Kings at Warriors Preview – By the Numbers
By: Will Z
After a thrilling buzzer beat by De’Aaron Fox, the Kings head to The Bay to take on the Warriors, who are on a 5-game losing streak. The Kings will look to build on their 2nd half success in Orlando, while the Warriors look to right the ship.
The Kings showed fight to get back into the game against the Magic after being down 18 at half, but have shown a tendency to fall behind early in games so far this season. They have been outscored by an average of 3.9 Points in the 1st half of games, which 26th in the NBA. On the positive side, they’ve proven that they can make adjustments and get back into games. They’ve outscored their opponents by 1.5 Points in the 2nd half, ranking 11th in the league. It’s been great to see the second half adjustments, but the Kings can’t keep digging holes early in games, especially against the league’s best teams.
The Warriors, who were tied with Boston for the best Defensive Rating in the NBA last year, currently have the 28th ranked defense in the NBA. They are allowing 121.4 Points, 29.5 Free Throw attempts, and committing 24.2 fouls per contest, all three of which are most in the NBA. The Kings have three players are in the top 50 for Free Throw attempts per game; Sabonis – 6.3 (14th), Fox – 4.6 (37th), and Barnes – 4.4 (42nd). Look for them to get to the line tonight if the Kings hope to be in this game.
Points in the Paint continue to be a key stat to keep an eye on for the Kings. They gave up 78 paint points to the Magic on Saturday, and are allowing 56 per night, 28th in the NBA. The Warriors are only averaging 44.8 a night inside, 25th in the league. Golden State shoots a ton of threes, 41 per game to pace the league, so the Kings can’t let them get going from both inside and outside. The two teams are also two of the worst rebounding teams in the NBA, with the Kings averaging 41.4 (24th) and the Warriors 40.6 (27th).
The rebounding may be the swing stat of the night for the Kings team that has been outrebounded in 5 of their 8 games. The last time they played the Warriors though, the Kings won the battle of the boards 51-37.
Last but certainly not least, some additional praise for De’Aaron Fox. He’s been otherworldly this season and continues to get to where ever he wants on the floor. His 86.2% shooting in the Restricted Area for a guard is truly amazing. For comparison, here are some of the other great guards RA FG%’s: Luka Doncic – 70.6%. Ja Morant – 60.0%. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – 75.0%. Stephen Curry – 76.0%. The only guard that is close to Fox is Dejounte Murray, who is at 83.3%. Fox is putting up percentages inside that rival and beat the best centers in the NBA. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show that he’s putting on.
