STARTING LINEUPS & INJURIES
The Kings will start Beno Udrih and Luther Head in the backcourt, with Donte Greene at small forward and Jason Thompson and DeMarcus Cousins up front. Tyreke Evans is out. Everyone else is believed to be available. Expect Francisco Garcia to get into the game early, and expect Udrih to play a slew of minutes.
Kyle Lowry and Kevin Martin start in Houston's backcourt. Shane Battier, Luis Scola and Chuck Hayes start up front right now. Yao Ming and Aaron Brooks are out. Brad Miller, Courtney Lee, Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill are most likely to play decent minutes off the bench.
SCOUTING REPORT
Please check out HighTops' scouting report.
MATCHUP OF THE GAME
Jason Thompson vs. Luis Scola. Scola is bigtime, a huge scorer, solid rebounder and artful defender. Thompson, depending on the wind, can be all of those things -- and honestly, don't you wonder if Thompson's eventual upside is Scola? -- but isn't consistently. With Evans out, the Kings definitely need J.T. The King in full force.
PLAYER TO WATCH
We are back to watching DeMarcus, to see how he handles an undersized but brilliant center in Chuck Hayes. I will also be watching Chuck Hayes' free throw stroke, because ... well, come on.
GIVEAWAY GAME
Today's entry is posted on Sactown Royalty's Facebook page.
DETAILS?
Tip-off? 5:30 PM PT. Game threads? 5:30 and 7 PM. Kings? Let's go.