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A crummy opponent, the Magic, has arrived, which means the Kings are probably going to lose (7 p.m. Pacific, Comcast SportsNet). Like clockwork.
NUMBER OF IMPORT
109.7. That's the points per 100 possessions the Kings are now giving up on the season. That is also the highest figure in the league. The Kings now have the worst defense in the NBA. Huh.
MATCHUP OF THE GAME
Tobias Harris vs. Rudy Gay
Harris won the battle when the teams met in Orlando last month, but the Kings won the war as Isaiah Thomas dominated Jameer Nelson and Marcus Thornton provided a spark. Harris is one of several flavors of small forwards who gives Gay trouble on the defensive. Honestly, I'm struggling to identify opponents Gay doesn't struggle to defend.
3 THINGS
1. The defense is almost too bad to fret about. It's hysterically bad. I get asked a lot about the why. The Kings have a coach who is said to focus on defense. Why is it so bad? Well, I can't identify a single good defender in the rotation. That's a problem. Buuuuuuut ... the Magic have just the No. 26 offense in the NBA. So maybe there's a chance for one night of redemption.
2. Something a bit odd about the Kings offense is that they have two of the league's better high-frequency three-point shooters (Isaiah and Jimmer Fredette) but still rank in the bottom 10 in deep shooting. That's due to the struggles of Thornton, Ben McLemore, Greivis Vasquez and now Gay out there.
3. DeMarcus Cousins scored just 14 points in Orlando. That's just one of three games in which he scored less than 20 points since December 1. Look for a bigger night.
PREGAME HAIKU
Yes! It is magic!
How else can you explain how
the Kings beat good teams?
PREDICTION
Kings 130, Magic 129.
