[Izulde]

Will Jestor's Kings Make It 2-0 Against Augusto's Mavericks?

For the second year in a row, the Jestor-GM'ed Sacramento Kings suit up against the Marcelino Augusto-led Dallas Mavericks in the postseason. The two still bear little love for each other, with Jestor remarking early last week that "Augusto, unfortunately, has always been concerned with himself as the face of a franchise and if somebody else supersedes him, he gets unhappy and rather selfishly so, I think" and Augusto firing back, "The reason Denver was so bad last year and why they needed that smart trade this year to get into the playoffs is because Jestor took an amazing team and wrecked it, starting by getting rid of me."

But of course, that same Nuggets team won a third straight title after Augusto was traded and the Finals MVP of that year was Jonte Jones, the man he was traded for. However, facts such as that don't stand in the way of a good story or a continued, heated rivalry between two of the game's biggest personalities. (With apologies to David "50 Ninja" Jackson) and this should be another great series between two very talented teams.

Point Guard
Ray Fields vs. Devone Allen
Fields fits flawlessly into the Kings' offense and did a sensational job of running it in the first round, averaging 14 points, 11.6 assists and 1.4 steals, showing off some great ball skills.

His better defense will be a key component as he goes up against Allen, one of the Mavericks' two perennial All-NBA players. Allen had a fantastic outing in the sweep against the Hornets with 21.8 points, 6 rebounds, 8.5 assists and a block per game. Shot a fiery 61.8%, the best start he's ever had to a playoffs. There's just no flaws to his game, as he's the total package player, a 6'8 SF who can run an offense better than a lot of true PGs. He should have little difficulty in containing Fields and harrasing him into turnovers.

Advantage: Mavericks

Shooting Guard
William Tackett vs. Jeremy Leach
Tackett looked extremely comfortable playing out of the SG spot against the Clippers, amassing 18.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 2.2 blocks. While he'll get scored on a lot, he finds ways to disrupt the other team's rhythm and make an overall positive impact for the Kings.

Leach struggled at times shooting the ball against New Orleans, but he still averaged 16 points and a steal. He should see many more points and much greater accuracy against Tackett, but he'll have to watch out that he doesn't get scored on himself, as he's only average on defense and not really a playmaker on that side o the court. Still, the veteran should outduel the youngster here.

Advantage: Mavericks

Small Forward
David Anyan vs. Brad Smalls
Even on a Kings team that developed a much more balanced offense this season, Anyan's still the scoring leader, averaging 22.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, a steal and 1.4 blocks. Like Allen, he has no real holes in his game and is an absolutely ferocious defender.

Which of course means that no-defense Smalls is in for a very rough series and will be clamped down from his 15.5 points and 2.3 steals. How non-existant is Smalls' defense? So much so that Tackett's a better defender than he is. Arguably the single biggest mismatch of the series and one that the Kings must absolutely win decisively to advance.

Advantage: Kings

Power Forward
Jim Johnson vs. Marcelino Augusto
Twizzler Johnson had a very quiet first round, averaging 7.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and a steal. On the other hand, he shot 58.1% and showed careful selection. But he'll need to be a little more aggressive in going for scoring this round, both to try and combat the Mavericks' firepower and to draw fouls on Augusto. Then again, he did an excellent job of containing Tim Butler in the previous series.

Augusto's extremely energetic right now, averaging 30 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks in the playoffs. He nearly singlehandedly beat Sacramento last year and Johnson's going to have to try and slow him down as much as he can, if indeed anyone can halt an in-prime megastar like Augusto.

Advantage: Mavericks

Center
Terrence Howard vs. Daniel Wilder
Howard looks in peak form right now after abusing the Clippers for 19.8 points, 12.2 rebounds and 3.2 blocks. He's been a steady saving grace for Sacramento all season long, a critical component inside.

Wilder's big to the point of being fat at 6'9, 282 lbs and he shot a woeful 27.3% in the opening round. On most teams, he'd be buried on the end of the bench, because as his 3 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 2.3 blocks illustrate, he's little more than a guy who can grab some rebounds and make some highlight defensive plays, despite being a mediocre technical defender. Guys like this are the kind that players like Howard love to hammer away on.

Advantage: Kings

Bench
Mike Vines came out of nowhere to average 10.6 points and 7 rebounds in the opening series. He's fired up to be playing for his original team again, a version of it that has a real shot at a championship. He can score, rebound and play tyrannical defense. Nigel Abel is bothered by a knee injury, so he likely won't replicate his 7.8 points from the first round, but the Kings are deep enough that they can find other scoring options if need be. Jameel Williams has been great running things off the bench, averaging 4.8 assists.

David Tucker is a one man wrecking crew for the Mavericks, posting 12.5 points and 2.3 steals against New Orleans. But the rest of Dallas's reserves either are little-utilized or simply don't have much talent to speak of. Like the Clippers, the Mavericks have almost no big man depth and that's going to kill them against a balanced team like Sacramento.

