to incorrect answers)
5. *Optional Wager Question* Which Grizzly leads the team in rebounds at halftime? (3 points awarded for correct predictions; 2 points deducted for incorrect predictions)

November ends with one more tough game as the Memphis Grizzlies head to town for the start of a long homestand.  Sacramento should be going into this game with a chip on their shoulder after letting a 26 point lead slip away the last time they played in Memphis.  Today's action tips off at 3:00 pm today on Comcast SportsNet California and on KHTK 1140.

3 THINGS TO LOOK FOR

1.  The Grizzlies are for real, with a top five defense and a top ten offense.  In ways, they're a similar team to Sacramento but on a more experienced level.  They like to play physical and play through their big men in the paint.  Like the Kings, Memphis is not a prolific three point shooting team, although they have a few good shooters in Mike Conley, Courtney Lee and Vince Carter.  The Kings will have a much higher chance of success if they can keep the Grizzlies from getting easy buckets in the paint.

2.  I fully expect the Kings to be amped up for this match after what happened last time, but the Grizzlies are a veteran team and should be expecting that.  The Kings got the jump on Memphis last time, dropping 38 points in the first quarter and then pushing their lead all the way to 26 points.  Coach Joerger is going to remind these guys about that and I think we'll see a Grizzlies team determined not to fall behind early and instead put Sacramento on the defensive.

3.  Mike Conley's dribble penetration was a big factor in Memphis' comeback win last time.  Conley scored 11 points and dished out 3 assists in the final quarter of the game as the Grizzlies overcame a 17 point deficit with 7:37 left in the game.  Darren Collison is a good defender, but defending Conley will be a team effort, and the team will have to defend for 48 minutes, something they haven't been able to show they can do consistently yet (especially when the starters are out).

MATCHUP OF THE GAME

Marc Gasol vs. DeMarcus Cousins

The impetus behind Memphis' hot start has been the continued growth of Marc Gasol.  Gasol is not just a defensive force anymore, he's turned into a formidable scorer.  His scoring has jumped from 14.6 points per game last year to a career-high 20.2 points per game this year, and that's in addition to his continued excellent passing ability.  In a sense, it's the opposite for Cousins, who has shown huge improvement on defense.  This will be a battle of the big men, and whichever player gets the best of the other, that team has a much higher chance of winning.

PREGAME LIMERICK

There once was a clock set at 0.3,
which was too much time for Courtney Lee.
He got the hoop
with a quick scoop,
and the opinion of a blind referee.

PREDICTION

Kings 104, Grizzlies 103 after Ben McLemore makes a game-winning layup with 0.0000003 seconds left.

When Kenneth Faried spoke to the media before the season, he pointed to his last two months of the 2013-14 campaign for a preview of what was to come. That may have been a bit misguided.

In the last ten days there have been two article looking at what is wrong with Kenneth Faried. Paul Klee, of the Colorado Springs Gazette, penned a piece on the Manimal after the Nuggets hosted the Thunder and won 107-100 on Nov. 19th. And Christopher Dempsey, of the Denver Post, wrote a piece on Faried on Nov. 29th. Both chronicle Faried's struggles this season with some great quotes and observations on Denver's power forward.

From Klee's piece on Nov. 20th:

I would love to tell you what Faried thought of his team's third win in four games, but he declined the offer. After the Nuggets finished off the Thunder, who were without injured stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, I asked Faried for a minute of his time.

"Not right now," Faried muttered, all by his lonesome in the corner of an otherwise giddy, triumphant locker room. Is there something wrong, man? I genuinely wonder.

...

...They love his style, his flair, his dunks. If only that personality carried over into the locker room, or when the lights and cameras are off. Faried could be the man, not just the Manimal, around these parts.

From Dempsey's piece on Nov. 29th:

Faried admits to feeling pressure to perform after signing his new deal.

"But I've got to just deal with the fact that I'm that type of player now. Next year, I start getting paid that type of money, so I can't be making the mistakes that I've been making. Or not doing what I usually do, or what got me the contract. I've got to focus back in and get, not even just rebounding and scoring, just find my love for the game like I always had."

Now, is there anything actually wrong with the Manimal or is Faried just coming back down to earth, a bit, after logging big minutes for the Nuggets late last season and having success versus international no names?

Faried is facing stiffer competition than the likes of Eulis Báez and Eloy Vargas of the Dominican Republic, our old Crime Stopping friend Renaldo Balkman of Puerto Rico, or the tandem of Miha Zupan and Uros Slokar of Slovenia. The only legit NBA big men Faried played against with Team USA were with Lithuania in the Rockets' Donatas Motiejunas and the Raptors' Jonas Valanciunas. Yes, I could be ignorant in not recognizing some of the international talent that Team USA faced, but Faried didn't have to face the guys who routinely give him fits every night in the NBA.

Team USA, through no fault of its own, didn't have to face Boris Diaw with France or the Gasol Brothers, Pau and Marc, and Serge Ibaka with Spain. We didn't get to see Team USA face the toughest tests of the tournament or how Faried would stack up against some of the big man heavy hitters. But we've seen Faried go against some of the best so far this season.

Versus the Nuggets, starting power forwards have been averaging 14.5 points and 6.6 rebounds. That list includes Jason Thompson of the Kings, Luis Scola of the Pacers, Ed Davis of the Lakers, and Cameron Bairstow of the Bulls (that group is averaging just 3.2 points and 4.2 rebounds against Denver).

The "premier" power forwards Faried has faced this season include: Josh Smith, Serge Ibaka (twice), Kevin Love (twice), LaMarcus Aldridge (twice), Carmelo Anthony, Anthony Davis, and Markieff Morris (twice). That group is averaging 19.7 points and 7.0 rebounds against the Nuggets. Not surprising for the 8-8 Nuggets, but they are 5-6 in those contests.

