The Kings have lost 7-straight games, the longest active losing streak in the NBA right now. And to make matters even better, the Pacers have won their last two games, meaning this sorry Sacramento Kings team is just one loss away from tying Indiana for the worst record in the league. Ain’t no stopping this tank.
Who: Sacramento Kings (8-30) vs. Houston Rockets (22-13)
Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA
When: 6:00 PM PT / 9:00 PM ET
Watch: NBCSCA / League Pass
There is suddenly a lot to talk about around these parts!
We’ll start with who will be notably missing tonights game against the Rockets. Dennis Schröder was suspended three games by the NBA for a confrontation with Luka Doncic back on December 28 where, allegedly, Schroder attempted to hit him in a Crypto.com Arena hallway after the two had been trash talking all game.
I’ve seen some celebrating Schroder’s actions, but I don’t know. These sorts of situations just hit different when the dudes acting tough just got their ass handed to them on the basketball court. Again. All season.
I’ll reserve some amount of judgement until all the details come out, but Schroder has been on 10 NBA teams. He already lost his starting role to a veteran minimum unrestricted free agent. The new team he was supposed to lead at point guard is 8-30. It’s been a terrible, gross, nearly unwatchable season of basketball in Sacramento. Now Schroder will miss 3 more games after missing a bunch due to injury earlier in the season, and he’ll also lose some money, which is one of the things Luka had been trolling him for during the game. I’m having a hard time viewing this as some sort of a win for Dennis.
Of course, I hate the Lakers. Luka is a very talented crybaby, and I’m not defending whatever he said, but I’m not praising Schroder’s response, either. Play some good basketball first and then maybe we’ll talk about how cool and tough it is.
Unrelated to the above, but related to my overall frustration with this organization: Rockets head coach Ime Udoka called out his team for their reliance on 37-year old Kevin Durant following Houston’s recent loss to Portland, “the fact that we have to rely on a 37-year-old for 40-plus minutes is a problem.”
And I couldn’t help but laugh after reading Udoka’s remarks. Why? DeMar DeRozan is 36. The Kings are 8-30. Doug Christie played him 35 minutes in a 34-point blowout against the Warriors on Friday night. At least Houston is relying on old veterans for the sake of winning games. Christie is trotting his out there for 35 minutes for… what exactly? I’m still trying to figure that out.
Anyway. Kings vs. Rockets tonight. Should be another loss, but stranger things have happened.
Prediction: Kings 122, Rockets 116.