Kings at Grizzlies
THE STORY: The NBA season is young, but the Sacramento Kings have already suffered great ups and downs. The Kings rebounded from a New Year’s Eve loss to the Knicks with a 96-80 victory over the Hornets Sunday. However, Sacramento did so without second-year forward DeMarcus Cousins, who didn’t travel with the team after demanding a trade. The status for Cousins, who is averaging 13 points and 11 rebounds, is unknown for Tuesday’s game in Memphis. The Grizzlies have issues of their own in the frontcourt. Top forward Zach Randolph injured his knee in Memphis' 104-64 loss to the Bulls Sunday. He told reporters that it was a knee sprain and would be undergoing a MRI on Monday. Randolph is averaging a team-high 14.8 points and is questionable for Tuesday. Memphis has won four of the last five meetings with Sacramento and is 7-3 over their past 10 matchups.
TV: 8 p.m., CS Sacramento, SportSouth (Memphis)
ABOUT THE KINGS (2-3): Sacramento was able to get by with a gaping hole in its frontcourt Sunday. However, the Kings were terribly undersized with 6-foot-6 Chuck Hayes starting at center and reserve forward J.J. Hickson jumping into the starting lineup. That lack of length hurt Sacramento under the basket as it was outrebounded 60-41. The Kings also struggled to defend the Hornets forwards, who combined to score 56 points.
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (1-3): Memphis is still reeling from its thrashing at the hands of Chicago. The Grizzlies managed only 64 points on 31 percent shooting. No starter scored in double figures, including Rudy Gay. The star swingman mustered five points on 2-of-12 shooting. Gay is mired in a mini-slump, totaling only 15 points on 6-for-23 shooting in the last two games. He missed the last two meetings with the Kings because of a shoulder injury last season.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Memphis point guard Mike Conley has missed the past three games with a sprained ankle, but is expected to play against the Kings on Tuesday. He scored 11 points and had seven assists in the opener.
2. Rookie Jimmer Fredette is having a nice impact on and off the court for the Kings. The shooting guard out of BYU is averaging 8.8 points off the bench and his jersey has helped spike a 540 percent increase in Sacramento merchandise sales this season.
3. Sacramento shot a stellar 18 for 21 from the foul line Sunday after making only 65 percent in the three previous outings.