THE SCENARIO:Â It is October 2016. The Sacramento Kings are now under new ownership following the dysfunctional tenure of Vivek Ranadive. Former Memphis Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger has been hired as the team’s new Head Coach, while franchise player and two-time All Star DeMarcus Cousins has been traded to the New Orleans Pelicans. The Cousins trade was the final move made by former GM Vlade Divac and signals a full scale rebuild for the Kings. New owner Ryan Lantz has hired Derek Lee as Divac’s replacement, but with a young roster lacking a star and a playoff drought stretching 10 years and counting, can he turn the Kings from the NBA’s laughing stock into a respectable franchise once again?
Previous episodes: Episode 1
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1 November 2016
After that heartbreaking loss to the Hawks last night, we’re in Miami tonight to take on the Heat. The Eastern Conference road trip then continues with games against the Magic, Bucks, and Raptors. After that we play seven of the next eight at home, before ending the month with another Eastern Conference road trip.
Sacramento Kings vs Miami Heat
The Heat enter this game 0-3 and are looking for their first win of the season. After losing LeBron James a few seasons ago, they’ve now also lost Dwyane Wade to the Bulls. Only Chris Bosh remains from their big three that won two championships not that long ago.
We’re playing the second night of a back-to-back, and it shows. The Heat open up a double digit lead after the first quarter and pour in 44 points in the third to end up with a blowout win, 122-92. Dion Waiters has 25 points, while Bosh and Hassan Whiteside record double-doubles in points and rebounds. Gay leads our team with 17 points.
3 November 2016
Sacramento Kings vs Orlando Magic
We remain in Florida for our next game against the Magic, who have made a surprisingly good start to the season going 3-1 so far.
A close game is finally broken in the fourth quarter as we score 41 points to the Magic’s 22. Gay leads all scorers with 28 points, while Koufos has a solid game with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Finally another W, and we’ll aim to start a winning streak against the Bucks.
5 November 2016
Sacramento Kings vs Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks are one of the youngest teams in the league, and also one of the most exciting. Led by ‘The Greek Freak’ Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker, the team has also added former Pistons big man Greg Monroe to the roster.
*Author’s note: It seems I forgot to screenshot the box scores for this game, but let’s just say we didn’t win. I distinctly remember Giannis dunking on us a few times in the fourth quarter and Cauley-Stein throwing the ball out of bounds from an inbounds pass. Yeah.
After the game, I’m asked about Lawson’s frustration at not being a starter. And I thought the Kings would be drama-free after the Cousins trade. What a fool I was.
6 November 2016
Sacramento Kings vs Toronto Raptors
We head up north to take on the Raptors in the second night of another back-to-back. I’m slightly worried as we’re taking on one of the better teams in the East. The only glimmer of hope is that the Raptors haven’t started the season well and are 1-4 having lost four straight games.
To my pleasant surprise we end up winning this one despite trailing by 10 after three quarters. An offensive explosion in the fourth led by Hield carries us to victory as the rookie scores a career high 38 points and drains eight shots from downtown. Five other Kings also score at least 10 points which helps us overcome DeMar DeRozan’s 34 points for Toronto.
8 November 2016
New Orleans Pelicans vs Sacramento Kings
After going 2-3 on the road trip, we’re back home as we welcome Cousins and the Pelicans. It’s weird seeing Boogie in another uniform, but we’ll put sentiment aside as we try to record back-to-back wins for the first time this season. Anthony Davis misses the game with an injury so that should give us a better chance of winning.
And winning is exactly what we do. Cousins has 28 points and 12 rebounds, but only three other Pelicans finish in double digits. Compare that to seven Kings with at least 10 points, led by Gay’s 29 and Hield’s 26. Ball movement is also key as we finish with 36 assists in a 134-109 win.
9 November 2016
Things are looking better now after two straight wins. Tyreke Evans however, isn’t happy with his minutes. It’s understandable, but with our best player (Gay) starting at Small Forward and Hield getting the majority of minutes at the 2, it’s difficult for Coach to give him more minutes.
Meanwhile, McLemore (the disappointing basketballer, not the white rapper) wants a contract extension. After ROFL-ing for a few minutes, I bluntly deny him his request. He’s barely in the rotation at the moment, and nothing he’s done in the past few years suggests he deserves it. I’d much rather use his expiring contract as a trade chip or to clear cap space for next season.
10 November 2016
Los Angeles Lakers vs Sacramento Kings
The Lakers are in town for the first of four matchups this season. Man, I miss the days where games between the two teams decided division and conference supremacy. These days they seem to be about proving which team is slightly less crap.
As it turns out, the Lakers are the less crap team as they win this one 121-118. To be fair to us, it was a pretty close game that was only decided in the last minute. D’Angelo Russell led the Lakers with 37 points, while Gay had 27 points to lead us. Ah well, maybe next time we’ll be the winners of the trying-not-to-be-the-worst-team-in-California matchup.
11 November 2016
Sacramento Kings vs Portland Trailblazers
The second game of a back-to-back sees us travel to Oregon to face the Blazers. They’re struggling this season after losing Damian Lillard for the season to a dislocated knee. We still need to be wary of his backcourt mate CJ McCollum though.
McCollum has a great game with 36 points, but it’s not enough as we manage to win 122-111. Collison has his best game of the season with 28 points and 12 assists, while Cauley-Stein, Gay, and Evans also make useful contributions.
