The Mehmphis Grizzlies handed the Kings their most embarrassing loss of the season back on November 20, but they’ll have a chance to avenge that disgusting night of basketball today. Let’s get to it.
Who: Sacramento Kings (5-15) vs. Memphis Grizzlies (8-12)
Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA
When: 6:00 PM PT / 9:00 PM ET
Watch: NBCSCA / League Pass
Just when things were starting to look a little better for the Sacramento Kings thanks to back-to-back wins against the Nuggets and Timberwolves, the Kangz returned to their brutal ways with a combination of losses to the Suns and Jazz. As of this writing, Sacramento is tied with the also old Clippers for the 5th worst record in the NBA.
The Grizzlies aren’t very good, either, and they’ll be without Ja Morant, Ty Jerome, Brandon Clarke, and Scotty Pippen Jr. For the Kings, Domantas Sabonis remains out, and Dennis Schroder is still questionable.
There isn’t a lot of compelling conversations to be had about this version of the Sacramento Kings, and with all the trade rumors circulating, it feels like just a matter of time before this roster looks a lot different. Wishful thinking? Maybe, but I can’t imagine keeping this crew together through the trade deadline. While we wait for something interesting to happen around here, we might as well celebrate the small victories, so I’ll give some flowers to Maxime Raynaud.
Raynaud had what was probably the best game of his career vs. Utah on Friday. In 21 minutes, Raynaud dropped 19 points on 7/11 shooting to go along with 4 rebounds, 1 block, and he was the only bench player with a positive +/-. I say all that to say this: I’ll go ahead and add Raynaud to the growing list of young players on this roster that should be playing over their veteran peers. Drew Eubanks is on a veteran minimum contract, Raynaud is a promising rookie, and the Kings keep losing games anyway. You might as well start Raynaud and give him some early experience going up against the best centers in the world. Sabonis will be back at some point, if he isn’t traded, so this starting opportunity window has an expiration date. I don’t care if it doesn’t work, I don’t care if the Kings lose, but watching Raynaud start over Eubanks would be more interesting, and that’s all I care about right now. Give me something, anything, interesting to watch.
Anyway. Prediction: Kings 111, Memphis 105.
