The Sacramento Kings look to carry over the mojo from Monday's high-octane win over the Warriors as the league-worst Cleveland Cavaliers visit. The Kings' offense went ballistic (literally) against Golden State, as Marcus Thornton sprung for 42 points, a high-water mark for any Sacramento player this season. Thornton hit bombs and blitzed to the rim repeatedly, shredding Monta Ellis. Samuel Dalembert and DeMarcus Cousins, meanwhile, crushed the Warriors' spirit in the paint. Dalembert had a career-high 27 points and 16 rebounds. Cousins had 15 and nine despite foul trouble.
The Cavaliers aren't too different from the Warriors. With Antawn Jamison and Anderson Varejao out, Cleveland is mighty thin up front, though rookie Samardo Samuels out of Louisville is playing well. If Sam and DMC play like they did on Monday, you can expect a repeat performance up front. The problem this season for Sacramento has been consistency, so I'll understand a wait-and-see attitude when it comes to the frontcourt.
Ramon Sessions, Cleveland's lead guard and best player, has given Sacramento trouble in the past. With Beno Udrih in the line-up, that remains a concern. Sessions is fast and crafty, and Udrih -- despite his best efforts -- can't always stay in front of agile guards. That puts the onus on the help defense behind Udrih, and as noted above, a wait-and-see attitude is understandable.
The crowd will likely be light -- it's hard to sell a game between, no joke, the worst team in each conference. But that gives us diehards an opportunity to make our voices heard. Let the beautiful word "Sacramento!" ring out as frequently as possible, bring your signs and capitalize on the vaccuum. Let's keep the momentum going, both for the Kings and for Sacramento.
HighTops has your scouting report. Tip at 7. Game threads at 7 and 8:30. Let's do this!