Do the Pistons even stand a chance? Naw.
It is:
1. Sactown Royalty Night I for the season. We have 995 -- nine hundred and ninety-frickin-five -- StR readers and friends of readers attending. Darn near 1,000 of y'all and y'alls compadres.
2. Here We Roar Night, in which the Kings try to break the Guinness World Record for loudest arena noise.
3. A sell-out night. The Kings opened up standing room only tickets on Thursday.
It's going to be a fun night.
MATCHUP OF THE GAME
Greivis Vasquez vs. Brandon Jennings.
Jennings is a seriously flawed point guard: he shoots a ton, he struggles finishing in the lane and it seems as though he has struggled to maintain strong relationships with teammates. That said, he's super quick and a pretty solid deep shooter. The Kings don't have much interior defense. Vasquez is not laterally quick. So Jennings could be in for a big night.
On the other end, Vasquez needs to keep plugging in the manner he did on Wednesday: attack with one eye on the basket and one on the rolling big man. Detroit has an almost gross amount of shotblocking available, so it'll be up to Vasquez to pick it apart.
3 THINGS I WILL BE WATCHING
1. Marcus Thornton on defense and off the ball on offense. He was really active on both ends on Wednesday after looking like his legs were in concrete through the first six games. I don't think that is the sole determinant to whether he has a good game -- shooting is funny -- but it sure as spit helps.
2. Ben McLemore's shot selection. He took some Summer League shots on Wednesday. He had been working in the flow of the offense really well to that point. I expect this will correct itself.
3. Isaiah Thomas in the first half. As I pointed out Thursday morning, he's been a little inefficient early in games this season, only to fix it late. If the game is competitive, I.T. needs to play smart, controlled basketball in the first and second quarters. He's the second best King. Sacramento needs him to play well all the time right now.
MEET YOUR OPPONENTS
Detroit Bad Boys is seriously amazing, and I'm not just saying that because founding editor Matt Watson sent my little one a Sacramento Kings mobile when she was born. Here's DBB's look at the Greg Monroe-Boogie battle.
PREGAME HAIKU
Here We Roar, you say?
We Bought, We Stayed and We'll Build.
Yes. Now We Can Roar.
PREDICTION
120 dBs. Shatter that record. Make the record cry for mercy.
Also, Kings 110, Pistons 95. 28 and 15 for DeMarcus Cousins, 20 for Isaiah, 15 for B-Mac and only two moments of "We Want Asik!" chants compared to 100 or so "Sacramento" chants.
Predictions soon, game thread at 7:30. Let's go Sacramento!