16 November 2016
San Antonio Spurs vs Sacramento Kings
We welcome the Spurs to Sacramento for the second time this season. They beat us first time around, so we’re looking to even the score. To do that we’ll need to limit Kawhi Leonard as much as possible, which is easier said than done.
Man, this was close. After we open up a 15 point lead after the first quarter, the Spurs bounce back with a stronger second quarter. A fairly even third quarter ends with them leading by two, but we hang with them in the fourth and tie it up with 2.1 seconds to go. What happens next? Kawhi Leonard. The dude with big hands picks up the ball and drains a turnaround baseline jumper at the buzzer to defeat us. We can take heart from the fact that we competed against a perennial contender but it still sucks to lose this way.
18 November 2016
Los Angeles Clippers vs Sacramento Kings
The Clippers are the next opponents to visit the Golden 1 Center, and are riding a 9-3 start to the season. It wasn’t so long ago that we were a playoff team and they were a laughing stock, but those roles have definitely been reversed now. I’ll be surprised if we win this one, to be perfectly honest.
We don’t win, so I guess I’ll just have to wait to be surprised. In truth, we never look like winning except for a decent first quarter which ends with us leading by five. In the end, the Clippers are too much for us and Blake Griffin does a bit of everything, recording a triple-double. Gay leads us with 23 points, while Evans has a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
20 November 2016
Toronto Raptors vs Sacramento Kings
We’ve already beaten the Raptors once, and we have a great chance of beating them again as their starting bigs, Valanciunas and Ibaka, are both injured. If we can limit their All-Star backcourt of Lowry and DeRozan, we’ll win.
Well, turns out we couldn’t limit them, and we lost. Lowry, DeRozan, and PJ Tucker combine for 81 points and despite missing their two big men they still outrebound us 58-48. To make things worse, we lose one of our own big men to injury as Koufos suffers a torn meniscus. The injury will keep him out for at least four months.
23 November 2016
Oklahoma City Thunder vs Sacramento Kings
Things don’t get any easier in our next game as Russell Westbrook and the Thunder roll into town. Sure, they don’t have KD anymore but Brodie is almost unguardable at times.
His stat line in this one? An absurd triple double of 37 points, 17 rebounds, and 21 assists. On top of that we also allow Victor Oladipo and Steven Adams to score more than 20 points so we never had a chance of winning. This has been an abysmal homestand, going 0-4 with one more game to go.
25 November 2016
Houston Rockets vs Sacramento Kings
After facing one triple-double threat in Russell Westbrook, we now face another in James Harden. I hope for a win to end this homestand, but realistically I’m expecting it to end 0-5 after tonight.
*Author’s note: Once again I forgot to screenshot the box scores, but yeah we lost. I can’t remember if Harden got his triple double but let’s just say he did. Does it make a difference? Nope.
After the game, reporters ask questions about this losing streak. Being the standup guy that I am, I take the blame for it. Hopefully the owner doesn’t use this as justification to sack me, or this will end up being a really short blog series.
27 November 2016
Sacramento Kings vs Brooklyn Nets
We’re off on another Eastern Conference road trip, and to be honest, I’m relieved. Our home record has been atrocious (1-8) and we seem to play better on the road (4-3). The game against the Nets gives us a good chance to get back to winning ways against one of the weaker teams in the league.
Finally, a comfortable win. A strong second quarter gives us a double digit lead at half-time, and we slowly add to it in the second half to come away with a 121-103 win. Gay, Collison, and Evans each finish with at least 20 points, while Cauley-Stein chips in with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
28 November 2016
Sacramento Kings vs Washington Wizards
The next night we take on the East-leading Wizards in Washington. Behind the stellar play of John Wall, they’ve compiled a 10-5 record so far.
Once again, Wall is the standout player as he dominates poor old Collison on his way to 34 points and 10 assists. To his credit, DC also records a double-double (albeit only 14 points to go with his 10 assists and he has 7 turnovers). The Wizards also shoot almost 50% from 3-point range on their way to a 134-102 blowout. Next up we head to Philly to take on the Sixers.
30 November 2016
Sacramento Kings vs Philadelphia 76ers
The final game of the month pits us against another rebuilding side in the 76ers. They’ve surprised a few people this season and are sitting at .500 with a respectable 9-9 record.
After three quarters of play we manage to build a 14 point lead and look to be heading to a much needed win. However, the Sixers go on a big run and manage to pull within four points with a few minutes remaining. Their comeback falls just short though, as some big free throws by Collison and Evans help us hold on for the win. Evans goes close to a triple-double with 20 points, 9 boards, and 8 assists, while Cauley-Stein has yet another double-double.
After the game, Lawson again voices his displeasure at not being a starter. I’m starting to get annoyed with him so I tell him bluntly that he hasn’t done enough to take Collison’s spot. Surprisingly he takes it quite well and seems determined to prove me wrong.
At the end of the month, the Warriors (to the surprise of absolutely no one on planet Earth) lead the West with a 15-3 record, closely followed by the Clippers (14-5). The Suns are at the bottom of the conference, while we’re just ahead of them in 12th. In between us are two teams clearly feeling the effects of injuries to their superstars: the Blazers and Pelicans.
Over in the East, the Wizards and Bulls are tied for first place (11-5) with the Cavs in 5th place after a 9-7 start. The Heat have the worst record in the NBA at 3-14 but it’s the Celtics who have the most surprising record (5-12). This leaves them third from bottom in the East, and unlike the Blazers and Pelicans, they haven’t had any of their star players out injured.
Screenshots from NBA 2K17 by 2K Sports
