Game #2: Kings vs. Spurs Preview

History happens tonight.

What: Kings vs. San Antonio Spurs

When: 7:30 P.M. PT

Where: Golden 1 Center

How to Watch: CSN California

Well that was fun, wasn't it? The Kings opened up their season with a 113-94 thrashing of the Suns in Phoenix. There were a lot of things to love about the game from a basketball standpoint but beyond that, the demeanor of the team was probably what we should be most impressed by. Head coach Dave Joerger seems to have reached his guys and it showed in a big way last night. I couldn't think of a better way to help segue us into what should be a historic night at the Golden 1 Center. This is what the city of Sacramento has worked so hard for. Tonight, it becomes a reality.

Culture Shock

The Kings got off to a mediocre start last night before coach Joerger, furious with his team's lackluster play, called an early timeout to right the ship. Once the bench unit of Ben McLemore, Willie Cauley-Stein, Matt Barnes, Anthony Tolliver and Garrett Temple entered the game the Kings never looked back. The defensive rotations for the majority of the game looked crisp, which shows that there is a level of trust on that side of the ball we haven't seen since maybe Michael Malone's last 20 games as head coach in late 2014. The bench was engaged all night, celebrating their teammates when big plays were made. In yesterday's preview, I talked about how important a culture change would be under Joerger. It seems as if the Kings are already making massive strides in that regard.

The Duncan-less Spurs

For the first time in nearly two decades (!!!), the Spurs will be without legendary power forward Tim Duncan who retired this summer. The five-time NBA champion will be absent from the San Antonio roster for the first time since I was 5. Since my sister was 6. Since most of the kids in high school right now were negative 3. It will certainly be strange to not see Tim Duncan out on the court tonight, but don't think for a second that Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich has checked out just because his longtime cornerstone is gone. San Antonio decimated the preseason NBA title favorite Warriors in Oakland on Tuesday by a score of 129-100. New Spurs cornerstone Kawhi Leonard made an early case for league MVP with an unreal display on both offense and defense. To put it simply, Leonard is a basketball alien sent to Earth to singlehandedly destroy anyone who dares challenge his reign as supreme overlord of the Galaxy. But maybe he'll take it easy on the Kings tonight.

The Future Looks Golden

Sacramento's brand new, state-of-the-art downtown arena hosts its first regular season NBA game tonight. Just five years ago, we thought the Kings were gone. Before tonight's game, let's reflect on all of the events that got us to this point. The anger. The frustration. The tears. And then finally, the feeling of that massive weight being lifted off of our shoulders when we knew for certain that our team was staying for good. Tonight is a culmination of everything this city has gone through to keep the basketball team that it loves so dearly. I hope every Kings fan out there thoroughly enjoys this historic occasion. And just for old time's sake, I'll leave you guys with this video. Here we STAYED.