NBA Matchups: December 10

 

Sacramento Kings (front end) at Charlotte Hornets

Team Totals: Kings 115.8, Hornets 115.8

Injury Report: Richaun Holmes (O, eye), LaMelo Ball (O, protocols), Ish Smith (O, protocols), Jalen McDaniels (O, protocols), Terry Rozier (O, protocols), Mason Plumlee (O, protocols)

Kings projected starters: De’Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton, Terence Davis II, Harrison Barnes, Alex Len (Note: Good chance Moe Harkless starts for TD2)

Hornets projected starters: Cody Martin, Kelly Oubre, Gordon Hayward, Miles Bridges, P.J. Washington

Gentry quotes: Said they have to do better at containing the ball and keeping teams from getting downhill, said they have to be better on the glass (sounds like two big defensive problems), said they just wanted to give Moe Harkless one more game (he was available), said he liked how Davion played as  “typical rookie” but he works extremely hard to improve his shot.

Borrego quotes: Said turnovers in transition were the biggest problem along with Embiid getting too many foul calls, said these are the “grind-out days” with some injuries and losses, said he may have played his guys too many minutes, said Nick Richards showed he belongs and can protect the paint, said Thor looks like he belongs out there.

Stats and Notes: 

*Pace off the bat! And it’s a pick ’em! The Hornets continue to put themselves in outstanding game environments these days to make this arguably the best game to attack. Over the last seven games, the Hornets are first in offensive rating and last in defensive rating. The Kings are first in pace over this span, and basically there is no wrong answer here on who to play.

*No Holmes obviously changes things, and it puts Alex Len and Tristan Thompson in huge spots. The Hornets are getting absolutely killed inside these days, and we’ve seen Alex Len show he can score when he’s on — defense not so much.

*The Kings have actually been pretty good at limiting 3-pointers this year, so that does take a little upside off Kelly Oubre. We know he’s going to play a ton, but he might actually see some Davion Mitchell to slow him down, as well.

*Holy Miles Bridges. He drove it a whopping 24 times in the last game, and the Kings are going to be giving up a ton of points. His role is too good and I’d expect him to be able to eat inside with massive playing time. P.J. Washington is also in a big spot, and he might even start to up his ceiling.

*De’Aaron Fox was not messing around on Wednesday with his ludicrous 24 points on 20 drives to get him to 33 points for his highest-scoring game under 35 minutes this season. Yeah, it’s a one-game sample, but I’m buying this version of Fox from Wednesday that resembled his post-break 2021 run. The only downside is he only had six potential assists, but I’ll take the scoring edge.

*Potential assists were not a problem for Tyrese Haliburton with 16 potentials, leading to an 18/3/11 line in 38 minutes. His minutes should be high and this high-paced game should be right up his alley. I’d prefer Fox for upside, but Haliburton is in a great spot.

 

Dallas Mavericks at Indiana Pacers