Game Preview: Sacramento Kings (24-33) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (41-18)
Tonight the Sacramento Kings (24-33) will host the Oklahoma City Thunder (41-18) in their last game at home before a long road stretch.
The last time these two teams played, the Sacramento Kings were able to pounce on a Oklahoma City team that was without the offensive and defensive presence of Kevin Durant.
That is something that the Kings won’t have the fortune of tonight.
Instead, the Kings will face a Thunder team that is hungry for a victory, after it was close to defeating the Golden State Warriors before a miracle shot by Stephen Curry (when will we just consider that a normal shot from Curry?) gave Golden State the win.
The Kings, on the other hand, could possibly be without Rajon Rondo for a second straight game. Rondo missed the last game with a thumb injury and is listed day-to-day. The Kings could also be without Rudy Gay and Seth Curry tonight.
More from Kings News
- 3 Ways Chris Duarte improves the Kings chances in 2023-24
- Bleacher Report crazily lists Kings’ All-Star as “most overrated NBA player”
- Kings and Heat fans clash on Twitter to debate All-Star players
- Sacramento Kings’ Chris Duarte playing in 2023 FIBA World Cup
- 3 Young players the Kings must develop, 2 to give up on
Rudy Gay is a veteran on this team and his offensive ability will be missed if he can’t participate in tonight’s matchup.
Curry had a great performance last game scoring 19 points in 26 minutes off the bench.
That game was the first time the Kings fan base saw the offensive magic they were hoping the younger Curry brother possessed just like his father and his older brother.
The Thunder are a decent defensive team which is something that the Kings wish they could be. The Kings give up a league worst 109.2 points a game while the Thunder give up only 102.8 points a game.
Both the Kings and the Thunder are good offensive teams as the Kings are the third best team in points scored a game with 107.1 while the Thunder are the second best team in points scored a game with 110.
This game will come down to who the Kings decide to minimize on OKC. What is meant by that is that there are two superstar players on the Thunder in Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant.
The Kings have the defensive ability to focus their defense on only one of those players, so who will it be? Look for the Kings to focus their defensive ability on Kevin Durant. The Kings have better defensive pieces down low in DeMarcus Cousins, Willie Cauley-Stein, and Quincy Acy.
More from A Royal Pain
- 3 Ways Chris Duarte improves the Kings chances in 2023-24
- 5 Players the Sacramento Kings never should have signed
- Bleacher Report crazily lists Kings’ All-Star as “most overrated NBA player”
- Kings and Heat fans clash on Twitter to debate All-Star players
- Sacramento Kings’ Chris Duarte playing in 2023 FIBA World Cup
Those guys could jam up Durant so that he is forced to pass it out to the perimeter where the guards will have to make sure they are on their game.
The Kings are 2 games into their most brutal stretch of the season. After this game they travel to face the likes of the Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks, and the San Antonio Spurs. The Kings then will face the Pelicans before returning home next week to host the Cavaliers.
If the Kings can get through this hard stretch by getting at least 3 wins then the Kings can still keep hope of obtaining the 8th seed in the West.
After this stretch the Kings are slated to only face 5 teams that a currently above .500. But, the Kings can’t afford to look that far ahead. They have to focus at their task tonight which is to pull the upset against the Oklahoma City Thunder.