Kings vs. Clippers Preview: North of the Wall

LA’s other, other, other team is in town today and after a vengeful loss to Aubrey Graham’s traveling sportswear models in the fourth quarter, Sacramento will look to quench the unquenchable – the thirst for wins, especially against a Clippers team that’s trying to stay afloat. With Kawhi Leonard out and James Harden healthy, the Clippers are vulnerable, and if the Kings are serious about being one of the best teams in a stacked Western Conference, they will have to take note of every advantage presented to them. Can the Kings snap a second three-game winning streak before the 10-game mark? Will the Raptors’ fourth quarter be the spark in the powder keg for the Kings going forward? Can someone please tell me what the hell Norman Powell is doing this season?

Let’s talk Kings basketball.

When: Friday, November 8, 7:00 p.m. PST
Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA
TV: NBCSCA – Mark Jones (play-by-play)
radio: Sactown Sports 1140am

For your consideration

…It’s Powell, you finish: Yes, we’re about to start thinking about the meaning of life and look at the ignorance that comes from staring at Norman Powell’s statistics for too long. Simply put: Stormin’ Norman is starting the season with absolute flying colors. This guy is a 10-year veteran with a career average of 12.5 points per game, an average of 13.9 points in 76 appearances with the Clippers last season and 17.0 points in 60 appearances the season before that. He is one of the better backup players in the league. I don’t deny him that. He’s also a known quantity and at 31, his best basketball days are just about here. The milk is by no means stale, but use it over the next few days or your roommates will start asking questions.

So conventional wisdom would say that Norman Powell shouldn’t be averaging 25 per game in 8 games this season. Yes, with Paul George jumping ship and Kawhi playing a game of Salad Tongs Operation, Norm should get more minutes – 7.2, to be exact. But this man is only taking 17 shots per game, three more than his career high. He’s making it at a rate of 53.0%, up 6.9% from the peak season of his career, while making 8.5 three-pointers per game, a rate of 48.5%. The man is the leading scorer on a team that features James Harden, a healthy James Harden, a James Harden who now has a greener light than literally any other player since moving to Houston. After the Leonard injury and the opening of the fifteen trillion dollar Intuit Dome, Steve Ballmer definitely wants to win as many games as possible, and that’s good for Steve, which is great for Harden’s plan, but… the one under Powell this caused a stir for eight games ass?

Is it short-lived? Uh probably. Relapse into normality, Harden getting jealous, Kawhi coming back – expect so many things to bring Powell back down to earth. But for now, I can’t say I don’t love watching a roleplayer explode like that, even if the brightness is doomed to be more lightning than fire.

As for the rest of these Clippers – they are staying afloat heading into this season. They have the third-slowest pace, rank seventh in defensive rating and hold their opponents to the fourth-lowest point average in the league. They hold their opponents to the lowest number of two-point attempts per game and rank in the top ten in steals while ranking in the bottom third in blocked shots. This team is not a nuclear bomb, it is a snare. They try to set the pace, they capitalize on turnovers and slowly suffocate you, one mistake at a time. On offense, they have the seventh-worst point total of the season, have the 20th-best offensive rating, and when it comes to shooting, they are just three and two points above or below the league average. If you think Harden’s bad behavior rubbed off on the rest of his LA teammates, that’s not the case. They rank in the bottom third in free throw attempts and are the third worst in three-point attempts. Now, what about Harden’s death? Yes! They’re 13th in assists but 29th in turnovers, so Harden definitely scores points here.

Speaking of James, I can’t say he’s struggling to start the year. He averages 20.8 points, 9.4 assists and 8.1 rebounds, as well as 1.8 steals and 1.3 blocks. So he’s still a quality player in the league, but he’s not quite the Harden he once was. Shooting 37.6% from the field and 28.4% from deep, Harden is still shooting at Harden volume, he just hasn’t gotten used to being Houston Harden for a team that has that man in would definitely like to see this season.

The Clippers are a good team. Don’t let a single injury dictate your expectations for the season. They could fall off a cliff at some point, but right now they’re a .500 team with guys who can score, rebound and play Ty Lue defense. They’re a good mix of youth, athleticism and toughness, and the moment you think the Kings are running cake tonight is the moment the leash tightens and they yank the leash tight around their neck.

The little stuff

DeRoz to DeTop: Congratulations to Deebo on ending Chris Webber’s streak of 20 points to start a Kings career. There are only eight games left and there’s still a lot to fight for, but any time you break a record Webber set in Sacramento, you’re doing something right. This is about continuing to prove the talking heads wrong.

forecast

Zubac and Sabonis both have pronounced tiger scratches on their arms tonight, one of Derrick Jones Jr. or Kai Jones gets an ESPN Top 10 worthy body tonight, and the game is close late into the night with Harden on a critical one Point a Harden draws so the Kings can finish it off.

Kings: 108, Clippers: 104