Seriously, JUST DO IT fellas and get this W tonight.
Warriors: 1-3
Kings: 2-4
Tip off: 6pm
Radio: KNBR 680
TV: CSN Bay Area
Blog Buddy: Sactown Royalty + Preview
Around the Association: It's all up from here
Who will be the real kings of Northern California? It all starts tonight. JUMP for a preview.
The Kings are coming off a very impressive win over the universally despised Utah Jazz in the SLC- see Kings Whip Out 104-99 Win Over Jazz in SLC by the ever-astute Ziller. The Warriors are coming off an impressively bad loss (seriously that was some impressive suck) to the LA Clippers at home in Oakland- see RECAP: LA Clippers 118, Golden State Warriors 90- It's a Great Time Out for Clipper Raj!
But let's not bring up old stuff and make things confusing, both teams are bad. Real bad. How real bad exactly has yet to be determined, but as long as neither team decides not to show up to work today (like the Warriors on Friday night) this should be a pretty fun game. Don't be too surprised if this game is decided in the last few minutes or goes into OT. There's quite the precedent you know:
- Warriors 105 Kings 100 - The Final Three Minutes (4/6/09)
- Warriors 143, Kings 141 - Let 'em score! We'll get the ball back! (4/2/09)
- Warriors 133 Kings 135 - UNSTOPPABLE BABY! (1/15/09)
A matchup against the Kings is exactly what the doctor ordered.
Believe it or not Warriors vs Kings does intrigue me a bit. There's a quad comparison that I've detailed previously- see Polling GSoM: Which "hoops quad" will be the kings of Northern California in 2k9-2k10?
- Head Coaches: Don Nelson vs Coach Paul Westphal- I do like Westphal more than most and think he's a bit underrated, but Nellie's still one of the greatest tacticians this league has ever seen. Advantage Tonight: Warriors
- Shooting Guards: Monta Ellis vs Kevin Martin- Truth be told I really dig Martin's game and would rather have him than Monta Ellis at the 2-guard. After K-Mart's monster start to this season 30.6 ppg through 5 games, he will be sidelined for quite some time- see NBA's Third Leading Scorer, Kings' Kevin Martin Likely Out 6-8 Weeks With Wrist Fracture [SBNation.com], so by default Advantage Tonight: Warriors
- Sophomore Power Forwards: Anthony Randolph vs Jason Thompson- I was talking to my buddy Houston Savant, a big time Rockets fan, yesterday and he just couldn't believe how bad Anthony Randolph looked on Friday night. He couldn't believe all that off-season hype and thought Randolph just didn't look like an NBA player with all those countless- "What the... is he doing?" moments. Those 4 fouls in under 10 minutes (if I recall correctly) were the epitomy of cluelessness. On the other hand there's quite a lot to like about what the Kings' JT has done thus far in the season. Not only is he averaging a shade over 11ppg and 9rpg, but he's also dropping 4 dimes a game (with only 0.7 turnovers) somewhat out of nowhere. That's smooth. Advantage Tonight: Kings... Also see Polling GSoM: Which rookie forward will have the better sophomore campaign?
- Centers: Andris Biedrins vs Spencer Hawes- Biedrins looks to be out tonight (again), which is a big red flag. I worried in the offseason if Biedrins' future health was a concern after his missing 20 games last season and unfortunately that looks to be a reasonable worry. As my colleague JAE will tell you Hawes is not a center you'd like to starting on your team, but he's done some things that I've really liked this season early on. He's had two back-to-back nice performances against the Spurs and Grizzlies that really stand out. Against the Snores he posted 22 points and 10 rebounds, then in the next game against the artists formerly known as the Vancouver Grizzlies he racked up 21 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists. Maybe those 7 dimes were an outlier, but the highlight passes he was dropping to cutters down the lane were Vlade Divac-esque. Advantage Tonight: Kings
But let's take the comparison one step further because as GIlbert Arenas tells us "It takes 5":
- Rookie Point Guards: Stephen Curry vs Tyreke Evans- On a team of me-first players all looking "to get theirs" first, young Kid Curry has stood out as the only Warriors player looking to distribute and set others up first. There's something to be said about a rookie who has the highest hoops IQ on his squad. Kings point guard Evans is coming off an extremely impressive outing against Deron Williams and the Jazz where he dropped 32 points (thanks largely to a whopping 19 trips to the free throw line) and 7 assists. There's a lot to like about both rooks and any number of things could happen in this matchup tonight. It could go to Curry and his crafty court vision or it could go to Evans and his power scoring. Advantage: Push
Predictions
- Stephen Curry bounces back from his worst game as a pro and drops 6+ dimes.
- JT inhales over 12 boards.
- AMMO drains 3 treys.
- Hawes collects a few Divac-esque assists.
- Both teams combine to score over 230 points.
- The final outcome comes down to the last minute of the game.
- Warriors by 3
Post your predictions and ongoing game thoughts in the comments.
Poll
Who will be crowned the kings of Northern California tonight?
This poll is closed
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47%
Golden State Warriors
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52%
Sacramento Kings