On the flip side, Faried averaged 12.4 points and 7.5 rebounds in games against that "premier" group. Not too shabby for Faried, but not exactly the types of numbers he was hoping to produce this season. And on the year, Faried is averaging just 11.4 points and 7.1 rebounds, so basically the Nuggets are getting a wash or worse every night at the power forward spot. Is he having a rough start, or is he just a victim of a smaller role in an offense with plenty of options?

Let's examine the last three months of last season, plus his numbers so far this season:

*April 2014 stats from the 8 total games that month.

The stats from Feb. 2014 and his stats so far this season are matching up pretty closely: similar minutes, shots taken, free throw attempts, rebounds, and points per game. In March, and, especially, in April, Faried's minutes and shots taken saw a healthy increase as did his free throw attempts. It shouldn't be a surprise that his numbers ballooned the more he was on the court and the more the ball found him.

With Ty Lawson (12.9), Arron Afflalo (11.3), and Wilson Chandler (11.1) leading the team in shot attempts, Faried has found himself fourth in the pecking order with 9.0 shots per game. That's a far cry from the 16.5 shots per game he was getting last April. There is no question that Brian Shaw has designed plays to get Faried the ball in the post and to make him a key part to the offense, but there are a lot of mouths to feed for the Nuggets, so to speak. And with Danilo Gallinari's increasing role, plus Timofey Mozgov's improvement, it'll be necessary for Faried to be patient and make the most of his opportunities.

The Nuggets may not need Faried to be a monster on the offensive end; frankly, they have better options. But make no mistake, Faried is an integral part of what the Nuggets want to do and he can be a key cog for how far this team goes. His elite energy and relentlessness for rebounds are what make Kenneth special.

While many may beg for defensive improvement and increased range on the offensive end, don't forget what got Faried here. Yes, it'd be nice to see improvements to Faried's all around game, and those should come with time, but you don't want to lose the Manimal side either.

Perhaps there is nothing wrong with Faried, except for the impossible expectations he helped create.

It appears that whatever virus DeMarcus Cousins has caught is a bad one, as the Kings announced today that he is out for today's game against the Memphis Grizzlies.  Cousins also missed Friday's game against the Spurs with the same ailment.

This is a big blow to a Sacramento team already facing a tough uphill battle against the Grizzlies, holders of the NBA's best record at 14-2 and a clean 10-0 against their Western Conference colleagues.  Sacramento was 0-11 last year without Cousins.

Ryan Hollins will likely get the start for Cousins once again.  Hollins played well for Sacramento on Friday, scoring 15 points on 5-7 shooting and grabbing 6 rebounds in about 26 minutes of playing time.

Fortunately for Sacramento, it's only Cousins that will be missing time tonight.  Rudy Gay, Darren Collison and Ramon Sessions were all also listed on the injury report, but their status is probable.  Both Gay and Collison made their return from injury on Friday against the Spurs.  The Kings will need big games from them (and likely someone else) if they hope to topple Memphis.

No revenge for the Kings.

1st Quarter:

Demarcus Cousins was a late scratch for the Kings, giving the Grizzlies a leg up at center heading into the game.  Marc Gasol apparently felt this was an unfair advantage, as he picked up 2 quick fouls and spent most of the quarter on the bench. The Grizzlies forced 2 turnovers and 4 consecutive shots from Ben McLemore en route to an 11-4 lead at the under-8:00 timeout.   After starting 0-3, the Kings hit 6 in a row to cut the lead to 14-12, most of the damage coming after Marc Gasol picked up his 2nd foul around the 7 minute mark.

The Grizzlies hit the offensive boards hard and won the turnover battle 8-3, but the Kings' hot shooting (64%) kept them in the game.  The story of the first quarter was Zach Randolph, who put up 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals in Gasol's absence, including a one man 9-0 run.  The Grizzlies end the quarter up 8, 28-20.

2nd Quarter:

The Grizzlies' offense was firing on all cylinders in the second quarter, pushing the lead to 45-26 halfway through. Vince Carter led a varied offense with two long threes, accenting several mid-range jumpers and easy buckets off turnovers and cuts to the basket.  The Grizzlies and Kings continued to trade buckets throughout the remainder of the quarter.  The most dramatic moment of the quarter was probably Ryan Hollins going to the floor and jawing, resulting in a VC scowl and a double technical for Hollins and Carter.  The Grizzlies end the quarter up 16, 58-42.

Keys to the half:

The Kings entered the game as one of the worst teams in the league at taking care of the ball, and the Grizzlies took advantage, forcing 12 turnovers and turning them into 18 points.  Z-Bo stepped up in a big way in Marc's absence, putting up 15 points on 7-11 shooting along with 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals in 16 first half minutes.

3rd Quarter:

An early second technical on Hollins left the Kings without a true center, and the smaller Kings began to play like it, looking to run in transition and out-quick the bigger Grizzlies.  Reggie Evans, a DNP the previous 7 games, became the de facto center and did what he does, hustling and working hard on the glass.  The Grizzlies seemed to be going through the motions and the Kings took advantage, generating a 14-4 run to cut the lead to 7, 65-58, at the 4:30 mark.  Evans reached a double double early in the quarter as he was simply outworking the Grizzlies' bigs.  Gasol picked up his 3rd and 4th fouls and was largely a non-factor.  Zach Randolph went 1-5 and struggled at the free throw line after his excellent start.  Courtney Lee's late layup finished a ragged quarter with a 9 point lead at the end of the 3rd, 74-65.

