Preview: Kings at Sixers, THE RETURN OF KEVIN MARTIN

And, the Kings have more then cheese steak sandwiches on their mind. Still leaving a bad taste in their mouths is the holidays lose to the 76ers at Arco. Losing 116-106 in the last game of 2009 was never in the plans; especially after the win over Denver where the gang from StR stoked up the crowd to help the Kings fight back to win. So this is payback time and the dish will be served on the basketball court and not in the food court. Tonight Tyreke & Kevin will be your servers. You might not remember them because they both were off the last time we meet, but you will remember them after tonight.

Not only were Reke & Martin missing but also Beno was barely around last game hitting 3-11 for 9pts and 2 assists. Thankfully, Omri & Donte were able to contribute a combined 42pts and 15 rebounds to keep us in the game. But, with so much firepower off the bench starting, our bench wasn’t able to provide the necessary scoring and was outscored by the eventual 10pt margin of victory.

That’s not to say that Philly wasn’t good. They were remarkably good, shooting 52.5% from the field and 53.2% from 3pt range. For the month of January, they’re 3-3 and in 2 of their 3 wins they shot over 50%, and are averaging 47.5% from the field and nearly 40% from 3pt range, so don’t think the game in Sac was a fluke.
And, as I said, it was the reserves that beat us last game. Rodney Carney in particular who had 14pts on 4-5 from 3pt range. So, when the reserves are on the court we need to defend the 3, but there isn’t much concern about the starters since none of Philly’s starters are really good 3pt shooters. AI is the only one shooting over 33% from 3’s and he’s only 5-10 unfortunately he went 2-2 against us.

In spite of the 76ers 12-26 record and being 5-13 at home, they have stepped up their game. Since the addition of AI, they are 5-5 over the last 10 games, and they have had their best success against Pacific conference teams. They team rebound and don’t just rely on Dalembert who averages 9 boards. Brand and Iguodala average almost 7 rpg, and Young and Speights average 5 rpg. As good as they can be offensively the 76ers are only average defensively. They’re 4th in steals and 7th in blocks, and are a decent defensive rebounding team.

The Kings on the other hand have been slowly dropping out of the top 10 in offensive categories like PPG, FG% & 3P%. But, most of that can be attributed to Tyreke’s injury and the strength of our schedule over the last 2 ½ weeks. But with the return of Tyreke, Martin & Donte, we can expect the Kings to move back into the top 10 in scoring. Our rebounding has also dropped us into 10th place, and I can’t blame that on the injuries. And, I don’t believe that the addition of Hilton, will improve that on this road trip, but hopefully JT & Spencer will.

Martin may start, but probably gets a short stint in his 1st game back. AI isn’t as quick as he used to be, and his arthritis should make it easy for all of our guards to stay with him. I’d like to see the Kings play AI & Williams tight, since both are excellent shooters, and I don’t expect either to get past their man. In any shoot out contest, the Kings win with Martin, Beno, & Tyreke, but there’s no reason to give Philly’s guards open shots.

JT is playing at home in front of family and friends, Slump Over I hope. Casspi outscored and out rebounded Iguodala in the last game, and Donte outplayed Young. JT had 15/11 to Dalemberts’ 2/7, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see a frontcourt of Thompson, Greene & Casspi again.

Dalembert is 2nd in the league in blocks, but he’s also 6th among centers in fouls. So, I’d really like our bigs to go at him early, and try to get him in foul trouble. Not that it would be a key to a victory, it’s just that I’d like to see our bigs go on the offensive once and a while.

Keys: Don’t double down low, and stay with your man. Philly will hit every shot if you leave them open. And, the 76ers bigs aren’t going to hurt us much in the paint.

Work the offense, and don’t take quick 3’s. They are not shooting a lot of 3’s, so we’re better off with high percentage 2’s. Dalembert is a shot blocker but Tyreke should be able to get to the basket and cause havoc.

Control the pace of the game and don’t turn the ball over. We should win the offensive boards, and limiting turnovers, limits Philly’s possessions. The more possessions you give them, the more likely their shooters’ will get hot. Plus Philly shoots it’s best in the 1st 15 seconds of the shot clock, so an up & down the court game plays right into their strength.

Our starters match up well against theirs, and our bench is far better with everyone but Cisco back, so I see the Kings getting out to an early half time lead, and finishing strong. I like the Kings by 11, 110-99, and a winning record on this road trip. Go Kings.