Since we're facing the same team tonight, MLB-style, let's run the game thread with comments on last night's win instead of a parroting of "Ray Allen is awesome. Kenny Thomas sucks."
STARTERS:
PG - Mike Bibby continues to be a drain on the offense. I love the Salmons/Martin/Garcia/two big guys lineup - and it paid off in last night's second quarter. If Bibby isn't scoring or dishing, he's a liability on the floor. (Yet it's always Kevin Martin we see taken out for defensive purposes... Hmph.)
SG - Kevin Martin: 26 pts on 16 shots. He does every single night, doesn't he?
SF - Ron Artest got back to great on offense, and went right after Rashard Lewis on both ends. Why the Sonics would bring Lewis back against the roughest wing defender in the game...
PF - Kenny Thomas played one of his best five games of the season... and he was still outplayed by Chris Wilcox, who had an average performance. That's the problem with Kenny: His best isn't close to good enough.
C - Brad Miller seems to get injured at the most inopportune times, doesn't he? In 2005, he went down almost immediately after Chris Webber got traded. This fall, he went down as Mike Bibby struggled to play through his wrist injury. And now, as the Kings try to slip back into the playoff race for the stretch-run, he's out a week. He missed the first Rockets game, too. Luckily for us, Maurice Taylor isn't here to hand over 15 rebounds to Dikembe Mutombo. And luckily, Shareef Abdur-Rahim is not Maurice Taylor.
SEATTLE
PG - Luke Ridnour played awful... against Mike Bibby. Oddly, Earl Watson played worse. I thought point guard was supposed to be a strength for Seattle?
SG - Ray Allen is a stud, and he and Kevin Martin have a nice little rivalry brewing. I even saw a little jawing and gamesmanship between them. More of the same tonight? By the way, Ray-Ray had 29 pts - three more than Kevin. Of course, he took five more shots, two more free throws, and had five turnovers to Kevin's one.
SF - Rashard Lewis got to the line a lot, despite missing almost every jumper he took. I wonder if Artest will back off on him a bit tonight. Yeah, right.
PF - Chris Wilcox will explode tonight. I can feel it in my bones. (It's my "turtle sense.")
C - Nick Collison didn't have quite the game I set him up for, through no fault of his own. I can see a concerted effort to get the ball inside more often coming.
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THE LINE:
I told that +4 line last night was ridiculous, no? Well, the Kings are only 4.5-point favorites tonight. Another questionable line, which means another Kings bet.
INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT NOTE:
Francisco Garcia has been freed, and he will now make me look like a genius. Five steals in 30 minutes. 17 pts on 7 shots. He's rebounding like Doug Christie 2002, too. I, for one, welcome our new Dominican overlords. (And yes, I'm overselling a good game.)
POSTGAME HAIKU:
Jesus Shuttlesworth?
Pfft. Speedracer outdueled him -
wacky shot looked sweet.
It's a 6p game tonight. Enjoy.