4th Quarter:

The crowd grew raucous as the Grizzlies gave up an early 6-0 run, allowing the lead to shrink to 3, 74-71, around 3 minutes into the quarter.   After a few ineffectual minutes, the Grizzlies' offense returned to their core players, with Marc Gasol and Mike Conley getting the majority of the clutch touches.  Gasol scored 8 straight for the Grizzlies to push the lead back out to 9, 87-78.  The Kings began to hack Tony Allen to force him to make free throws, and he was hit or miss, but the Kings struggled to hold onto the ball long enough to get into any sort of offense.  Despite some calls from Joey Crawford that would make you question his legal sanity, the Grizzlies tightened the vice on the Kings and Marc Gasol's 17th and 18th points capped a 14-3 run that pushed the lead to 14, 93-79.  Grizzlies win, 97-85

Player of the game: Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol (tie)

Z-Bo dominated early and built the big first half lead while Marc sat with foul trouble.  When he went cold in the second half, Marc went to work and finished with 18 points, 10 in the 4th quarter.

Parting thoughts:

This was an uneven game for both teams without their marquee centers, Cousins out with a virus and Gasol missing long stretches of the first 3 quarters with foul trouble.  In the end, the Grizzlies had too many horses and beat the Kings to improve their league-best record to 15-2.

Kings again whittle down a 20+ point deficit against a championship contender, but again cannot get over the hump to win.

The Sacramento Kings ended an absolutely monstrous November schedule today with a Sunday matinee against the Memphis Grizzlies. Unfortunately, the Kings were outclassed without DeMarcus Cousins, and the better team won tonight by a score of 97-85.

The story of the game again was, again, turnovers. The Grizzlies are an elite defensive team, but the Kings didn't help themselves in that regard by handing the ball right back to their rivals in several headscratching ways. The team totaled 23 turnovers, leading to 23 points for the Grizzlies. The worst culprit tonight was Darren Collison, who finished with 5 turnovers to offset his 7 assists. Collison did not play a great floor game tonight. Although he was fourth on the team with 16 points, Darren can definitely play better.

On a brigher note, the Kings got a huge boost from Reggie Evans. Coming off of 7 straight DNP-CDs, Reggie came off the bench with his trademark assault on the boards, several times going over and around a Memphis team known for its physicality in the paint. Reggie was also unusually deft scoring around the rim, set up several times by his teammates, grabbing every loose ball in sight, and even attacking the reigning Defensive Player of the Year Marc Gasol, finishing with 17 points and 20 rebounds on the night. Rudy Gay led the Kings with 20 points and Ben McLemore added 18, but both had their own issues with turnovers, finishing with 4 and 3 respectively.

The Grizzlies jumped all over the Kings early in the game, capitalizing on the Kings' numerous miscues. Zach Randolph was a force in the paint, ending the game with 22 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists. Randolph was unstoppable, both facing up and with his back to the basket, attacking right into the chest of the Kings' defenders. The Grizzlies built up a 21 point lead in the first half.

The Kings are a scrappy team. Digging down in the third quarter defensively, the Kings were able to stifle the Grizzlies' offense and slowly chipped away at the lead. At the end of the third, it was 9. By about halfway through the fourth, it was 3. The star of the night was Evans, whose physicality and scoring in the post uplifting the team when it needed it most.

Unfortunately, the turnover bug never quite left the Kings. Down the stretch, Gasol took over for the Grizzlies offensively while the Kings' execution fell apart. Gasol ended the game with 18 points, 6 boards and 5 assists to continue his MVP campaign. The Grizzlies kept the Kings at arm's length down the stretch, which proved to be enough for the night.

The Kings now stand at 9-8 at the close of the month, better than even the most optimistic prognosticator had them pegged after the schedule came out. Now, with a long homestand coming up with several winnable games, the Kings have the chance to build on their strengths while working on their weaknesses. Its a long grueling season, but the Kings are in a good position after the toughest opening schedule in the league. Next up for the Kings is the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday.

For the opponent's perspective, visit Grizzly Bear Blues

Kings G Ben McLemore - a St. Louis native - wrote "RIP Mike Brown" on his sneakers (Rocky Widner/Getty) pic.twitter.com/JrkKpVAjP5

— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) December 1, 2014

Sacramento Kings guard Ben McLemore grew up about 15 minutes from Ferguson, Mo. On Sunday, McLemore paid his respects to Michael Brown with this message on his shoes during the Kings' game against the Memphis Grizzlies.

It was the second significant sports tribute to Brown on Sunday. Earlier in the day, several members of the St. Louis Rams mimicked the "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" pose that several protesters have used.

Turnovers were a big reason why the Kings lost to Grizzlies, but Reggie Evans was a bright spot.

The Sacramento Kings fell 97-85 to the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday night. Following the game, Kings head coach Michael Malone and his players discussed what went wrong (turnovers), what went right (Reggie Evans, who had 17 points and 20 rebounds) and their upcoming game against the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday.

What Went Wrong

Malone: "23 turnovers and 23 points, and I told our guys, in our nine wins we average 14 turnovers for 13 points, in our eight losses now we average over 18 turnovers for 23 points. At some point, we have to find a way to stop beating ourselves. Give them credit, they're a very good team, they're a very good defensive team...Tony Allen and Mike Conley took us out of our offense."

Rudy Gay: "We dug ourself a deep hole early in the game and it was one of those things we couldn't get out of, especially later. We tried and we made a good run at it, but it was just one of those things."

Darren Collison: "Turnovers is a huge problem. I think we had a couple miscommunications, play calls or not being in the right spot, but those are all things that we can clean up. I think we showed signs in the past that we clean it up and we limit our turnovers so we've got to get back to that."

