Game #79 Preview: Kings @ Spurs

by Ed (dfjmed) on Apr 6, 2011 5:00 AM CDT in Game Previews

Game number 79. It's been a good week, so far. After dropping six straight, the Spurs responded with a 114-97 thrashing of Phoenix on Sunday. Dallas' loss to Portland later that evening clinched the Southwest Division Title, which was, once again, the most competitive division in the NBA. We stayed off the schnide with a win in Atlanta Tuesday night, and are still top seeded in the West. To quote SpurredOn from the excellent Game 77 Recap: [The Southwest] is a division that will send four teams to the playoffs and is almost assured that all five will finish with an above .500 record. Since its creation in 2005, there has only been one successive division winner in the hyper competitive Southwest (Spurs: 2005, 2006). More on Sacramento after the jump.

The Sacramento Kings have had a rocky season, to say the least. Tuesday night's upset win in Houston brings their win total to 23, good for 2nd to last in the West, besting only Minnesota. (The home loss does not help the Rockets' playoff hopes, either.) There's been all kind of speculation as to whether the Maloofs are going to move the franchise to Anaheim, against the wishes of some of the ~~NBA's~~ professional sports' most loyal fans, and Sacramento Mayor/Former Sun Kevin Johnson. I'm pretty sure I've ranted on all of that before, and I tend to repeat myself, so I'll spare the PTR faithful that tirade on all of the reasons I think relocating this team is wrong. Duff McKagan thinks so, too. Regardless, we've still got a game tonight. And despite their record, all is not miserable in Sac-town. There is talent on this team, and youth. No players over the age of 30. Let's do this!

In honor of the Kings fans trying get the team to stay in Sac-town:

San Antonio Spurs vs Sacramento Kings
Where: AT&T Center
When: April 6th, 7:30 pm Spurs Time - Timezone Converter
Watch: FSSW

By the Numbers

Data sources:
hoopdata.com | basketball-reference.com | John Hollinger's team stats

Category	Offense (rank)	Defense (rank)
Efficiency Rating	109.1 (2nd)	102 (8th)
Rebound %	24.8 (22nd)	74.5 (12th)
Field Goal %	47.3 (5th)	45.3 (12th)
3-Point %	40.1 (1st)	37.2 (24th)
Free Throw %	77.1 (12th)	76.3 (15th)
Turnover %	12.9 (6th)	12.7 (24th)
Assist %	59.4 (10th)	53.9 (3rd)

Category	Offense (rank)	Defense (rank)
Efficiency Rating	100.4 (25th)	106.4 (19th)
Rebound %	30.3 (2nd)	74.1 (15th)
Field Goal %	44.8 (22nd)	47.9 (28th)
3-Point %	34.1 (25th)	36.4 (19th)
Free Throw %	73.1 (28th)	76.1 (13th)
Turnover %	14.5 (27th)	13.7 (12th)
Assist %	52.6 (29th)	54 (4th)

Record	Wins	Losses
Overall	59	19
Conference	36	12
Division	10	6
Home	34	5
Away	25	14

Position	Conference	Division
Record	1st	1st

Lineups

Starters
PG: Tony Parker
SG: Manu Ginobili
SF: Richard Jefferson
PF: Tim Duncan
C: Antonio McDyess

Key Bench Players
George Hill
Gary Neal
Matt Bonner
DeJuan Blair

Record	Wins	Losses
Overall	23	54
Conference	14	33
Division	6	8
Home	11	28
Away	12	26

Position	Conference	Division
Record	14th	5th

Lineups

Starters
PG: Tyreke Evans
SG: Marcus Thornton
SF: Francisco Garcia
PF: DeMarcus Cousins
C: Samuel Dalembert

Key Bench Players
Beno Udrih
Omri Casspi
Jason Thompson
Eugene Jeter

Matchup Analysis


	Point Guard
	Shooting Guard
	Small Forward
	Power Forward
	Center
	Bench
	Coach
	Intangibles
	Mojo
	Winner

Starters

PG: Parker needs to dominate Fisher. Tyreke Evans has been banged up this season, but is still a great PG, nonetheless. But Tony Parker, he ain't.

SG: He's Manu Ginobili.

SF: I gave the Spur to RJ here. Maybe it will serve as some motivation to keep knocking down the threes.

PF: DeMarcus Cousins has had a good rookie season, but we've got the GOAT. Despite some character issues, I think he will eventually be a star in this league. Tonight he'll be matching up with a guy most stars could take a page from.

C: This match up could go either way. Samuel Dalembert has a height advantage over Dice, and hauls down about 7 boards a game, but Dice is, I believe the tougher player. And, when in doubt, I'll go with age over youth, in most cases.

Bench

Our bench does more things better than theirs. We'll need some energy from Blair. I'm hoping he, Tiago, and maybe even Novak can give our starting bigs ~~some~~ a lot of rest. For anyone with LP that's watched a decent amount of Kings games this year, though, you've seen that Pooh Jeter's been a nice surprise for them.

Coaching

4 titles > 1 Finals appearence.

Intangibles

Keep the turnovers to a minimum. Take smart shots.

Mojo

Let's go for 60!

Prediction

Spurs with the W.

Key(s) to the Game

Key 1 - Maintain posession!

Key 2 - Take smart shots.

Key 3 - Defense, defense, defense!

Key 4 - Let's make our free throws tonight.

Following Along

FSSW, Comcast Sports Sacramento

Radio

WOAI 1200AM; Audio League Pass[streaming]

Online

As always, NBA league pass is recommended for those who are willing to pony up the cash. Almost every Spurs game will be broadcast there, which is especially helpful for those of us who aren't in the San Antonio area.

