Kings at Knicks Preview – By the Numbers
The Kings are coming off of a thrilling win in Cleveland, and I’m still daydreaming about their 19-0 run to end the game. The Knicks enter the game on a 3-game win streak and look to extend their momentum at home, where they are 6-7 so far this year. Sacramento has done a great job of winning on the road this year compared to previous seasons. They are currently 6-6 in their road games. The last time they finished a season with an away record over .500 was 2003-04, when they finished 21-20. Let’s dig into what it might take for the Kings to climb over .500 on the road this year.
The Injury Report has not been the Kings’ friend recently, and currently lists De’Aaron Fox, Terence Davis, and Keegan Murray as questionable for the afternoon game. Mike Brown has preached the next up mentality this season, and Sacramento is in a stretch where they have to rely on their depth if any of those 3 won’t be able to play. We saw great minutes from Matthew Dellavedova against Cleveland. He only scored 3 Points, but had 4 Assists, 3 Steals, and only 1 turnover in his 15:50 minutes. We’ll need more of the same from him and the rest of the bench against the Knicks for the Kings to continue their momentum.
The Knicks come into the game with an offense and defense that are both ranked 14th in the league. They rely on a very balanced approach to the game and get the job done on both ends of the court. They don’t shoot very well, as their Field Goal percentage is 45.3%, 26th in the league, and their 3-point percentage is 32.2%, 27th. They make up for it though with their rebounding. They grab 12.8 Offensive Rebounds per game, 3rd most, and score 17.5 2nd Chance Points, 2nd most. Sacramento is still doing very well on the season limiting additional looks, only giving up 11.9 per game, 4th least, but have seen spikes throughout the season. The most recent example was the Bucks 25 putback points. The Kings did well against the Cavs to limit one of the best rebounding teams to 13 2nd Chance Points.
In an off-season interview with Deuce Mason and Morgan Ragan, Davion Mitchell talked about how Knicks’ newcomer Jalen Brunson is the hardest player in the NBA to guard. The numbers though between the two are great. Brunson went 2-of-10 on Field Goals defended by Davion last year, and didn’t draw a single shooting foul. It will be a fun matchup to watch tonight, and a key one as Brunson is 2nd on the team with 20.2 Points per game on 46.3/33.0/88.0% shooting splits.
The Knicks other two top scorers are Julius Randle and RJ Barret, scoring 22.1 and 18.5 Points each, but there is a drastic drop-off in scoring after that. Their 4th highest scorer is Immanuel Quickley at 10.0 Points per game. In the past, this is the exact type of game the Kings would let a role player score 20+ on them, and it will be important for them to not let anyone on the Knicks score outside of the means tonight.
For the Kings scoring, they are coming off of a white-hot shooting night from 3, where they went 16-of-33 (48.5%). Sacramento is 9-2 when they shoot over 37% from beyond the arc. If they are able to get going from deep, they are nearly unstoppable, especially with their recent improvements on the defensive end. They continue to get Wide-Open looks from 3, as they average 20.1 per game, 5th most in the NBA.
Their may be some questions with injuries, but the Kings offense is humming and they go on prolonged stretches where their defense looks elite. There’s a joy to this team that is infecting the whole city, and it feels like we’re just getting started.
