Live from the Moda Center as the Portland Trail Blazers host the Sacramento Kings.
It has been a decade since the Kings were the most exciting team in the league, and their fanbase has been made suffer through some horrible stretches. The Kings are one of two teams, along with the Minnesota Timberwolves, to have not made the playoffs since 2006. They had to put up with the worst owners in the league this side of blatantly racist Donald Sterling. They drafted Jimmer Fredette. There is a reason the Kings were recently voted the worst sports franchise in the US by ESPN the Magazine, but things may have finally turned the corner for Sacramento.
The Kings have a new owner, Vivek Ranadive, finally ridding themselves of frosted tips and insincere freak outs forever. The Maloofs were directly responsible for trying to move the team to a new location: Las Vegas, Anaheim, Seattle, their mom’s basement. But Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson—yes, that Kevin Johnson—stepped in and successfully fought to keep the team in California’s armpit. Here they stay.
New ownership, new coach, new GM—everything is coming up cowbell! Break out the low-fives and let’s basketball.
PRE-GAME:
For Sacramento, it’s all about Boogie Cousins. Eater of worlds, destroyer of planets, master of the universe Boogie Cousins. Sure, he gets a bad rap for being a knucklehead, playing bad defense, etc., but dude is an absolute beast. There will come a time when we’ll all look back and see what a dysfunctional situation he was placed in to start his career and realize, oh yeah, that might have been the root of some of his trouble.
With a steady foundation, Boogie is going to flourish. The talent is there. The hope is Sacramento will start drafting well, solidify a solid young core on the upswing, and change the losing culture that has been in place for so long. That’s the future, though. For now, Boogie’s new coach Mike Malone is already lamenting his lack of defensive effort. Oh, Boogie.
If we were ranking dancing skills instead of basketball skills, it’s pretty clear the Kings would win tonight due to the presence of Ben McLemore and his moves. The Blazers—much worse dancers now that Luke Babbitt is gone—wouldn’t stand a chance. Alas, tonight the roundball will be used for basketball and not rhythmic gymnastics, so Portland should be able to handle this one.
The problem, as it has been the last few years, is defense. The Blazers currently rate as the worst defensive team in the league. Terry Stotts has done an excellent job bolstering the offense, but Portland is a wreck on the other side of the ball. Some of that is due to a small sample size, but it’s going to be something worth noting moving forward, especially against lesser opponents like the Kings tonight.
Joel Freeland returns tonight after missing last game with a hip injury. That is one quick way to shore up the defense. Did you see what Meyers Leonard did against the Rockets? He made JJ Hickson look like the defensive player of the year.
There is a Kings fan here in a customized Boogie #15 jersey. Kudos to you, good sir.
FIRST QUARTER:
11:42 – Only took eighteen seconds for Boogie to pick up his first foul. On Robin Lopez. In the post. There is no situation that requires fouling Robin Lopez in the post, ever. 2-0 Blazers.
10:00 – Listen, I love Grevis “Return of the Grievous Angel” Vasquez, but can you really start him over Isaiah Thomas right now? Thomas has been unstoppable. Oh, Vasquez just hit a three? I’ll shut up now. 8-8 Tie.
7:29 – The middle is wide open for the Blazers. Boogie is not picking up his second foul, and getting to the rim has proven incredibly easy. Too bad Portland is having trouble converting, probably because it is too open? No matter, Damian Lillard will handle things from the outside, draining his first three of the game. 11-10 Blazers.
3:57 – Batum is dealing. Four assists already. That puts him on pace for one hundred and sixty-four (I think that math checks out?) by the end of the night. 18-18 Tie.
3:04 – So apparently Boogie isn’t the only one with terrible defense, as he has been nailing fifteen foot jumpers with ease. He has ten points early. Maybe that’s the strategy? Bait him into thinking he’s shooting well so he’ll keep it up once the bricks start coming? 20-20 Tie.
2:16 – Only mediocre applause for Travis Outlaw as he checks in for the Kings. The crowd is surprisingly dead tonight. It’s as quiet as a folk concert in here. 21-20 Blazers.
0:00 – Back to back threes from Lillard and Dorell Wright to finish of the quarter, opening up the game just a bit. Sacramento looks lost on defense. The Blazers have a defensive scheme—they just aren’t that great at executing. The Kings look like five guys playing pick up ball for the first time. They are bumbling around with no idea where they should be. 29-22 Blazers.
SECOND QUARTER:
10:27 – Travis Outlaw trying to keep it close for the Kings, scoring their only four points of the quarter. 35-26 Blazers.
9:16 – So much for that. Outlaw just tried to take it hard to the rim with a two handed slam, only to be met by Joel Freeland who politely said to get that stuff out of here. Freeland should be making Sportscenter tonight for that one. The rejection led to a fast break, and Mo Williams scored easily in transition. 37-26 Blazers.
