Travis Outlaw has been key in both Sacramento Kings’ victories over the Blazers. Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Just Announced: DeMarcus Cousins is not with the team in Portland tonight (Coach’s Decision).

— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) December 26, 2012

Regardless of how Wednesday’s game shakes out, whether or not Portland loses the season series to the Kings 3-1 or ends it in a 2-2 tie, the biggest story coming out of it will likely be that once again DeMarcus Cousins was not a part of it. Cousins is no longer suspended, but The Sacramento Bee reports that according to Kings’ head coach Keith Smart, being reinstated doesn’t necessarily mean he’s going to play. Wednesday will be the second game in a row DMC will have missed, and the third time he’s been held out of the lineup due to suspension when his team faced the Blazers.

So onto Wednesday’s game.

While compiling my preview for the month of December, I predicted that the Blazers would struggle against the Spurs and Nuggets at home, while beating the Kings a bunch of times. I was wrong on both counts. The question then is, would you take wins against San Antonio and Denver this month if you were told that getting them might mean losing twice to the Kings and having to pull off a win in the second half of a home-and-home just to tie the season series?

My contention is yes, you take those win in a trade for those losses. San Antonio is a top-four team in the West; Denver might make the Playoffs. Beating good teams is better than beating bad teams. I would say it’s maybe even better than losing to bad teams. Many people will strongly disagree with those statements, considering that losing to bad teams is the best way to tank for the purpose of getting better picks, and beating good teams if you’re not a playoff team is basically meaningless unless you ascribe some type of quantitative value to things like “developing character.” Regardless, tanking isn’t a thing that actually happens, and building confidence is pretty important for a young team. Take the win over the Spurs; forget about losing twice, possibly three times, in one month to the Kings.

Blazers Starting 5: PG Damian Lillard, SG Victor Claver, SF Nicolas Batum, PF LaMarcus Aldridge, C J.J. Hickson

Kings Starting 5: PG Aaron Brooks, SG Marcus Thornton, SF John Salmons, PF James Johnson, C Jason Thompson

When you’ve faced the same team three times in three weeks, there should basically be no surprises. Looking at the box scores from the last three match-ups between the Kings and Blazers, it’s quite clear that the team that shoots better from three wins. I said as much in my recap of Portland’s abysmal Christmas Eve Eve loss in Sacramento.

Possibly, the Blazers take the embarrassment of last Sunday to heart and play a little bit of defense. Maybe not. Maybe Portland will realize that the Kings are not the better of these two teams, come out early, and run Sacramento out of the Rose Garden. I’m not holding my breath on that one.

Portland has looked good at times in 2012-13. They’ve also looked bad. They, however, have looked at their absolute worst this season against Sacramento (minus their one victory in November). Win or lose, the Blazers will be done playing the Kings until next season. We can all be thankful for that.

What to Watch For

• Which Blazer team will show up. Bounce-back game? Get right game? Revenge game? Call it whatever you want. Portland needs to show up Wednesday. If they don’t, they’ll have lost their first season series of 2012-13.
• Can Portland stop Travis Outlaw. Trout has played in 11 games this season. He’s been held score-less four times, he’s scored two points twice, and four and six points once each. He has a total of three games in which he’s reached double figures. One of those games was a blowout loss to the Clippers. A game he started, played 26 minutes, and managed a grand total of 11 points. Against his old team, however, Travis has been on fire. Trout went for 11 points in 17 minutes shooting 71% from the field and 100% from three when the Kings killed the Blazers in Portland, and then scored 15 points in 16 minutes shooting 86% from the field and 100% again from three (1-for-1 both times) on Sunday in Sacramento. Travis probably won’t start, but if he plays more than 15 minutes and scores more than 10 points, the Kings win.
• Portland’s shooting. The Blazers torched the Kings when they made their threes.

@mikeacker | @ripcityproject | mike.acker1@gmail.com

Dec 23, 2012; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings small forward John Salmons (5) drives in against Portland Trail Blazers small forward Nicolas Batum (88) during the third quarter at Sleep Train Arena. The Sacramento Kings defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 108-96. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Hey, if you’re going to blow a winning streak, there’s no better way to do it than getting taken to pieces for the second time in three weeks by the wayward and failing Sacramento Kings. The good news is we get to replay this game on Wednesday. The great news is Portland doesn’t have to play the Kings again after that until the 2013-14 season.

I hope you were doing something fun last night. Maybe you were like me and attending a holiday party and only following Portland’s progress on you phone or on Twitter. Let’s hope that you weren’t playing Grinch to your own Christmas and actually watching this game. The season and these Blazers are still young. They’re still developing a personality. They’re still trying to find a way to win night in and night out. They’ll get there. There are going to be bumps along the way, Sunday’s big time loss in Sacramento was one of those bumps.

Growing pains are to be expected. It’s when a team lets one bad game turn into a bad week or they let a bad week turn into a bad month or they let a bad month turn into a bad season that you have the Washington Wizards. Every game is important. Something can be learned every night. That being said, some times you have a game that needs to be forgotten by the team that lost it by the time they are on the bus leaving the Sleep Train Area. That’s what a young Blazer team can learn from Sunday. Saturday night you’re the winner of five straight, a game above .500, looking at cracking the top eight, flying as high as can be. Sunday night you’ve lost again to the Kings, and need a win to avoid losing that season series. Fates have a tendency to change over night.

Portland is probably not a playoff team, so really all the hype about getting over .500 is basically just hype. They’re a good team. though. They have a ton of potential. What they need to do right now is forget Sunday happened, forget they somehow couldn’t make a defensive stop, forget that two times now they’ve somehow managed to morph Travis Outlaw version 12-13 into Travis Outlaw version 08-09. Dwelling on this game is not in the best interests of this team, and it’s not in the best interest of fans of this team.

