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: |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lineups
Starters |
Lineups
Starters
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.
Other Reading
Spurs
Spurs Planet - Our old friend Wayne Vore is back.
OPPONENT
Sactown Royalty (SB Nation)
Cowbell Kingdom (True Hoop)
Following Along
TV
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.