Game 56: Sacramento Kings (17-38) @ Dallas Mavericks (18-39) - 8:30 PM ET

[ducler]

[kalenclayton]

Kings are going to play down tonight. It’s gonna be a rough game for both teams. I see Dallas pulling off a 10-15 point win.

[City of Trees]

Smith was not himself last game. I anticipate seeing a confident and attacking Smith Jr.

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[kalenclayton]

Smith was not himself last game. I anticipate seeing a confident and attacking Smith Jr.

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Of course. He’ll probably have a career night tonight because Kings.

[SacKingZZZ]

The Kings seem to match up pretty well to the Mavs. It depends on if their 3's are falling. The Mavs take a ton of them but they aren't very consistent and sit in the middle percentage wise at the point where they probably hurt themselves more than help.

On the flipside the Kings are one of the top 3 point shot teams in terms of accuracy yet take some of the fewest in the league. That alone probably goes a good ways into explaining why the Kings are an abysmal -8.3 for the year. The Kings are the worst 3 point defensive team in the league and don't hit teams back on the other end from there. More Buddy please! You can't trade 2's for 3's if you are unwilling to adapt your defensive strategy to cover your highest risk areas.

[SacKingZZZ]

Hahaha, Doug Christie just brought up the same issue and cited some of the same stats on the pregame.

[kalenclayton]

Well I was wrong. The Kings are playing great.

[benchmobbin02]

Well I was wrong. The Kings are playing great.

Yup, they are defending the 3 point line well (Mav's shoting 25%) and have already shot 15 3s.

[kalenclayton]

Well I was wrong. The Kings are playing great.

Yup, they are defending the 3 point line well (Mav's shoting 25%) and have already shot 15 3s.

It’s been a lot better. The Mavs have still gotten open looks and are just missing. The Kings offense is just making minimal mistakes. That was a good half for the team to look back on. Play like that!

[SacKingZZZ]

Sorry all you tank fanatics, the Mavs are going to be a tough out this year.

[SacKingZZZ]

Uh oh. They figured out the weakest spot of the Kings 3 point defense and switched to that side of the floor. They are starting to knock down those wide open looks.

[SacKingZZZ]

I don't know but Dennis Smith Jr. sure likes the type of player you'll have to sub out on defense late in games. I've been watching him all game and the disinterest on that end you saw in college is even worse in the NBA.

[City of Trees]

Sorry all you tank fanatics, the Mavs are going to be a tough out this year.

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[City of Trees]

I wish these blue jerseys were our normal jerseys. I hate purple

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[SacKingZZZ]

I wish these blue jerseys were our normal jerseys. I hate purple

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It's a shame they've hardly worn those white uni's that the net was gushing over very much this year. I'm not really a fan of the purple version this year either.

In the end it could always be worse. I mean look at those Mavs jerseys in this game.

[LightTheBeam]

Buddy hield again with 17 minutes. ... can't even enjoy a win like I should.

What happens when Mason returns to the court. Does coach continue to cut buddy's minutes?

Makes me sick watching Randolph get all these isos while buddy rots on the bench.

At least Jackson looks great

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[KF10]

The Mavs' tank is impressive.

[kalenclayton]

Buddy hield again with 17 minutes. ... can't even enjoy a win like I should.

What happens when Mason returns to the court. Does coach continue to cut buddy's minutes?

Makes me sick watching Randolph get all these isos while buddy rots on the bench.

At least Jackson looks great

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It looked like Buddy got yanked after making consecutive mistakes. I’m thinking Joerger is asking for Buddy to do something different and it just isn’t happening. That’s the only thing hat makes sense.

[kingjawn100]

I know its just 1 game but if we’re gonna tank ZBo cant be playing the minutes he’s playing. Sure he’s awful some games but when he gets hot he’s good enough to win a few games on his own. If we ride ZBo to the 8th pick in this summer’s draft i will officially give up.

[kingjawn100]

Also if Bogi were a little quicker it would be tempting to look at him as a point guard down the road. He seems to always make the right decisions and is the steadying influence when Fox is making rookie mistakes with the ball.

His lack of foot speed will keep him from being a full time point guard but who on this team would you rather have the ball in a close game? The big question...is what we are seeing his ceiling given his age?

On another note, one thing Fox needs to work on is developing more creative ways to get his shot off in the paint. You still see a bunch of times where he goes straight up to put a shot up in the paint and gets it blocked effortlessly by a defender. The out of this world athleticism he had in HS/College is a little more mundane in the league and he’ll need to get more crafty and/or figure out better ways to draw contact inside.

I know Fox got off 12 shots tonight but it feels like he should have take about 5 more attempts. He seems very concerned with trying to be a true point guard and make the right play and not just letting his natural scoring abilities take over.