HOUSTON, TX

The Sacramento Kings (17-31) will battle the playoff contending and injury depleted Houston Rockets (26-23) today in what will hopefully be known as the Terrence Williams stick it to his old squad game… (ok probably not). The Kings are coming off two excruciating painful losses against the Jazz at home and the Warriors on the road. Key mental errors such as 4th quarter free throw shooting and turnovers cost the teams in both games. They also played horrible defense (but that’s not going to change anytime soon this year). The Kings have won only 4 games on the road (4-21) this season which is just completely disgraceful even for a young team. The early word is that JT will play tonight and based on comments from Keith Smart, we might see Terrence Williams again in spot minutes to audition for being the “glue guy”.

Projected Starters

Kings:

PG- Isaiah Thomas

SG- Marcus Thornton

SF- Tyreke Evans

PF- Jason Thompson

C- DeMarcus Cousins

Rockets:

PG- Goran Dragic

SG- Courtney Lee

SF-  Chandler Parsons

PF- Luis Scola

C-  Samuel Dalembert

Key Match-up:

Isaiah Thomas vs Goran Dragic. Samuel Dalembert loves to come over and weak side shot block so therefore the Hustling Husky must penetrate and get Dalembert out of position for quick drop-offs to both Cuz, JT and even Hayes for easy baskets. Goran Dragic is a starting point guard on a lot of NBA teams and will not hesitate to drop dimes or wet jumpers off the pick and roll game. He also has one of the best spin moves in the lane in the league as Derek Fisher and the Lakers defense would remember very well. This should be an entertaining match-up of young up and coming point guards.

What I will be watching:

The 3-point shooting and productivity of  Marcus Thornton and Tyreke Evans.

The Kings shot the long ball horribly on Saturday night against Golden State and the needed  up-to-par performance of Marcus Thornton and Tyreke Evans was only there from Evans. As hard as it is for this team to win consistently, when one of those two guys has an off night AND the team is on the road, they have no shot to win.

News of the Day:

Read this excellent take from Sactown Royalty contributor Greg Wissinger on being a Kings fan and why its worth it.

Prediction: Win

The Kings will break their depressing road woes by coming up with a scrappy win tonight. The End.