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Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Sacramento Kings: game preview, start time, TV information

The Cavs face off against another lowly team.

By Carter Rodriguez
Sacramento Kings v Chicago Bulls Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

When are the Cavaliers going to lose again? Never? You technically cannot rule it out. Regardless, it’s unlikely that it’ll be on Wednesday night as the team squares off with the Kings at home. The Kings are quite bad.

Who: Cleveland Cavaliers (17-7) at Sacramento Kings (7-16)

When: 7 p.m. ET

Where: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH

Enemy Blog: Sactown Royalty

TV: Fox Sports Ohio

Online: Fox Sports GO, NBA League Pass

Cavs injuries: Isaiah Thomas (OUT - hip), Tristan Thompson (OUT - calf), Derrick Rose (OUT, away from team/ankle injury), Iman Shumpert (OUT - left knee)

Kings injuries: Harry Giles (OUT - knee)

Three keys to the game:

  • The Kings play an absolutely enormous lineup, with Willie Cauley-Stein playing power forward with Kosta Koufos at center. Neither can shoot at all, so the Cavaliers should be able to pack the paint defensively, especially given De’Aaron Fox’s personal limitations as a shooter as well. Offensively, they are a mess.
  • They’re not much better defensively, giving up 109.4 points per 100 possessions on the defensive end. In fact, they’re 29th in both offense and defense, so the Cavs are following playing the worst team in the league (Chicago) with the second-worst team in the league in the Kings. This winning streak has been impressive, but it certainly hasn’t come without a few cupcakes along the way.
  • The Cavs will need to stay in the moment for this one. They’ve got a tough back-to-back coming at Indiana and then back home against Philly, so it wouldn’t be stunning for the team to look ahead. They need to avoid that impulse and take care of business. The Kings are terrible, but the Cavs will have to play at least three solid quarters if they want to win (yes, I realize this was disrespectful).

Key Matchup

Kevin Love ought to eat against Kosta Koufos in space. It’s probably more likely that the Kings will stick Willie Cauley-Stein on him in the team’s starting alignment, and while that sounds good in theory, Cauley-Stein isn’t capable of executing defensive schemes at a high level. If the Cavs are creative in finding Love his shots, he should have a big game.

Fear the Sword’s Fearless Prediction

The Cavaliers should win this one rather easily. Cavs 117, Kings 101.

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