Carl Landry: "We turned over the ball at the end of the day ... We did a lot of things right, but in order to win, you can never have 23 turnovers."

What Went Right

Malone: "We shoot 47 [percent], we outscore them in the paint, we outscore them in second chance points, outscore them in transition...give our guys credit, we held that team to I think 36 percent in the second half, 39 points. We got down by as many as 21 but we didn't roll over. I give a lot of credit to Reggie Evans, for him to come out and get 20 and 17, a great night for him, he gave us a lot of energy, a lot of toughness that we needed out there."

Gay: "I think it was a great substitution by coach and Reggie [Evans] came in there and battled, that's what he does. He does it in practice every day. He stays ready, he's in shape and we needed him tonight and he almost got us a win...I thought we could have won this game...we never had our heads down, we never thought we were out of the game, we came back, made a run at it."

Ben McLemore: "He [Reggie Evans] helped us a lot, I think tonight he had 20 rebounds...I think we beat them on rebounding, he just came in and he was ready and came out and gave it his all. At the end of the day, we fought tonight...I think we played as a team."

Landry: "I think we did everything pretty good, besides obviously turning over the ball. We can't 23 turnovers, but we shot the ball good, 47 percent, we outrebounded them, our fouls were about the same...They're a team that scores in the paint, we scored more paint points than them."

Collison: "I thought our bigs did a good job of battling with them, I think Reggie did a good job of picking us up as far as like intensity and energy. We kind of need that spark and he gave us a chance to win."

What's Next: Toronto Raptors

Landry: "We've got to expect that there's going to be some serious guard play and they're a good rebounding team, Patrick Patterson, Amir Johnson and [Jonas] Valanciunas. We've got to contain the ball on the perimeter and once the shot goes up, get the rebound and obviously, not turn over the ball."

McLemore: "Playing them in the preseason, I think we all know what we've got to do with that team. I know they got [DeMar] DeRozan that's down right now, but they're still a good team."

Collison: "We've got to fix ourselves. So I'm worried about ourselves for tomorrow and get back getting after it and we'll go from there."

The Kings have lost three straight, but they still managed to get out of a tough November schedule with a winning record.  That's something Kings fans can look at with pride after years of bad teams and seasons without real hope.

The Good:

1. DeMarcus Cousins

See Player of the Week

2. The Continued Efficiency of Ben McLemore

As StR commenter 10KingsFan10 pointed out, Ben's getting close to achieving that vaunted 50/40/90 (FG%/3P%/FT%) mark.  He's currently at 47.3% from the field, 41.3% from three and 84.2% from the line.  Ben has scored in double digits the last 6 games and 11 of the last 13.  He hasn't quite gotten to the level of being a legitimate third option, but he's at least providing consistent production now and will continue to get better with more experience.

3. Shorthanded win in New Orleans

Without Rudy and Collison, you wouldn't expect the Kings to beat the Pelicans at home, especially after New Orleans beat a fully healthy Kings team in Sacramento the prior week.  It was a total team effort to give the Kings a good road win and guarantee a 2-2 record on the trip.

4. November is over!

Wow, what a tough month.  According to ESPN, the Kings had the toughest strength of schedule (as well as the most road games) and yet managed to get through the month with a winning record.  That was unfathomable just a month ago.  Now the Kings have a relative cupcake of a schedule in December that they will have to take advantage of before they face another brutal stretch in January.

5. Jason Thompson's defense

JT hasn't gotten enough credit this year for how well he's played on the defensive end.  He's drawing the opposing team's best big man each night and he's battling each and every possession.  He still hasn't figured out how to provide any consistent offense, but he's more than making up for it with his defensive effort.

6. Rudy Gay, leading man

Rudy Gay has played well in Sacramento and the big line of thinking as to why is that he's thrived in the secondary role rather than as the primary scorer.  Yet with DeMarcus Cousins out the last two games, Rudy provided great, efficient production as Sacramento's best player.  It wasn't enough to beat the Spurs or Grizzlies, but those losses were far from his fault.

7. Roleplayers step up

Without Rudy Gay, Omri was asked to start for two games and he filled in admirably, scoring 22 and 14 points respectively in those two starts.  He's continuing to score efficiently and provide relentless effort each night as one of Sacramento's few key bench contributors.

Ryan Hollins hasn't seen much time this season, and DeMarcus Cousins leaves big shoes to fill, but against the Spurs, Hollins had a good game, scoring 15 points on 5 of 7 shooting and grabbing 6 boards.

Reggie Evans had 6 straight DNP-CDs when he had his number called against the Memphis Grizzlies.  He responded with not only his best effort of the year, but perhaps his best effort in several years.  He was his usual aggressive self on the glass, scooping up 20 boards in 35 minutes and he even contributed offensively with 17 points.  Who knows if Evans will rejoin the rotation after this effort, but the one thing you can always say about Reggie Evans is that he'll be ready to give you 110% whenever you need him.

The Bad:

1. Where's Nik's shot?

It hasn't quite gotten "ugly" for me with Nik yet, but it's getting there.  Nik's shooting just 31.6% from the field and most of that is because of his inaccuracy from beyond the arc, where he's shooting just 24.3%.  The Kings drafted Nik to be a knockdown shooter and so far he's not knocking down any shots.  He has been alright from two (45%), so maybe he should focus on those shots until he finds his outside rhythm.

2. Injury bug bites hard

The Kings have been fortunate to be relatively healthy this month but when the injury bug did hit, it hit hard, taking out the Kings best three players for various stretches of this week.  Rudy Gay and Darren Collison missed two games each and then DeMarcus Cousins missed two himself.  The Kings are not a deep team aside from two quality bench players in Carl Landry and Omri Casspi, and losing one of their key starters sets the team back quite a bit.

