Road Reaction Postgame Show: Sacramento Kings at Minnesota Timberwolves

The Sacramento Kings conclude their seven-game road trip in the Twin Cities. How will they fare against Kevin Love and the Minnesota Timberwolves? Tonight’s match-up between the Kings and Detroit Pistons is the front-end of a back-to-back for Sacramento.  Join Jonathan Santiago and James Ham for the Road Reaction Postgame Show on Google+ after the game. The show can be watched on the video player embedded below.  You can also join the discussion of tonight’s game by leaving a comment at the bottom of the page.

What to watch

1. Can the Kings play with the same defensive effort they showed in Chicago?

The Kings played a very strong game on the defensive side of the floor in the Windy City. Sacramento held their own against the Bulls, limiting Chicago to shoot just 39.7 percent from the field for the game. They’ll have their work cut out for them against the Wolves and Kevin Love, who is averaging 26 points and 13 rebounds a game this season.

2. Does Kevin Martin have his way with Ben McLemore again?

The former Kings guard dominated the rookie in their previous match-up two weeks ago. Playing his first game back after a hand injury, Martin dropped in 26 points on McLemore in a 108-97 victory in Sacramento. The Kings rookie guard needs to show strong understanding of personnel in this game, otherwise Martin’s ability to draw contact against an inexperienced defender like himself could prove costly.

3. Will Reggie Evans or Derrick Williams start at power forward?

Malone is trying something different with his lineup to close out the season. Jason Thompson is no longer the starting power forward for this team and instead, Malone has yo-yoed back and forth between Derrick Williams and Reggie Evans the last few games. Williams started against the 76ers while Evans started against the Pistons and Bulls. Though Williams has familiarity with the Timberwolves, don’t be surprised to see Evans get his second-consecutive start against Minnesota’s huge frontline.