After another frustrating loss to the San Antonio Spurs, the Sacramento Kings are losers of three in a row and still searching for a consistent identity out on the court. Meanwhile Friday night’s opponent, the Los Angeles Clippers, are coming in to the Golden 1 Center at 10-2 to start the season with Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and company absolutely rolling. Will tonight be the night we see a frustrated Kings team give a huge game after a loss, or is there some fight still left in them to be used to surprise yet another team they have no business beating? Let’s talk Kings basketball!

When: Friday, November 18th; 7:30 pm PST

Where: Golden 1 Center, ESPN, CSN-CA, KHTK Sports 1140

Something to Consider:

Breaking Down the Clippers: The Clippers are the best team the Kings have had to come up against so far this season and if they can keep their annual season wrecking injury bug from showing up this year, they will be a legitimate title contender. So let’s get some numbers to back up the hype. The Clippers are currently fifth in the league in points per game at 108.7 and are eighth in field goal percentage (46.1%), fourth in three point percentage (47.1%), tenth in the league in assists (21.4) and give up the ball fewer than every team but four (11.7 per game). They also attempt and make more free throws per game than any other team in the league, all while shooting the fifth worst percentage (73.2%). They score efficiently, they score in droves and they get to the line a lot. But if you think this might just be the case of the Clippers star players outshining the regular schmoes of the NBA, consider that the Clippers bench is the seventh highest scoring in the league, and third highest in the Western Conference behind the Lakers and the Denver Nuggets at 39.2 points per game.

To show just how high a mountain the Kings will have to climb to beat the Clippers on Friday night, they’re probably a better defensive team than offensive. The Clippers are currently second in the league in opponent’s points per game at 93.8 points per game. Their opponents shoot league lows 41.5% from the field and 43.6% from inside the arc. The Clippers are also the best team in the league in terms of steals at 10.6 per game while also forcing their opponents to a league high in turnovers at over 16.9 a game. There isn’t a lot of breathing room against the Clippers even on the boards where they’re fourth in defensive rebounding, pulling in over 35 a game. If there is any Achilles heel for this Clippers squad, it would be that they allow opponents to shoot the sixth highest percentage from three in the league at 36.1%, but even then, they allow the 7th least amount of threes to be taken in the game. So, Kings, if you’re out there , shoot ’em when you have ’em.

Prediction: DeMarcus Cousins is going to get his annual Clipper’s technical somewhere during this game. He hates the Clippers, and they have no real love for him and with frustrations running high, it’s all but written itself. Darren Collison will rise to the challenge of defending his former practice partner and teammate Chris Paul, and Austin Rivers will do something really stupid this game because, well, he’s Austin Rivers. Kings are going to find a win here on the back of Rudy Gay and their newly signed shooting guard, Matias Testi, who will scream “LAWSUIT” every time he drives to the hole, seemingly untouched by the Clippers, and en route to 45 points.

Kings: 106, Lakers: 102