3. NBA rules in favor of Memphis

The Kings were hoping they would win the appeal of their Memphis game, which would have meant another win and one less loss, but the NBA didn't agree and upheld the outcome of the game.  That's unfortunate, but at least now we can move on and focus on the rest of the season.

The Ugly:

1. Ramon Sessions

Alright, let's talk about Ramon.  This is more than a slump for Sessions.  This season has been a meltdown of epic proportions for him.  He's shooting just 32.9% from the field, turning the ball over almost as much as he's assisting and getting destroyed on the other end of the court.  The dropoff from Collison to Sessions has been big, and the numbers bear it out.  According to basketball-reference, the Kings are about 10 points per 100 possessions worse offensively with Sessions in the game and 9 points per 100 possessions worse defensively.  That's a huge net deficit.  Ray McCallum hasn't been much better, but at this point I'd rather be spending time developing him than playing Sessions.

2. Turnovers

The Kings have lost three straight and the biggest contributing factor (aside from injuries) has been turnovers.  Against an undermanned Houston squad, the Kings turned the ball over 21 times for 32 Houston points while only forcing 4 turnovers themselves.  Then in a comeback attempt against the Grizzlies, they turned it over 23 times, which stifled any realistic attempt for Sacramento to get back in the game (and put them in a deficit in the first place).

Player of the Week:

DeMarcus Cousins

25.5 PPG, .472 FG%, 14.5 RPG, 5.5 AST, 1.5 STL, 2.0 BLK in 35.9 MPG

DeMarcus only played two games this past week, but in those two games he was a monster.  Against New Orleans, he willed us to victory without Rudy Gay and Darren Collison, and he was the only guy who really had a good game against Houston either.  But what really stood out about DeMarcus this week was his absence in the previous two games.  The Kings are simply a much worse team without Cousins.  Without DeMarcus in the middle, Sacramento's gameplan is much different and they're worse off on both ends.  I'm not saying they would have beat the Spurs or Grizzlies if they did have him, but they would definitely have had a much better chance.  DeMarcus Cousins may not be the Most Valuable Player in the NBA quite yet, but he's sure as hell the Most Valuable Player on the Kings.

FanPost of the Week:

Is DeMarcus Cousins an All Star now? by SactownheartOChouse

Images/GIFs of the Week:

BOOGIE MONSTER

by anthonysam on Nov 25, 2014 | 8:53 PMreply unrec (99)actions

Get Down Grant and Jerry! GET DOWN!!!

by Bradley Geiser on Nov 25, 2014 | 8:31 PMreply unrec (59)actions

Road Warriors!!!

by toxik916 on Nov 25, 2014 | 8:02 PMreply unrec (44)actions

This game was so bad

that I spent most of the time making an animation of Omri in Scarface in hopes that it would inspire them to play better. It did not work.

Say hello to my little gif:

by Carpeteria on Nov 26, 2014 | 9:35 PMreply rec (44) flagactions

by 1Bibby0 on Nov 26, 2014 | 8:26 PMreply rec (58) flagactions

This pretty much sums it up for me.

by Pound th' Rock on Nov 26, 2014 | 8:13 PMreply rec (36) flagactions

by Bradley Geiser on Nov 30, 2014 | 6:17 PMreply rec (39) flagactions

Comments of the Week:

DMC should challenge Malone to aim for 5 or less technicals for the season.

by LaBradford on Nov 25, 2014 | 8:40 PMupreply unrec (35)actions

Guys, I know this sounds ridiculous

But I don’t think we’re fully realizing that Pizza Guys might be the best basketball school in the world.

by NextTimeGadget on Nov 25, 2014 | 7:58 PMreply unrec (53)actions

Observations from the couch:

1. Ramon Sessions needs to be benched immediately. At this point, perhaps that’s just what he needs. He is providing absolutely nothing at the moment and is hurting is in more ways than I thought was seemingly possible for a single individual. His ball-handling has been poor, his passing atrocious, his decision-making even worse, his outside shooting horrific (he’s missed the rim entirely on many of his attempts), his strength of attacking the basket non-existent (throwing up floaters that turn into air-balls far too often), his ability to run an offense dreadful, and his already porous defense filled completely with holes. I’m normally one to defend any Kings player, but I just cannot find a single thing that Sessions is providing to this team on any given night. Maybe after 10 or so DNP’s he can be given another shot, as it’s not like he’s been bad before. He has proven to be solid at worst on other teams, but we’d be fortunate if he got even close to that.

2. Zach Randolph: If he plays like that every night, I don’t think anyone outside of the Spurs and Thunder have a remote chance at beating the Grizzlies in a four game series. They already had stingy defense, but now their offense has become very fluid. I really like the makeup of this team, and I wouldn’t even be surprised if they won the NBA title at this rate. Hopefully they can avoid injuries and give us small-market teams a good name for the future. I’m glad their fans have a great product to watch after many so-so and dismal years.

3. Ben McLemore: I don’t know if anyone has noticed, but Ben is actually getting very close to the very exclusive 50/40/90 mark. After this game, he currently sits at 47.3% from the field, 41.3% from three, and 84.2% from the line (was at 86.7% from the line before missing a free throw, so getting to the line more often should help to boost that). If someone had told me last year that this would be McLemore’s stat line a year from then, I wouldn’t believe you. Just another reason to remember to let Nik develop and take the lumps along the way, even if it takes the whole year and a little more. McLemore is looking more and more comfortable out there every game, and it’s almost getting scary thinking of just how good he can become. It’s just fun to watch this guy.

