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NBA Saturday: Indiana Pacers vs. Sacramento Kings
This game features a pair of teams that are currently below .500, but are filled with young stars that could bring their teams to glory in just a few years down the road. The Kings may have the tougher of the two roads, as they are in a very tough division, and while they have young talent, they don’t really have any proven leaders on the team. The Pacers are actually still in the playoff hunt for this season because as of this writing there are only six teams in all of the eastern conference that have a winning record.
Former Duke stand out Mike Dunleavy leads the Pacers with 17 points a game. Jamaal Tinsley, who has a scary ordeal early in the year involving a shooting, leads the team with assists, at eight per contest.
The Kings are led by youngster Kevin Martin, who has quietly emerged as a player to keep your eye on in the upcoming years. Martin is averaging over 24 points a game, while trying to keep his team afloat to the best of his abilities. One of the major problems this year is that the Kings have already lost eight games at home. At a time not to long ago it seemed the Kings would take three or four years to lose that many games at home. Despite that, I think the Kings will find a way to defeat the visiting Pacers in what should be a close, competitive game that could go either way.
NBA Sunday: Detroit Pistons vs. New York Knicks
Much to the chagrin of many New York Knick fans, Isaiah Thomas is still the coach, and the team is a ship that is sinking fast. The effort of the team has been questioned throughout every media outlet, and for good reason. At certain times during this season the Knicks have appeared to quit in the middle of the game. Also, Thomas has looked beside himself as of late, often just sitting in his chair the entire game, with almost a look of disgust covering his face. As of this writing Thomas is still the coach, but don’t be surprised if he isn’t by this game.
The Detroit Pistons on the other hand look like a team on a mission. A few weeks ago they traveled to Boson and beat the seemingly unbeatable Celtics in one of the early candidates for game of the year. Since then the Pistons have been on a roll, winning ten games in a row as of this writing. The Pistons were getting a wrap that they only played when they “needed to,” but I think this recent resurgence suggests otherwise.
As mentioned, the Knicks are a team in trouble, and the Pistons are just going to add to it on national television. Richard Hamilton, Chauncy Billups, and Rasheed Wallace are on a roll, and you can bet it’s not going to stop here. My prediction is that the game might even be embarrassing, and that by somewhere around the middle of the first quarter the boo birds will be out.
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