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San Antonio Spurs Look To Avenge Recent Loss to Sacramento Kings

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By @jbrannon89

DeMarcus Cousins Kings

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In just a couple of hours, the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs host DeMarcus Cousins and the Sacramento Kings. This will be the second meeting for the two teams after a Nov. 15 matchup in which the Kings won 94-91 due in large part to a dominating performance by Cousins. Cousins had a game-high 25 points and 10 rebounds in less than 27 minutes of play.

The Spurs were without guards Marco Belinelli and Patty Mills, but more importantly, center Tiago Splitter was out of the game as well. The Spurs struggled to find a means of replacing Splitter’s strong defense and have had difficulty with the more skilled big men in the league. Tim Duncan can’t bang with the big boys as much as he used to, and guys like Matt Bonner, Boris Diaw and Jeff Ayres don’t have all the necessary tools to cause problems for players like Cousins.

San Antonio finds itself on a five-game winning streak and is getting more production from C Aron Baynes. Baynes matches up well with Cousins physically, but lacks the skill set Cousins possesses. Look for the Spurs to make Cousins battle a big, strong Baynes on both ends of the court.

San Antonio will have to worry about more than Cousins, however, as the Kings have key pieces across the board. Namely, Rudy Gay and Darren Collison caused problems for the Spurs last time the two teams met, and Ben McLemore is always capable of making plays. Look for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green to make it difficult for the Sacramento guards and wings throughout the game.

At the end of the day, this is a matchup of two good teams in the Western Conference, but expect the Spurs to get revenge if Baynes plays well.

Jonathan Brannon is a San Antonio Spurs writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @jbrannon89, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.

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