4. DeMarcus Cousins: This almost looked like an old Cleveland-led LeBron team without LeBron tonight. When LeBron would sit for whatever reason, the Cavs would simply be blown out by the same teams they slaughtered earlier in the year. It looks like it’s becoming the same thing with DeMarcus Cousins now: A great and formidable team with him, but without him, we’re lucky to stay in the game. It’s amazing how far Cousins has come in terms of importance to the team.

5. Sunday afternoon games: Is it just me, or do we face the Grizzlies in a Sunday afternoon game every year?

by 10KingsFan10 on Nov 30, 2014 | 6:32 PMreply rec (29) flagactions

Highlight of the Week:

Caption Contest:

Link to Last Week's Picture

Last Week's Winner: section214

"So then the Kentucky player says, 'I'm thinking of turning pro, but I don't think that I can afford the pay cut'. Ha-ha-ha! Get it?"

Last Week's Runner-Up: Kfan in Korea

JT: "Pookeyguru says per 36 numbers don't apply to you because you can't stay on the floor for 36 minutes."

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:

12/2 vs. Toronto W (The Raptors are a very good team, but DeMar DeRozan is out for the foreseeable future and the Kings should have Cousins back.  Cousins has traditionally played very well against the Raptors and I'm expecting a strong bounce back win to end this losing streak.)

12/5 vs. Indiana W (The Pacers have been surprisingly effective without Paul George, mainly thanks to their continued good defense.  However their offense still stinks and the Kings simply have more weapons.)

12/6 vs. Orlando W (The Magic have a lot of young talent, but they haven't realized their potential yet.  This is a game the Kings should win, even on the second night of a back to back.)

Nostradumbass Record for the Year: 8-9

Random Observations from around the league:

• Denver has rebounded from a terrible start all the way back to .500 at 8-8.  They've been beating good teams too, like the Suns, Bulls, Pelicans and Cavaliers. Arron Afflalo and Ty Lawson have stepped their games up and the offense is finally starting to click.
• The Sixers actually have a good chance to get their first win this week, as they play Minnesota on December 3rd and Detroit on December 6th.  However, if they can't, they could be in real danger of setting the record for worst start in NBA history.  The current worst start in NBA history was set by the 2009-10 New Jersey Nets at 0-18.  This 76ers team is so bad they might just make this 6-76ers joke a reality.
• This season is the first in a while that I don't see a clear cut favorite for the NBA title.  The West alone has several teams that I could see winning it all: Memphis, San Antonio, Dallas, LA Clippers, Houston and Golden State.  I don't see anyone from the East winning it this year though, especially since Chicago can't stay healthy.

Ramon Sessions was supposed to be a nice change-of-pace backup point guard for Darren Collison. It hasn't worked out that way so far. Should Ray McCallum be the Kings main backup point guard?

During the preseason, Ramon Sessions looked like the perfect complement to Darren Collison with Collison facilitating the starters and Sessions serving as a reliable spark off the bench. Most thought second-year point guard, and Summer League Championship MVP, Ray McCallum was going to have to sit and watch these two veterans run the show, and that has largely been the case in head coach Michael Malone's rotation so far. But 17 games into the season, Sessions has been neither reliable or a spark as he continues to look uncomfortable and relatively ineffective in running the offense and stopping his man on defense.

Because of this, there has been a steady chorus of Kings fans pushing Malone to "Free McCallum."

Following Sunday's loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, we asked Malone what is separating Sessions and McCallum at this point and if he is thinking about giving McCallum more minutes in the future.

Here's what he had to say.

"Ramon is an attack player and he's at his best when he is putting pressure on the defense and when he gets to the foul line. Ray McCallum is probably one of our best perimeter defenders, a guy that can really bother the opposing guards. So there's not a lot separating those two right now," Malone told Sactown Royalty. "Obviously, I am continuing to give Ramon some looks and give him the opportunity to back up Darren [Collison], but we're constantly evaluating where we're at and when you lose three games in a row, albeit three very good teams mind you - Houston, San Antonio, Memphis, that's like murderers row right there - but we're always going to constantly analyze and evaluate where we're at and who is going to give us the best chance to succeed moving forward. So I believe in Ramon and I also believe in Ray, so it's a matter of trying to find that fine line to see who plays and when they play."

Hmm.

Let's take a look at the numbers.

Ramon Sessions, who has been dealing with a knee strain, is averaging 5.6 points (on 32 percent shooting), 2.1 assists and 1.2 rebounds in 17 minutes per game this season. His career averages are 11.5 points, 4.6 assists, 2.9 rebounds in 25.5 minutes per game. He is currently playing the least amount of minutes he has ever averaged in his eight seasons in the NBA and is shooting the fewest number of free throws (2.6) per game since his rookie season.

According to his "Shots Dashboard," 54 percent of Sessions' shots are coming from less than 10 feet from the basket and he is making only 34 percent of those. On the other side of the ball, his defensive field goal percentage (the field goal percentage of the players he is guarding) is discouraging. Players he is guarding are shooting 57 percent on two-point shots (they usually shoot 47 percent), and 39 percent from three (they usually shoot 37 percent). By comparison, Collison is holding his opponents to 47 percent on two-point shots and 30 percent from three.

McCallum is averaging 2.9 points, .5 assists and .7 rebounds in 8.5 minutes per game this season. In the 11 games he has played in so far, McCallum has logged more than 10 minutes only five times. In those five games, he averaged 4.8 points, 1 assist and 1.4 rebounds. His Per 36 is 12.3 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.3 turnovers. Sessions' Per 36 is 11.8 points, 4.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 3.3 turnovers. McCallum's defensive field goal percentage is worth looking at too - he, like Sessions, is allowing his opponent to shoot 57 percent on two-point shots.

