The Kings have been playing better as of late, and look to get a win against a much better Denver Nuggets team that beat them just last week.
STARTING LINEUPS & INJURIES
Beno Udrih and his Pet Yeti start along with Tyreke Evans in the backcourt. Francisco Garcia and Jason Thompson join DeMonstrous Cousins up front. Everyone else should be available.
Denver is finally completely healthy and thus will start Chauncey Billups, Arron Afflalo, Carmelo Anthony, Kenyon Martin and Nené. J.R. Smith, Chris Andersen, Ty Lawson and Al Harrington are the main guys off the bench.
SCOUTING REPORT
Please read High Top's always wonderful report. My take below.
Last time the Kings were outrebounded by 23, thanks to some great defensive rebounding by Denver, negating our sizable offensive rebounding strength. The Kings also weren't able to take advantage of turnovers created, as they had 15 steals but only 8 fastbreak points, while the Nuggets only had 10 steals but 19 fastbreak points. Our transition D is suspect at best and Denver took advantage.
Denver also does a great job getting to the line, leading the league in that category thanks to Carmelo. What's scary is that the Nuggets were able to beat us by 18 last time with Carmelo only scoring 16 points on 22 shots. He's been much better in the games since then.
MOTIVATIONAL VIDEO
Remember the last time the Nuggets came to ARCO?
MATCHUP OF THE GAME
Udrih v. Billups. Chauncey torched the Kings on New Years, going 7-11 overall, 3-4 from 3PT, and 5-5 from FTs for 22 points. Beno was almost the opposite, only scoring 5 points on 10 shots. Neither of these two will likely be matched on each other for long (I'm guessing Afflalo covers Reke and Reke covers Billups), but we'll need Beno to be on his game to help negate some of Billups scoring.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Tyreke Evans. Last time against Denver he played relatively poorly, scoring only 12 points on 17 shots. He's coming off a great game against a good Atlanta team, and the Kings will need him to be at his best.
BEER PAIRING OF CHOICE
I've got a taste for Belgian beer, so I'm gonna recommend a Hoegaarden. It's like a Blue Moon, but better.
DETAILS
7:30 PM start at ARCO and the game is nationally televised on TNT!. Game threads at 7:30 and 9:00. Go Kings!