The Sacramento Kings defeated the Dallas Mavericks 113-107 last night. It was one of their best performances of the season considering how much of the youth led Sacramento to victory. This is the type of roster losing teams like the Kings should be trotting out there on a nightly basis.
Maxime Raynaud, rookie, started at center and played 27 minutes. Keon Ellis, 26, started and led the Kings with 32 minutes. Rookie Dylan Cardwell led the bench unit in minutes played, 20:58. And rookie wing Nique Clifford got his own 20 minutes off the bench. Some of the young Kings played better than others, but just getting them all on the court is enough to make me stop complaining on this website for one day.
Injuries have forced Doug Christie to play this way, but it really should be the norm for the remainder of the season. The youth will likely get a similar opportunity tonight vs. the Lakers on the second night of a back-to-back.
Who: Sacramento Kings (8-23) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (19-10)
Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA
When: 6:30 PM PT / 9:30 PM ET
Watch: NBCSCA / League Pass
The last time the Kings played the Lakers, they were missing LeBron James and Luka Doncic, but Austin Reeves exploded for 51 points and carried L.A. to a 127-120 victory. The circumstances are very different this time around.
Reeves is out with a calf strain, LeBron and Luka are back, and JJ Redick is pissed. Following the Lakers’ 3rd straight loss, Redick slammed his squad postgame: “We’re a terrible basketball team and tonight we were a terrible basketball team…we don’t care enough to be a professional…we don’t have it right now. Saturday’s practice I told the guys it’s gonna be uncomfortable. The meeting is gonna be uncomfortable. I’m not doing another 53 games like this.”
For as important as the tank is… I do love making the Lakers situation as uncomfortable as possible. Another L.A. loss tonight, especially to the injured and generally terrible Kings, could give us an all-time Redick meltdown. I’m here for it. Go Kings.
Prediction: Kings 122, Lakers 108