Go enjoy your holidays. The Blazers have a chance to get back on track and same their season (series against the Kings) Wednesday night at the Rose Garden.

Couple quick things:

• Sunday night, Portland allowed the Kings to shoot 56% from the field (45-of-81) and 47% from three (9-of-19). The last time these two teams played back on December 8th, Sacramento shot 42% from the field (36-of-86) and 47% from three (an identical 9-of-19). The first time the Blazers and Kings played this season on November 13th, Sacramento’s shooting percentages were 47% from the field (36-of-77) and a whopping 10% from three (1-of-11). One of those three nights was an outlier. Can you guess which one? Sunday, the Kings got threes from Marcus Thornton (2-of-5), John Salmons (1-of-3), Aaron Brooks (2-of-3), Isaiah Thomas (2-of-4), Jimmer Fredette (1-of-3), and Travis Outlaw (1-of-1). Not a single guy that got hot, but a bunch of shooters knocking down the shots they’re expected to make. Saturday in Portland, the Blazers were running Phoenix’s three-point shooters off the line, taking away their long-distance game. If the magic number for the Kings to beat the Blazers is 47% from three, then the Blazers know what they need to stop. For the record, Portland shot poorly from three in Sunday’s loss (29%), a little better from three in their first loss to the Kings (38%), and outstanding from deep in their blowout win in Sacramento in November (52% getting five threes from Damian Lillard alone). Portland and Sacramento are both jump shooting teams. Maybe a specific percentage won’t determine a winner, but whatever team shoots better from three will probably win on Wednesday.
• Speaking of Wednesday, Twitter is reporting that DeMarcus Cousins has been reinstated, meaning on that day he will suit up and play against the Blazers (tweet via Matt Moore, article also via Matt Moore). As of Monday, the Kings are 1-1 against Portland without DMC, and 1-0 against Portland with DMC. Will the results even out Wednesday? Tune in to find out.
• So like I said might happen following the Suns game, maybe I brought back my Standings Watch a little early. I won’t run down the standings and Portland’s position relative to the playoffs again until the Blazers have reached two games over .500.

Box Score

Standings

@mikeacker | @ripcityproject | mike.acker1@gmail.com

Dec 23, 2012; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings mascot holds mistletoe during the fourth quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers at Sleep Train Arena. The Sacramento Kings defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 108-96. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins will be once again suspended when the Kings face the Blazers Sunday in Sacramento. Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA Today Sports

The Sacramento Kings have given the Blazers a nice early Christmas present. Saturday afternoon they suspended DeMarcus Cousins for “unprofessional behavior and conduct detrimental to the team.” Now in his third NBA season, Cousins’ obvious skill has only been outpaced by his total inability to function as a professional basketball player. Without Cousins, the Kings are mess. Cousins is a mess. The situation is not good.

Sunday evening Portland faces the Kings for now the third time this season and the second time in three weeks. The first time these two teams faced off, DMC was serving a two-game suspension for a hostile confrontation with Spurs announcer and consummate professional emeritus Sean Elliot, his first suspension of the season (he also sat one game earlier in December for striking O.J. Mayo in the groin). On that night, the Blazers were victorious 103-86, their first real blowout of the season.

The second time Portland and Sacramento squared off, DMC was back in the Kings’ lineup. That night, Sacramento tuned up the Blazers 99-80. Cousins contributed 19 points. He may not be the difference, that night Portland was way out of sync and played about as badly as they have all season, but he might just be the best player on his team. When your best player is also the one who is the hardest to control, you’re team is in trouble. Like I said, all is not well for the future Virginia Beach Kings.

Blazers Starting 5: PG Damian Lillard, SG Sasha Pavlovic, SF Nicolas Batum, PF LaMarcus Aldridge, C J.J. Hickson

Kings Starting 5:PG Aaron Brooks, SG Marcus Thornton, SF John Salmons, PF Jason Thomspon, C Chuck Hayes

Yet another favorable match-up situation for the Blazers. Instead of getting into for the third time, here‘s my preview from earlier this month, and here‘s my preview from last month. The idea for Portland should be simple, play a little defense, take care of the ball, and get good high percentage looks. I said basically the same thing about Saturday’s game, and I know it sounds simplistic, but for the Blazers the formula is becoming pretty simple.

Portland is superior to Sacramento at most positions, but not one Blazer is going to beat the Kings by himself. A team effort from all of Portland’s roster should be enough to extend the Blazers’ winning streak to six.

What to Watch For

• Portland’s bench. I’ve got Sasha Pavlovic starting at shooting guard with Wesley Matthews not making the trip. Pav isn’t the Blazers’ most potent scorer off the bench, but he’s one fewer reserve meaning somebody else is going to have to step in a make up for him being inserted into the starting five. Will Barton hasn’t had a big night in awhile, neither has Joel Freeland. Sunday’s game should be pretty open and loose. Barton might be able to thrive in that environment. Freeland, on the other hand, will probably struggle against Sac’s formidable front line. That being said, banging with Chuck Hayes et. al. might be a good way for Joel to shake out the cobwebs a little bit.
• Damian Lillard versus Aaron Brooks. Lillard is on a tear this month, just as he was last month. Aaron Brooks is the kind of guy who has given Damian nightmares. Brooks got the better of Dame in Portland. Damian blew up in Sacramento with Brooks spending much of the night not playing. I expect big things from Damian on Sunday, but I expect big things from him every night.
• Dictate and dominate. I’ve said it a couple of times already, but it’s the thing to look for with these Blazers. Saturday they once again found a way to win. Sunday, it would be nice if Portland could set the tone early, and carry it through for a full 48 minutes.

@mikeacker | @ripcityproject | mike.acker1@gmail.com