Sacramento Kings vs Washington Wizards Game Preview
When the Washington Wizards and the Sacramento Kings face off on October 15 in Lexington’s Rupp Arena, it’ll be a battle of the blue and white. The game features two members of 2016’s NBA All-Star Team alongside two more first-round NBA draft picks, rounding out the group of four ex-Cats coming home to Kentucky.
John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, both drafted in 2010, are the franchise players of this matchup. They may be like brothers off the court, but as soon as they step onto the hardwood, they are fiercely competitive. Wall was 8th in the NBA in steals last season, and Cousins was 5th in rebounds, so watch for both to be aggressive in disrupting each other’s plays whenever the opportunity arises.
Cousins is in especially good shape after spending the off-season traveling with Team USA to Rio and winning a gold medal. He performed strong there, playing in all 8 games and starting in 5 of them. In 118 minutes played, Cousins scored 73 points total, an average of 9.1 points per game for a percentage of .61%; he had 46 total rebounds, an average of 5.8 per game. Last season for the Kings, he averaged 20.2 points, 10.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. In a game vs Israel’s Maccabi Haifa on October 10, Cousins played 17 minutes, and had 14 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
About returning to play another game in Lexington, Cousins told media, “It’s always fun to be able to go back and play where I kinda started off, see some old faces, some old friends.”
Wall, a 3-time NBA All-Star, averaged 18 points, 9 assists and 1.7 steals per game for the Wizards last season. He had been rehabilitating since May after surgery on both knees, and on October 3, he participated in full drills and 15-20 minutes of 5-on-5, according to J. Michael of CSN Mid-Atlantic who spoke with Wizards head coach Scott Brooks. He made his preseason debut on October 10 vs the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden, playing 15 minutes with 8 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists. Brooks told media before the game that Wall would be held to 16 minutes a game for now.
After the game, Wall told Candace Buckner of the Washington Post that Lexington “is like home, every time I go back. It’s going to be amazing (to play in Rupp). There are a lot of fans. It’s fun. I can’t wait to play there again. You play in front of 24,000 people; it don’t get no better.”
The Sacramento Kings are looking to see what rookie Skal Labissiere can bring to the team alongside Cousins and 2nd-year pro Willie Cauley-Stein. Fans got a first look at Labissiere during the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas; in five games, he averaged 11 points and 5.8 rebounds. In the Kings’ first game in the Golden 1 Center on October 10, Labissiere played for 17 minutes and had 10 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists. Willie Cauley-Stein racked up important gameplay minutes in Vegas Summer League as well, averaging 7.25 points and 5.5 rebounds in four games. Last season, Cauley-Stein was praised for his hustle and work in the paint, averaging 7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1 block per game for the Kings. On October 10, Cauley-Stein played for 16 minutes, and had 6 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist.
If we don’t get to see much of John Wall on October 15, the Wizards have another backcourt star in Bradley Beal, who impressed the crowd with his 3-point shooting when the Wizards played the New Orleans Pelicans in Rupp Arena in 2013; Anthony Davis’ block of a game-tying Bradley Beal shot won the game for the Pels. Beal also fell victim to injuries last season, missing over 20 games, but he is healthy and should play in the upcoming exhibition. In the game on October 10, Beal played 26 minutes, and had 17 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist.
John Wall and Bradley Beal were the only two players brought to the press conference room during the Wizards’ recent media day, according to the Washington Post, and their goal was ending the widespread speculation about how well they do or don’t get along. The media and fans had been buzzing about the duo after Wall told CSN’s Chris Miller in August that he and Beal “have a tendency to dislike each other on the court,” and referred to Beal, who signed a max contract this summer, as his “sidekick.”
“Everybody wants us to dislike each other,” Wall told the Post. “We don’t dislike each other. It’s just at times any team that has two great players who want to be great, we’re going to have disagreements from time to time.”
Beal agreed, comparing their relationship to the ones he shares with his brothers. “At the end of the day, we’re backcourt mates, we’re teammates, we’re two leaders of the team. We’re going to help us win games,” Beal told the Post.
Last season, the Kings made many in-game improvements led by starting point guard, NBA assist leader and former Wildcat Rajon Rondo, but it wasn’t enough to get them over the hump to a winning record, and in a summer free agency gut punch, the Kings unfortunately lost Rajon Rondo to the Chicago Bulls. Sacramento made other moves, though, acquiring league veterans like Arron Afflalo, Ty Lawson and Matt Barnes, who will join returning players like Rudy Gay, Darren Collison, Ben McLemore and Omri Casspi.
The acquisition of Matt Barnes is especially notable. He recently told the Sacramento Bee that he and DeMarcus Cousins are friends, sharing some of the same personality traits on and off the court, and that Cousins had been trying to get Barnes to come to Sacramento for “three or four years.” Barnes also mentioned the issues both have of racking up technical fouls; Cousins led the league in technical fouls with 17 during the 2015-16 season, and Barnes picked up 8.
“I was hotheaded, so to speak, and focused on the wrong thing,” Barnes told the Bee. “I think that would obviously take away from my game, but then take away from my team, because you’re getting technical fouls and committing dumb fouls that are vital to the team, especially for someone like (Cousins), because he’s such an important part of the team. But I think his growth has shown over the years, and I really think that him playing in the Olympics this summer has helped.”
Washington added a few other players to their roster over the summer, too, including Trey Burke, who was the 9th overall pick in the 2013 draft; 8-year veteran Ian Mahinmi; and 3-point threat Marcus Thornton, who was with the Sacramento Kings from 2011-2014. Markieff Morris joined the Wizards late last season as well, finally parting ways with the Phoenix Suns. They join returning players that include Marcin Gortat, Kelly Oubre and Otto Porter.
The Kings have a new head coach again this year: Dave Joerger, who was previously head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies. Sacramento has had a revolving door of head coaches since Cousins joined the league; as Cousins enters his 7th season, Joerger will be his 6th head coach. The Kings have not had a winning season since 2004-05, long before DeMarcus Cousins joined the franchise, but since he was drafted, the Kings’ win percentage has gone up every season. Hopes are high that with the roster changes, the new Golden 1 Center, and DeMarcus Cousins winning Olympic gold in Rio, maybe this will be the year that the Kings make it past .500.
The Wizards are led this season by new head coach Scott Brooks, who last had success coaching the Oklahoma City Thunder. After making it to the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2015, it was disappointing that the Wizards did not advance into postseason play in 2016. John Wall and Bradley Beal have often said that they are the best backcourt in the NBA, though, and now that both are returning to full strength, they are sure to do everything they can to lead the Wizards to the playoffs again in 2017.
