Smokin' Rudy Gay is back in Memphis with vengeance in his heart.
The Kings continue their road trip in Memphis, where they will face the Grizzlies at 5 p.m. Pacific (News10). The Kings are 1-1 on this trip after Wednesday's fending-off-the-zombies defeat of the Timberwolves. Rudy Gay was spectacular in that one, and the hope is that will continue in Tennessee, where he faces the team that traded him about a year ago.
MATCHUP OF THE GAME
DeMarcus Cousins vs. Marc Gasol
Cousins was wrapped up pretty well by Nikola Pekovic on Wednesday (especially in the first half) after a great showing against Roy Hibbert. How about another huge test? The good news is that Gasol just returned from injury, so he may still be getting back into game shape. The bad news is that Gasol just returned from injury. It'd be a much easier night against Kosta Koufos.
For what it's worth, Gasol played limited minutes on Wednesday, and didn't score. He's such a great passer that the Kings guards and wings will need to be watching cuts if he's not looking to put the ball in the hole over Cousins.
3 THINGS
1. Three-point shooting defense -- it's still a mystery. Kevin Love was the only Wolf to get going behind the arc on Wednesday; likewise, it was just Paul George, really, on Tuesday. Memphis isn't much in the way of a shooting team, so this could be a better night for the Kings' defense in that regard.
2. I'm still not worried about Ben McLemore. But for his sake, I'd really like to see him hit some shots.
3. Isaiah Thomas' defense on Mike Conley is going to be a huge -- maybe the biggest -- factor in this game. Conley is lightning quick and smart, and Thomas has struggled on that end since becoming a starter. He'll mix in some spectacular stops, but he has so little margin for error because of his size and the lack of a shotblocker behind him. Conley's good enough to leverage that.
PRE-GAME HAIKU
More wins, please! Ping pong
is a game the Kings can't win.
Well, like basketball.
PREDICTION
Kings 99, Grizzlies 98.
