The Kings have yet to win at home this season, but they may just have their best chance tonight as the struggling Orlando Magic come into town.
Who: Sacramento Kings (1-9) vs. Orlando Magic (2-7).
Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA
When: 7 PM PDT / 10 PM EDT
Watch: NBCSCA / League Pass
The Kings have been playing better of late, but it hasn’t yet translated into wins. The Kings are still winless at home, and while they had a chance to get their first on Sunday against Miami, they fell short. They have another good chance tonight as they’ll face an Orlando Magic team that has been struggling themselves this year. The Magic are already dealing with a bunch of injuries, including a high ankle sprain for star Paolo Banchero.
The Kings may be shorthanded themselves though. Maxime Raynaud remains out with his knee injury that has sidelined him this whole season, and Domantas Sabonis (knee) and Keegan Murray (wrist) are both questionable. Murray had just come back from ankle capsulitis to play in Sunday’s game, but took a hard fall over the back of a Heat player during the game. If both of them don’t play, it’s probable the Kings will start Dylan Cardwell and Leaky Black in their place.
Darius Acuff Jr. is coming off a 32 point, 10 assist performance and will face some good Orlando defenders tonight including Franz Wagner, Anthony Black and Desmond Bane. However that’s nothing new for him as he’s been facing heavy pressure all season so far, and withstood Miami’s multiple switches featuring Davion Mitchell, Bam Adebayo, Andrew Wiggins and even Giannis Antetokounmpo. Acuff’s scoring ability has been present all season, but he’s been getting more and more comfortable as a playmaker as well, and is averaging 9.2 assists over his last six games.
While Acuff has been the rookie that’s been getting the most attention for the Kings, he’s not the only one producing. Second round pick Emanuel Sharp has been having a steady impact of late. He was instrumental in the Kings only win of the season, and also helped rally the Kings back against Miami on Sunday. Sharp’s physical and aggressive defense is singular on this team, and he’s also knocking down his threes at an excellent 41.9% clip. Acuff & Sharp together have been the Kings most successful two-man lineup per NBA.com, with a positive net rating of 9.7 in 117 minutes. In fact, of the Kings nine two-man lineups with over 50 minutes played together that have a positive net rating, Sharp features in seven of them. Maybe he should be playing a bit more.
Both the Kings and the fanbase could really use a win right about now, and the Magic seem about as good a chance as any they’ll have on this homestand. Let’s dust off the beam for once.
Prediction: Kings 118, Magic 112
Is this … dare I say … a winnable game?
Every game is a winnable game.
Kangz: hold my beer
The write-up mentioned lineup pairings with Sharp as being in the “good” lineups. Didn’t the Kings have a big analytics department years back with Roland Beech, and Monte McNair was supposed to be known as an analytics guy…yet the coaches never seemed to play the lineups that had the best ratings.
Many articles have been written here, and lots of commenters have brought up lineups/pairings that were the best combination, per analytical data, to give the Kings the best chance to win. I don’t think the Kings need to waste money on an analytical department. The coaching staff obviously doesn’t listen to their data.
Anyway, I predict another Kings loss. Go Kangz?
Orlando’s record has disappointed;
Lots of injuries—play’s disjointed.
When Maxime can come back,
There’ll be good news for Sac
Maybe then, a new coach anointed!
+1 Can the Kings pull off a Magic trick?
“Do you believe in Magic?”
“I’m a Kings fan.”
“That’s a no, got it.”
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