Sacramento Kings at New Orleans Hornets
5 p.m. Pacific on Comcast SportsNet California
This feels like a set-up, right? The Kings are looking as good as they have in about two years and a month, having beaten two teams ahead of Sacramento in the standings and finding success in the hoped-for places with two games that look like wins lined up on the schedule. It's a set-up, right?
The Hornets are 4-20, without Carl Landry and possibly Jarrett Jack. There are capable players on the roster (Chris Kaman, Emeka Okafor, Trevor Ariza), but this is a bad team less talented than the Kings, plain and simple. It is indeed on the road, which has been a veritable house of horrors for Sacramento (2-11). But this is a bad team.
To win, the Kings will need to play well -- you can't fake your way to victory, not against anyone -- and break what's typically a solid defensive resistance from New Orleans. Kaman looms as a potentially major character in this fight. Though the Hornets don't take many threes, defending the arc will be mighty important. You can't let roleplayers go off for 20 all of the time.
Game's at 5. Game threads at 5 and 6:30. Let's go Kings!