Dec 18, 2023; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox (5) extends for the ball against Washington Wizards forward Deni Avdija (8) during the second quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
The Kings have had a bad habit in the past of dropping games against “easy” opponents. Hopefully under Doug Christie they take their opponents, both big and small, more seriously, especially on the home floor. This isn’t a game the Kings can afford to drop, especially as losing will see the Kings go from 9th to 11th in the standings.
Let’s talk Kings basketball!
When: Sunday, January 19th, 6:00 PM PST
Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA
TV: NBC Sports California
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140 AM
For Your Consideration
Tonight marks the official start of the second half of the season, and while the Kings managed to finish the first half above .500, they’re going to have to be a lot better than that in the second half if they hope to make some noise in the West. That means not dropping games at home to subpar opponents like the Washington Wizards, something that we’ve seen far too often in the past couple of years.
The Wizards come to Sacramento with the current worst record in the NBA at 6-34. They possess both the NBA’s worst offense and defense. They’re also on the second night of a back to back. But all of that put together doesn’t mean the Kings can afford to take them easy. We saw the Kings last year give up home games to the lowly Hornets and Pistons, and those games ended up costing them a playoff spot. Every game matters, and the Kings need to do their best to protect their home floor. Right now the Kings are on a five-game home winning streak, one game away from getting back to a .500 record at home. Sacramento needs to come out strong and then not let off the gas. Don’t give this Wizards team a chance to believe they can win the game or you’re tempting fate. This is a Wizards team that has managed to beat the Kings at least once in both of the last two seasons after all. That can’t happen again.
This year’s Wizards squad doesn’t particularly have anything that they do all that well. The one thing they do is run the ball, as they’re 4th in the league in Pace. Even with that though, they’re only 13th in the league in Fast Break Points, and still allow opposing teams to score more on the fastbreak than they do. The Wizards give up the second most three point attempts in the league, as well as the most offensive rebounds and second chance points. Jonas Valanciunas is the only real plus rebounder the Wizards have that plays any meaningful minutes. Rookie Alex Sarr, the #2 pick from this last draft, is only averaging 6.7 rebounds in 27.2 minutes a game. He’s also shooting just 40.6% from the field, not a great percentage when you’re 7 feet tall. The Kings should take advantage early and often of Domantas Sabonis’ strength advantage on the interior.
Offensively, the biggest threats the Wizards have are once again Jordan Poole and Kyle Kuzma, although both aren’t shooting all that well this year. Poole is the only Wizards player averaging over 20 points at 21.9% from the field, and he is shooting 40.7% from three on a whopping 9.1 attempts a game. If there was one guy that the Kings couldn’t afford to get hot, it would be him as he has the propensity to be able to drop 40+. Kyle Kuzma meanwhile has killed the Kings in the past, averaging 19.6 points on 47.1% from the field and 36.4% from three in his 19 career matchups against Sacramento. For this season, he’s scoring just 14.4 points a game, his lowest since his last season with the Lakers, and he’s shooting a career worst 26.5% from three and 43.6% from the field.
The Wizards are also one of the worst three point shooting teams in the league, averaging the second lowest percentage (33.8%) in the league. The only players who play regular minutes for them that shoot a decent percentage are Justin Champagnie (42.3%), Jordan Poole (40.7%) and Jared Butler (37.5%). Doug Christie’s version of the Kings still allows opponents to shoot a decent percentage from three (37.9%) but they’ve done a much better job of running teams off the line and limiting attempts as they’re only allowing 36.7 attempts a game in the 10 games he’s coached. That’s down from 39 opponent attempts during Mike Brown’s 31 games. It might not sound like much but even a few threes a game can be the difference during close games.
The Kings will be without the services of Devin Carter tonight as he’s dealing with a wrist injury, and possibly Keon Ellis as well, who is listed as questionable after suffering an ankle injury in the previous game after stepping on Domantas Sabonis’ foot. Ellis apparently said on a Twitch stream that his ankle was fine, but for his own safety and recovery I would hope he sits tonight, especially with a couple more days off before the Warriors visit. If the Kings can’t beat the Wizards without Ellis, they don’t deserve to win anyway.
So just take care of business tonight. Protect the home floor and don’t let up. Keep the good vibes going.
Prediction
De’Aaron Fox bounces back from a poor shooting performance against Houston to put together a 50 piece as the Kings dominate the Washington Wizards to go to 2-0 on this homestand.
Kings 131, Wizards 104
