3 Questions

1. How much will the altitude affect this game? A lot is made about playing in altitude, especially when teams visit Denver or Salt Lake City. Mexico City is higher than both of those cities with an average altitude of 7,382 feet above sea level. Given that both teams like to push the pace (Kings are 2nd and Boston is 5th in pace), we could see guys get winded extra early tonight. Hopefully the couple days off before tonight's game will have helped.

3. Can the Kings take care of the ball? The Celtics are the #1 team in the NBA in both steals and opponent turnovers. That's a bad sign for the Kings who are one of the worst teams at taking care of the ball even when the other team isn't particularly good at taking it away. Sacramento needs to avoid any unforced errors because Boston is going to create some problems of their own regardless.

MATCHUP OF THE GAME

We all know Isaiah Thomas is going to try to drop 40 points on the Kings, even if they're not actually playing in Sacramento. Rajon Rondo has returned to form on offense, but he's still struggled mightily on defense. I expect we'll see the Kings throw a few looks at Isaiah, but they need to be careful of the Pick & Roll, one of Isaiah's favorite weapons. If the Kings can keep Isaiah in relative check, they should be in decent shape, as Boston only has a few other players averaging double digits.

PREDICTION

Kings 94, Celtics 87