Wolves host Kings tonight in the 2nd game of a home back to back, still short four starters. Hopefully not a recipe game.
Kings at Wolves
7:00 pm CST
FS North
The Sacramento Kings come to town tonight sporting a 7-5 record on the young season. The Kings, yet another team that once inhabited the lower reaches of the Western Conference along with the Wolves, have the look of a team that is moving up, with recent wins over the Spurs and the Bulls.
The Kings are succeeding by dominating the boards at both ends and leading the league in free throw rate. In addition to Cousins and Collison, Rudy Gay is averaging over seven FTAs a game as part of his 21+ points a night. He's a big and strong small forward that will present an interesting challenge for Andrew Wiggins.
The Wolves are of course completely depleted. They remain without four starters for tonight, and it will be a struggle to keep up with the Kings. It's hard to see how the Wolves will score enough, but the big key might be the rebounding. Keeping the Kings off the offensive glass is going to be crucial, as it's a big way they get their offense. They aren't a great shooting team--they take and make very few threes, so it shouldn't be a flood of threes like it was against the Spurs last night, (only Ben McLemore is a consistent threat from deep), but they hit the boards and get to the line.
With the Wolves having no depth left up front, competing in the paint is going to be a challenge. Gorgui Dieng is going to have to figure out how to play tough but not foul, and the rebounding will require a total team effort. Cousins will likely prove too big and strong for the Wolves, but Dieng will have to try to frustrate him.
Expected lineups
Kings
Darren Collison
Ben McLemore
Rudy Gay
Jason Thompson
DeMarcus Cousins
Wolves
Mo Williams
Corey Brewer
Andrew Wiggins
Shabazz Muhammad
Gorgui Dieng
Here is a link to our blogging buddies for the evening at Sactown Royalty. Be excellent.
No no and no.
Enjoy the game. Chat here. Go Wolves.