So Malone may be right that there isn't a ton separating the two, at least stat-wise (although it is pretty difficult to get a clear picture of a guy's production based on 8.5 minutes per game). But with McCallum comes a high basketball IQ as a coach's son, an ability to run the offense and a player who isn't afraid of a big moment. His inexperience and the fact he doesn't fit the mold of being a "spark" off the bench, however, could be what is keeping Malone from giving him the green light. With Sessions, Malone is getting a veteran in the backcourt when the youngsters Ben McLemore or Nik Stauskas are on the floor with him. But so far, that experience isn't translating into production.

For now, Malone is still expressing confidence in Sessions. And in the end, whether Sessions or McCallum serves as the main backup to Collison probably won't have a huge impact in the win-loss column, but switching the current situation up is certainly worth discussing.

What do you think?

Sacramento's looking to end a three-game losing streak today as they face the visiting Toronto Raptors.  The Raptors hold the Eastern Conference's best record but recently lost their best player in DeMar DeRozan to an ankle injury.  The Kings have also been without their best player for the past two games, but hopefully he should be back in action tonight.  Tonight's action tips off at 7:00 pm  on Comcast SportsNet California, NBA TV and on KHTK 1140.

3 THINGS TO LOOK FOR

1. The Raptors are a dangerous team, with the 2nd best offense in the NBA and the 9th best defense.  Thanks to a trade with us last year and some smart signings, they also have a lot of depth.  The Raptors will be without DeMar DeRozan, their best player tonight, and they have lost two straight since his injury, but they're still a team that shouldn't be taken lightly.  They're excellent at forcing turnovers (5th in opponent turnovers and 6th in steals), and thanks to their guard play they excel in fast break situations.  They're also very good at getting to the line, second only to Sacramento themselves.

2. Lou Williams is proving to be a really important player for the Raptors.  Last week he was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week.  He's averaging 14.6 points (including a career-high 40% from three) in just 21.1 minutes a game, and those minutes are likely to go up in DeRozan's absence.

3. The Kings should have the advantage in the frontcourt as Toronto has the advantage in the backcourt.  Jonas Valanciunas has shown a lot of promise this season, but he shouldn't be able to stop DeMarcus Cousins by himself, as we've seen in the past.  Cousins has flourished against the Raptors, with his 22.9 point average against them in 7 career games being his best against any team.  The Kings should feed the big man early and often.  If DeMarcus is not available, Carl Landry, Jason Thompson and Rudy Gay should take advantage of post-up opportunities.

MATCHUP OF THE GAME

Kyle Lowry vs. Darren Collison

DeMar DeRozan might be Toronto's best player but this is Kyle Lowry's team.  Lowry has had a career renaissance in Toronto and he's leading the charge for the Raptors.  He's averaging 19.2 points, 6.6 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 33.8 minutes a game this season.  The one thing he's struggled at early this year is with his long distance shot, which he's hitting at just a 29.9% rate, but that's probably just a minor slump, as he's been around the 37% mark the last few seasons.  Lowry's a very tough and physical Point Guard and it will be a very tough matchup for Darren Collison on both ends as Lowry is bigger and stronger.

PREGAME LIMERICK

The Kings need to get back on  track,
hopefully Cousins is back.
Beat the flu,
Beat them too,
Otherwise we might have to play Shaq.

PREDICTION

Kings 109, Raptors 103 after it's discovered the real reason for the dinosaurs' extinction is DeMarcus Cousins.

There were high hopes that DeMarcus Cousins would be able to make his return tonight against the visiting Toronto Raptors after missing the previous two games to a virus, but those hopes have been dashed as he has been declared inactive for tonight's game.  Cousins tried to give it a go earlier, participating in both shootaround and working out before the game, but while he felt better, he was still not 100% and did not feel he could play.  Ryan Hollins will likely get his 3rd consecutive start in Cousins' absence.

The Kings have yet to win a game without DeMarcus Cousins since Michael Malone has been Head Coach, and tonight offers yet another realistic possibility of that trend continuing.  With Cousins, the Kings had a big frontcourt advantage against the Raptors but now it's arguable that Toronto has the advantage in both the backcourt and the frontcourt.  Toronto currently holds the best record in the Eastern Conference at 13-4 but did just recently lose to a bad Lakers team the other night.

The Kings don't play again until Friday after this one, so Cousins should have plenty of time to recover and get back to full health before returning to action.

Ben McLemore is not nice.

Just a nasty throwdown on a fast break by Ben McLemore.  Ben throws it down during the second quarter as the Kings claw their way back after a rough first quarter.

Ben goes end to end, crosses up Terrance Ross, and DESTROYS Amir Johnson!

And here's the Vine.

DeMarcus Cousins missed yet another game due to illness. Time to bust out all the stops.

DeMarcus Cousins missed his third game in a row due to illness, sitting out Tuesday's contest against the Toronto Raptors.  The Sacramento Kings played with a lot of heart, but really need Boogie back as quickly as possible.  As such, we're coming up with cures, both traditional and exotic, in an attempt to get the Kings big man back on the floor.

Aside from traditional Western medicine, which we assume the Kings' medical staff (including Jason Brayley from those Kaiser Permanente commercials) have already tried, here's every cure I can find.  My medical recommendation is that Boogie try all of these cures, preferably all at once.

[Editor's Note: Greg is not a doctor, nor has he studied medicine in any way, shape or form.  Nobody should take any medical advice from him.  Greg accidentally stabbed himself in the hand on Sunday and his cure was to put a bandaid on it.  This man knows less about medicine than he does about basketball, which is saying something.]

