Kings Game Last Night

I went to the Kings game last night vs. Utah. As I was listening to the pregame show, one of the host (I think Grant Napier) guaranteed us a win on the following grounds: 1) Utah was missing 3 of their 4 best players (Kirilenko, Boozer, Harpring) (only Okur played of the 4), and they were playing their 4th game in 5 nights in the 4th different time zone. Indeed, Utah was sluggish and did not do well. But more importantly, how did the Kings do?

The Kings looked great in the first quarter, scoring something like 33 points. Their offense was in sync, and everybody was moving the ball and scoring. By the end of the first quarter, the Kings were already up by something like 21 points. Then the second string came in. And this is where things fell apart. The second string did not make a single shot in something like 8 minutes. It was incredible. That 21 point lead dwindled down to 4 or 6. Then Bibby came in, nailed a big 3 pointer, more starters came in, and the game was never close again. The Kings second string came in again in the 4th quarter because the Kings opened such a big lead in the third and they played better -- but still not good enough in my opinion.

As good as the starting lineup looked, the Kings will not be a good team this year if the bench can not score any points. And that is my prediction for the year: if the bench improves (particular Kenny Thomas, who hasn't found his rhythm yet, and probably Kevin Martin, who isn't shooting well yet), then the Kings will hit 50 wins. Otherwise, we're in for a disappointing year. It's that simple.

In the end, the Kings beat Utah by something like 36 points, the largest win margin against Utah ever.

The other thing that was shocking: a 24 oz beer at Arco Arena is $9.50.