Advantage: Kings

Final Thoughts
This is going to be another classic battle, a closely contested series that should go all 7 games. Homecourt advantage will rescue Sacramento in this one, but who knows how healthy they'll be at the end of what promises to be a protracted war?
Prediction: Kings in 7

An accurate assessment in my opinion. Any team with Marcelino Augusto and Devone Allen on it has to be taken very seriously.

Game One
Solid performance by our starting five, with everyone scoring at least 12 points. David Anyan shreds Dallas for 29 points and Ray Fields manufactures 18 points and 11 assists. Dallas counters with 29 points from Marcelino Augusto, 16 points from David Tucker off the bench and 8 reserve points and 10 reserve rebounds from James Williams. Short and sweet, their subs outduel ours and we get off on the wrong foot to start the series.
Final - Dallas 115 Sacramento 103

Game Two
We really couldn't afford to lose that first game, which makes winning this one all the more imperative. And yet, despite that urgency, Dallas makes a furious fourth quarter rally, captained by Marcelino Augusto's spell-binding 39 points, 19 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 blocks and a steal and Jeremy Leach's 31 points. We push back with 22 points and 11 rebounds from David Anyan, 21 points and 13 rebounds from Terrence Howard, 22 points from William Tackett, Ray Fields's 17 points and 18 assists and Nigel Abel's 14 bench points on 7 of 8 shooting despite a sprained knee. In the end, it's just enough to escape with a 2 point victory and an all-important tied series.
Final - Dallas 117 Sacramento 119

Game Three
Game 2 proved a costly victory, as William Tackett banged up his calf really badly and we have to start Nigel Abel. Jeremy Leach loves going up against Abel and burns both him and us for 32 points, while Marcelino Augusto hauls in 18 points and 15 rebounds, Devone Allen plays the role of a PG with 14 points and 12 assists and David Tucker scores 12 off the bench. Nigel Abel responds with 25 points, Ray Fields roars for 27 points and 15 assists, David Anyan scores 26 and Terrence Howard charges for 18 points and 10 rebounds as we stun the Mavericks in Dallas and steal a 2-1 series lead by rallying in the fourth quarter.
Final - Sacramento 119 Dallas 110

Game Four
Another phyrric victory we had in Game 3, as David Anyan took a headshot and has a serious concussion. Not bad enough to keep him out of the lineup, but enough to really give us concern for the rest of the series. How prophetic that preview article seems now. And yet, despite the pounding in his head, David Anyan scores 20, a 20 points matched by Ray Fields to go with his 18 assists, while Terrence Howard dials up 13 points and 12 rebounds. Marcelino Augusto hammers us for 26 points and 11 rebounds, Jeremy Leach scores 24, Devone Allen adds 10 points and 10 assists and David Tucker shoots a cool 12 points from the bench. Tied series, right? Wrong. Nigel Abel turns back the clock and hits shot after shot all night long for a stupendous 39 points to carry us to an improbable 3 point victory and a sweep in Dallas that puts us in the driver's seat at 3 games to 1!!!!
Final - Sacramento 110 Dallas 107

That Boston won the series isn't really a surprise. What -is- surprising is that they put down the Raptors in a sweep. It's one of the most disappointing playoff runs for Toronto in years and I call up the staff and front office to offer my sincere condolences. I would've liked to have one more Finals go against them before they begin reloading, which should be coming up in the next year or two.

Game Five
Can we close it out here in front of the fanatic Kings faithful? Jeremy Leach and Brad Smalls say no with 23 and 21 points and David Tucker says the same with 11 bench points. But Terrence Howard says yes with his 24 points, Nigel Abel says yes with 23 points, Ray Fields uses his 14 points and 14 assists to vote yes and so does William Tackett with his supporting 11 points. But the real decision-maker was Jim Johnson, who had his best game of the playoffs when we needed it most, grabbing 16 points and 12 rebounds while simulataneously holding Marcelino Augusto to his lowest output of the series: 19 points and 8 rebounds. The victory is our most biggest margin and the crowd's all aglow as we knock off the mighty Mavericks foe.
Final - Dallas 98 Sacramento 121

Atlanta/Washington and Seattle/Denver both give exciting playoff basketball of their own, each of them going seven games. Oswaldo Apolonario is finally going to the East Conference Finals as his Hawks edge the Wizards while Dontay Williamson's Nuggets blow a 3-1 series lead to fall in Game 7 to the Supersonics, spoiling the matchup the NBA and the media was hoping for in the West Conference Finals.

Not that I'm complaining. While it would have been even richer in storylines than this round against the Mavericks was, a lot of the players I brought to the Nuggets are still with my old team and that would've been a fight I didn't want, especially not with Williamson against Howard.

Could this be our year? Our year for a first-ever Kings Finals appearance? Perhaps even a ring?

A little maybe echoes in answer in my head.