• Chicken Noodle Soup
• Vitamin C
• Sprite, if your tummy is upset
• An electric blanket
• Hyperbaric chamber
• Acupuncture
• Meditation
• A good night's sleep

The Kings' offense hums along nicely, but could not stop the Raptors defensively or on the offensive glass enough to scrape out a victory.

Its becoming more and more apparent just what DeMarcus Cousins means to the Sacramento Kings. Not only is he the locus of the entire Kings' offense, his defensive presence and rebounding ability has been a critical component of the Kings' ability to beat good teams early in the season. In what has become a recurring theme, the Kings' offense without Cousins was good enough to get a win, but the defense let the team down, digging a big enough hole and losing the battle of the boards to lose to the Toronto Raptors 117-109.

The starters, in an interesting twist, were for the most part thoroughly outplayed by the Raptors. Behind hot shooting from beyond the arc, the Raptors were able to consistently push the lead against the Kings' starting five. Rudy Gay and Ben McLemore led the Kings offensively, combining for 41 points between the two of them. Gay also added a career-high 10 assists. But the Kings could not stop the Raptors on the other end. Terrance Ross was unstoppable early, scoring the majority of his 20 points in the first quarter. Kyle Lowry had his way with whatever defender the Kings threw at him, scoring 27 points, dishing out 13 assists, and hitting coldblooded shots down the stretch. Unable to stop the Raptors one one end, the Kings could not keep pace on the other. This was mainly because Darren Collison had a rough outing, scoring only 4 points on 0/5 shooting from the field. The Raptors starters were able to push the lead to 15 in the first half and 12 in the second against the Kings' starters.

The bench, however, came through just when the Kings needed them most. Ramon Sessions had his first good outing of the year, scoring 15 points on 5/11 from the field. Sessions, unfortunately, faded down the stretch, missing critical shots and failing to keep Lowry in front of him and allowing the Kings defense to collapse. Derrick Williams came off the bench and also had the best outing he's had in a long time, scoring 18 points on 8/12 shooting in 14 explosive minutes. Williams was the main reason the Kings were in the game down the stretch, attacking the glass with his elite athleticism and consistently getting to the rim off of good Kings ball movement.

Ultimately, this game was decided on the defensive end. The Kings shot 52% from the field, had 28 assists and only 15 turnovers. Unfortunately, they allowed the Raptors to shoot 50% from the field, including allowing 10 three pointers at 44% from distance, seven threes more than the Kings made. Normally the Kings can mitigate the three point shooting disparity by attacking the glass, but the Raptors outrebounded the Kings on the game, including nabbing several critical caroms down the stretch as the team was making one last gasp to win the game.

The Kings are now losers of four straight and fall to .500 for the first time since their epic 5-1 start. Without Cousins, the team has now fallen in three straight games to upper-echelon teams. But good news is on the way as the schedule gets considerably easier now, as well as getting a rested-up Cousins back. Next up on the Kings' slate is the Paul George-less Pacers on Friday.

For the opponent's perspective, visit Raptors HQ

James Johnson doesn't exactly miss Sacramento, but he says that is because of how poorly he played in his stint with the Kings.

James Johnson's time in Sacramento wasn't exactly memorable aside from his game-winning shot against the New York Knicks.

Averaging the fewest minutes per game of his career (16.3) during the 2012-13 season, the forward never found his rhythm or a role with the Kings, and that bothered him. Prior to the Toronto Raptors' matchup against the Kings on Tuesday, Josh Lewenberg, Toronto Raptors beat reporter for The Sports Network, reported that Johnson has tried to forget about his time in Sacramento.

James Johnson does not look back fondly on his brief time in Sacramento. "I try to forget about it The old James Johnson dont exist no more"

— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) December 2, 2014

James Johnson: "The only thing that Sacramento has that has anything to do with me or that holds any value to me is my son was born here"

— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) December 2, 2014

Kings fans booed him throughout the game on Tuesday. After the Raptors defeated the Kings 117-109, Sactown Royalty caught up with Johnson. He said the comments were mainly about himself and his immaturity while he was in Sacramento, not about the city.

"I just think it was tough for me to play here, and I don't put all the onus on Sacramento either, it had a lot to do with myself being immature," said Johnson, who scored 19 points and grabbed 7 rebounds Tuesday. "I was playing bad, I had a bad year that year, I own up to it. I did what I had to do to get back. I had my son here, like I said, that was a plus that came out of Sacramento, and out of everything else it was just my own play and how I took every game."

Johnson averaged 5.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists in his 54 games with the Kings. He is currently averaging 7.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists for the Raptors.

One incident in particular happened during Johnson's stint in Sacramento that hasn't sat well with Kings fans: He apparently wore a Seattle Supersonics hat in the Kings locker room shortly after it was announced that the team could possibly move there.

So what was the deal? Well, he says it was strictly fashion.

"Matched my shoes, it had nothing to do with that. Anybody can wear a Bulls hat, anybody can wear an Oakland hat or whatever hat to match their outfit, but I had on a Seattle hat, it matched my shoes. I wasn't thinking. Like I said, immature stuff that no longer exists in my game or my behavior," Johnson said. "I could care less about where the Sacramento Kings are … They're playing well, they have a good franchise, the new owner, new everything, so I'm happy for Sacramento and I don't have no grudges against Sacramento or nothing in that manner."

It was certainly terrible timing for the green on green in Sacramento considering the city was fighting tooth and nail to keep its team at the time.

The Kings play the Raptors again in Toronto on Jan. 28.