At Toyota Centre tonight, the Houston Rockets will play the Sacramento Kings. We chatted with managing editor of Inside The Kings, Jared Koch, to find out more about the Kings.
Tonight at Toyota Centre, the Houston Rockets will play the first game of a two-game series against the Sacramento Kings.
We chatted with managing editor of Inside The Kings, Jared Koch, to find out more about the Kings.
1. After suffering a devastating defeat to the Warriors, the Kings have started the season with a record of 2-2. What impression did you get of them at the beginning of the year?
No need to panic just yet, it’s super early in the year. Of course, it would have been ideal to split the first two games against Golden State (and to have a healthy De’Aaron Fox), but they’ll get another chance at the end of the month to face them again.
The offense has stuck to be pretty efficient, but still has some room to get back to the heights they were at last season. I think once Fox is back to 100% and Keegan Murray gets out of his early shooting slump, this squad will look much improved.
2. If the Kings win Saturday, what would be the reason why?
A lot of Sacramento’s short term success is going to come from how they navigate De’Aaron Fox’s injury. The guard depth on this roster has had some question marks leading up to the season, and now it really gets put to the test.
Davion Mitchell had a quality performance starting in place of Fox on Wednesday, so if we can see a similar impact on both ends on the floor, tonight might go a bit smoother than expected for the Kings.
3. What’s one thing people should know about the Kings that they couldn’t find in a box score?
I’ll go with how well Domantas Sabonis is able to impact a defense each night. I look back to opening night against the Jazz when Will Hardy heavily utilized a zone to start, hoping to deny him looks in the post and diminish him impact as an offensive unit. However, it proved to be extremely unsuccessful.
Sabonis found those holes in the zone to find open looks for teammates and run this offense like the charm it was a season ago. Even if it may not show in the point or assist totals, coaches are honing in on how to limit what Sabonis brings each night.
4. What’s a matchup that you are looking forward to seeing?
I’m definitely looking ahead to the matchup of these team’s two bigs in Sabonis and Sengun.
Sengun has been able to start off the year super hot offensively, and the responsibility to contain that production will fall onto Sabonis’s shoulders. When Sacramento went up against an elite big like Anthony Davis, he had a field day. The Kings have to ensure that isn’t the norm.
5. What’s your prediction for Saturday’s game?
It might be some slight Kings bias, but I’ll pick Sacramento to take a win home. After a tough loss against a rival like Golden State, I think this team has a sour taste in their mouth, hopefully coming out hungry on Saturday night.
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