7:41 – Thomas Robinson have some nice run right now. He just ripped a rebound away one handed, and then beat the Kings down the floor to score on a pseudo fast break. It’s amazing how good you can look going against the Sacramento big men. Robinson and Freeland are playing their best basketball of the year. 39-28 Blazers.
4:44 – A broken play leads to a Batum three. Good thing, too, as the Kings were mounting a mini-comeback behind some made threes of their own. It’s still incredibly early, but Portland is not losing this game tonight. 44-38 Blazers.
3:27 – Maybe the Boogie strategy worked? He’s settle for three jumpers in isolation as opposed to going to the rim, and missed all three. Keep shooting those jumpers, Boogie. 47-40 Blazers.
2:12 – Boogie to the rim, Boogie scores. He should just get that tattooed on himself somewhere so he doesn’t forget. 52-45 Blazers.
0:00 – Sacramento is hitting the majority of their threes. That is their one winning strategy—to try and get hot from distance and get the Blazers caught in a shootout. Because Portland can get to the rim at will right now, and as long as they remember to pound it inside, this game is going to end up in a blowout. As it stands, the Kings are keeping it close, anchored by eighteen points from Cousins. 54-49 Blazers.
THIRD QUARTER:
10:40 – Boogie just missed a dunk, thought he was fouled, and didn’t run up the floor to get back on defense. Like, he literally didn’t move. The Blazers turned the ball over, sure, but it’s a wonder why people say he’s lazy. 54-53 Blazers.
7:05 – This game is flying by. It’s not necessarily a fast paced affair—there just aren’t a lot of fouls called, and it’s really having an affect on how quickly things are moving. That must be why the refs called a delay of game warning on Robin Lopez for touching the ball—touching it!—after he made a basket. That sure slowed things down immensely. I mean, I get that the refs are making it an emphasis to call that this year, but that seemed ridiculous. Oh, and the Blazers are on a 10-0 run. 66-55 Blazers.
4:56 – The Kings have the body language of a defeated team. That may be me just projecting because Boogie always has the worst body language, but they seem like they know that this one is lost. Which, after that Batum offensive rebound and put back, it just might be. 72-58 Blazers.
2:39 – The loudest the crowd has gotten all night was during the last timeout for the dude shooting a half court shot in hopes of winning a free car. He missed by like twenty feet, but still! Exciting! 72-58 Blazers.
1:31 – Cousins just picked up a three point play, going right at a Blazers triple team. He has twenty-nine points on the night, which is good. He is good. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. And don’t watch his transition defense. 76-64 Blazers.
0:00 – One of these days Mo Williams is going to find his missing jumper. Today is not that day. He’s one for six on the night, and most of those misses haven’t been that close. 77-66 Blazers.
FOURTH QUARTER:
9:44 – Joel Freeland is a quality rotation NBA player. He has looked fantastic tonight. He just followed his own miss, ripped the rebound away in traffic, and kicked to an open Lillard at the top of the key for a three pointer. I hate to go back to hustle plays, because I really hate that term, but Joel Freeland is killing it on hustle plays tonight. He’s consistently involved in every play and it shows. 82-73 Blazers.
7:39 – Another broken play, another open three pointer for Batum. The shots are falling for Portland tonight, and the basketball gods seem to be on their side. They should not have scored any points on that possession, yet they were able to net another three. 87-77 Blazers.
6:42 – Welp, things are tightening up a bit. Isaiah Thomas just had back to back steals and layups. Terry Stotts with the timeout to help cool things down a bit. 87-81 Blazers.
5:22 – Wow, Boogie just made Lillard look silly with a massive rejection. That rivaled Freeland’s block from earlier. The Kings seem to know this one is close—they look re-energized, and are showing emotion after every call. There’s blood in the water, and they want to win. 90-84 Blazers.
4:15 – Isaiah Thomas is feeling it. He just annoyed Matthews across half court and was able to goad Wesley into picking up an offensive foul. Kings ball, down eight. This might just go down to the wire after all. 92-84 Blazers.
3:12 – Boogie jumper, Boogie airball. Aldridge with back to back turnaround jumpers, and a rousing round of the YMCA has broken out here at the Moda Center. 96-86 Blazers.
2:04 – Aldridge with another bucket. That’s the last six Portland points for LaMarcus, and he’s closing this one out. 98-86 Blazers.
1:41 – We still haven’t gotten a grasp on the “Mick-Ee-Dees” chant, eh Moda Center crowd? I think I maybe heard one person chant it, but the majority of folks are still clamoring for their Taco Bell. 98-89 Blazers.
0:58 – Game, set, match. Lillard with the Chalupa shot on a three point play, and the fans are streaming for the exits. 101-89 Blazers.
FINAL: 104-91 Blazers. The Kings put up a fight behind thirty-five points from DeMarcus Cousins, but the Blazers attack was too much with all five Portland starters finishing with double digit points. I hope these teams got a good look at each other, as they both travel to Sacramento to do it all over again tomorrow night.