Please don't post links to illegal game feeds in the game thread. Links to illegal feeds are not permitted on SBNation, but you can probably find them out there on the internets if you're resourceful and desperate. You can also shoot an email to poundingtherockmail@yahoo.com(IMPORTANT: Please include your PtR username in the email for reference) for further assistance.

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Comments

Let’s win with defense.

Yo, I’m 6-11, but I just want to dribble through my legs and shoot jumpshots like a guard. - Marc Blucas on Tim Duncan

by TDzilla! on Apr 6, 2011 5:14 AM CDT reply actions

The Lakers lost at home last night. This is a great oppurtunity.

by Ed (dfjmed) on Apr 6, 2011 5:24 AM CDT reply actions

Let’s grab this golden opportunity!
GoSpursGo!

I trust Pop. I respect Tony. I like Tiago. I love Tim. I worship Manu.

by Ayatollah on Apr 6, 2011 6:50 AM CDT reply actions

"He was just a young skinny guy who looked like a winner. We didn’t know he was going to be as good as he is."
—Popovich on Manu Ginobili

by spursfan87 on Apr 6, 2011 8:54 AM CDT reply actions 3 recs

This man needs his mojo back.

by DrumsInTheDeep on Apr 6, 2011 9:15 AM CDT up reply actions

Can we get a Neal mojo picture too?

"If the NBA season is a marathon, Gregg Popovich is a full-blooded Kenyan."

-Timothy Varner 48MoH

by Jordan Leithart on Apr 6, 2011 11:07 AM CDT up reply actions

Rec’d to help bring the CoachBmojo!

"Entropy isn't what it used to be."

by oldtimeyspurfan on Apr 6, 2011 10:55 AM CDT up reply actions

Sit’em! Play Tiago instead and leave CoachB with 10 minutes at most

"Everybody thought he was going to be gone forever, including me, and the foie gras and truffle treatment worked really well." Pop on Tony's Injury 3/4/11

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/gilmoar01.html

by Joe deLarios on Apr 6, 2011 2:18 PM CDT up reply actions

Hopefully the Spurs win tonight and make it easy on themselves, reducing their magic number to 1. Blair vs. Cousins is fun to watch since both are brutes who’d be at home in a mosh pit. Watching those two is like watching offensive linemen punch defensive linemen in the helmet for four quarters.

Evans is hit or miss. He’s either a Derrick Rose-type in training or he’s dire, and he’s dire a large percentage of the time.

Asked before the game how Parker has looked, Popovich said, "He’s still cute. "

by 0signal on Apr 6, 2011 8:56 AM CDT reply actions

lets win this!

by rank on Apr 6, 2011 10:07 AM CDT reply actions

If I remember correctly, Splitter played against Cousins last time and just dominated him on the defensive end…

"If the NBA season is a marathon, Gregg Popovich is a full-blooded Kenyan."

-Timothy Varner 48MoH

by Jordan Leithart on Apr 6, 2011 11:08 AM CDT reply actions

You remember correctly. Those two were battling and Splitter didn’t back down. He definitely annoyed Cousins.

by Spurlady on Apr 6, 2011 4:38 PM CDT up reply actions

So, will the Bulls ever lose?

My cat's breath smells like cat food.

by Tim C. on Apr 6, 2011 12:31 PM CDT reply actions

Probably yes. They will play against Boston in home, Orlando and NYK in road( they are weak in road)

Best Starting Lineup : TP, Manu(Hill), RJ, Blair(Splitter), TD
Best Bench Lineup : Manu, Neal, Hill(JA), Bonner, Splitter(Macdyess)
Are u reading Pop??!! Stop being stubborn, Blair/Bonner combo doesn't work

by BrunoNba on Apr 6, 2011 12:44 PM CDT up reply actions

I predict ALOT of Sparkles on the court today of this SEGABABA

The Queens should stay in Sac-town & Spurs will dominate.

GO SPURS GO

The San Diego State University Aztecs~Back to Back Champions of the Mountain West Conference Tournament

by eastbaysd on Apr 6, 2011 1:44 PM CDT reply actions

GSG!!!!!! Let’s DO This!

"No Questions?...Dinner Time." - Coach Pop

by MikeyKosa on Apr 6, 2011 3:51 PM CDT reply actions

So who else is lining up to the local Academy to pick you your 2011 Southwest Division Champion t-shirt?!

by r21x on Apr 6, 2011 5:17 PM CDT reply actions

And about Nba champion?

by BrunoNba on Apr 6, 2011 5:31 PM CDT up reply actions

Yes, and let’s get them to start knitting that “regular season champion” banner for the AT&T Center. That’s always worked out for the Mavs.

by DrumsInTheDeep on Apr 6, 2011 6:32 PM CDT up reply actions

If we win this game and the Lakers lose again we will clinch the West. No pressure though.

"I've got Tim (Duncan) and you don't. That's the difference." -Gregg Popovich

by bj1der on Apr 6, 2011 6:14 PM CDT reply actions

I believe the Lakers play the Jailblazers, Thunder, and Warriors…they should lose at least one of those games, maybe 2

April Fools- Manu Ginobili (after faking out Kevin Garnett on the day)

by Dark Black on Apr 6, 2011 6:22 PM CDT up reply actions

Bonner

"Everybody thought he was going to be gone forever, including me, and the foie gras and truffle treatment worked really well." Pop on Tony's Injury 3/4/11

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/gilmoar01.html

by Joe deLarios on Apr 6, 2011 6:24 PM CDT via mobile reply actions