The Sacramento Kings headed to the Motor City to take on the Pistons without Zach LaVine. While Kings definitely missed his scoring, it did give rookie Nique Clifford the chance to start the game. And he didn't waste the opportunity, turning out his best performance of the month.
Zach LaVine has had a difficult season so far. His shooting has been up and down, not to mention dealing with a few injury absences. This time, LaVine didn't join the Kings for their loss to the Pistons due to "lower back soreness," which is about as non-descript and vague an issue you can imagine.
Doug Christie has made it clear that he's not a fan of LaVine's style of play, specifically his lack of presence on defense. Being that the Kings are trying to move Zach before the trade deadline and the coach doesn't want to use him, Sacramento might just be leaving him out as they work on a deal.
At the same time, the Kings still need the 19.5 points per game LaVine is averaging. Regardless, Zach being at home means an opening was created on the starting five, and that spot went to rookie guard Nique Clifford this time. He took the opportunity to deliver his best performance in weeks.
Peaking into the future of the Kings' Nique Clifford
By the time the game was over, Clifford put in 33+ minutes, which was his third time this season playing over 30 minutes in a game. He ended up scoring 15 points while also collecting three rebounds, one assist, and one block.
The block was particularly interesting as Clifford isn't exactly known as a shot blocker. Yet, he has a block in four of the last five games. Plus, he was shooting relatively well at six of 13 from the field with two of four from three. This is the kind of performance the Kings need from him regularly.
Unfortunately, the logjam at the guard positions is real and will only be relieved by making a few judicious trades. Nique needs to keep getting minutes like this to grow into the role the Kings expect him to fill in the long term. Taking a backseat to players Sacramento wants to trade won't help.
Once these much-needed trades are done and Clifford starts averaging more regular minutes, performances like this won't be news anymore. They will be the norm for the young guard, whom the Kings are banking on being a major player in the rebuild.