Sacramento Kings at Cleveland Cavaliers
3 p.m. Pacific on Comcast SportsNet California
The Kings, 0-3 on this road trip, visit Cleveland for Game 4. Just a few days away from the much-needed All-Star break, Sacramento is looking for a couple of wins to avoid falling into last place in the West. The Hornets have won three straight -- ?!? -- and are now just three games behind the Kings for No. 14 in the conference.
The Cavs have fallen out of the Eastern playoff picture, though Cleveland remains just a couple games out. Unless Linsanity disappears completely, there's little chance the Cavs will get back into the mix. Despite that, this is a much improved team, one that has an absolute stud in Rookie of the Year frontrunner Kyrie Irving and that is getting more out of veteran Antawn Jamison.
What does Cleveland do well? The club is excellent on the offensive glass, No. 3 in the league. But the bulk of that work has come from Anderson Varejao, who is now out with an injury. Rookie Tristan Thompson has also been strong on the offensive glass, though. The other facet in which Cleveland excels is free throw rate; Irving and his backup Ramon Sessions are both solid at drawing foul shots, and the team is No. 9 in the league in that category.
But the Cavs don't shoot well and struggle to defend, something that Varejao's absence will exacerbate. This game could provide a great opportunity for DeMarcus Cousins and Tyreke Evans and, heck, everyone else on the Kings' roster.
The game's at 3. Game threads will magically appear at 3 and 4:30. Let's go Kings!