The Sacramento Kings are back in preseason action against the Los Angeles Lakers tonight, again. The Kings played the Lakers in their preseason opener on Monday, a 127-103 loss where very little looked encouraging.
Who: Sacramento Kings @ Los Angeles Lakers
Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA
When: 7:30 PM PT / 10:30 PM ET
Watch: ESPN2
The Kings were without Ben Simmons, Keegan Murray, and Malik Monk is the first preseason game against the Lakers. TBD how many of them will play tonight, but considering all the training camp hype around how Simmons has looked, this game gets considerably more interesting if he’s available. Veteran NBA reporter Marc Spears claims he’s playing, but we’ll see.
There weren’t many positives to come out of preseason game 1, but it’s worth highlighting the play of Darius Acuff and Nique Clifford. Acuff looked really comfortable out there, and from my view, it was his most impressive game as a member of the Kings organization. A low bar considering how early it is in his NBA career, sure, but I was more impressed with his play against the Lakers than anything I saw in summer league. Clifford led the Kings with an efficient 23 points.
None of the veterans looked particularly good, outside of a few decent offensive moments from Zach LaVine. Here’s to hoping that trend doesn’t continue tonight. Veterans have been letting this team down for well over a year now.
Prediction: Kings 116, Lakers 107
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