The Kings are back in action tonight after a tremendous overtime win yesterday against the Phoenix Suns, this time against the Spurs featuring the alien that is Victor Wembanyama, the old friend in Harrison Barnes, and our archenemy, Chris Paul.
Let’s talk Kings basketball.
When: Monday, November 11th, 5:00 PM PST
Where: Frost Bank Center, San Antonio, TX
TV: NBCSCA
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140 AM
For Your Consideration
The Western Conference is an absolute battleground. Through about 10 games, 10 of the 15 Western teams are above .500. Only two reside in the East. The San Antonio Spurs are one of the few teams below .500 in the West, but they shouldn’t be considered slouches at all, especially not with the ultra talented Victor Wembanyama in the middle. Wemby hasn’t been as efficient offensively in his sophomore season, as he’s seen an uptick in three point attempts at 7.1 a game but only making 28.2% of them, but he’s still as terrifying defensively as ever. Wemby is averaging 4 blocks a game after averaging a league-high 3.6 a game as a rookie, and that’s in just 30.9 minutes a game. That also accounts for just the shots he blocks and not all the shots opponents don’t even bother to take when he’s near them. It’s mainly due to Wembanyama’s presence that the Spurs are 11th in the league in defensive rating, although Jeremy Sochan was also starting to earn a reputation as a nice defender. Sochan however, will not be playing for a while after sustaining a fractured thumb last week. San Antonio will also be without Tre Jones and possibly Malaki Branham as well.
The Kings have their own injuries to deal with as well after Malik Monk suffered a sprained ankle in the first half of yesterday’s game against the Suns. Monk took a bad step on Mason Plumlee’s foot and immediately left the game, not to return. Per a report from Chris Haynes, Monk will at least miss tonight’s game and is considered day-to-day going forward. Hopefully he isn’t out for too long, as Sacramento’s bench depth was already lacking. In his absence I would assume we’ll see more of Jordan McLaughlin and maybe Doug McDermott.
The Spurs made a few veteran additions during the offseason, bringing in Chris Paul and then also acquiring Harrison Barnes as part of the sign-and-trade that brought DeMar DeRozan over to Sacramento. Both Paul and Barnes bring a steadying hand for a roster that is otherwise very young. Paul’s scoring isn’t nearly as prolific as it once was at just 10.3 a game, but he’s still passing very well, averaging 8.1 assists a game. Barnes has stepped into the starting lineup and is averaging 9.7 points and 3.5 rebounds on 50.7% from the field and 34.4% from three. But the Spurs are still mostly about the young guys. Rookie Stephon Castle, the 4th overall pick from this years draft, has gotten the starting nod in Sochan’s absence and has scored in double digits in both of his last two games. San Antonio also welcomed back Devin Vassell, who had missed the first 9 games of the season. Vassell scored 21 points off the bench in his season debut. Last season Vassell averaged 31 points a game in the two matchups he was active for against the Kings, and did so on ridiculous efficiency: 66.7% from the field and 70% from three. Hopefully Sacramento’s defense is more well prepared this time around.
Despite San Antonio’s relative youth, they don’t play at a particularly fast pace, as they’re currently the 6th slowest team in the league, and 5th worst total offense. Some of that is due to missing offensive weapons like Vassell, who is probably the team’s most natural scorer, but still, the Kings should look to push the tempo. The Kings will probably be tired after having to play overtime last night, but if they can get off to a good start and establish an early lead, they should be able to maintain it. It takes a lot more energy to dig oneself out of a hole than to not get in one in the first place.
Prediction
Harrison Barnes naturally scores a career-high 40 points, but the Kings match his offensive explosion thanks to the lateral move of DeMar DeRozan who also scores exactly 40 points.
Kings 121, Spurs 114
