Kings vs. Lakers Preview – By the Numbers

By Will Z

After a tough loss to the Hawks, the Kings are back in action to take on the Lakers for the 3rd time this season. They are 2-0 so far this year against Los Angeles, and look to win their 3rd matchup against the Lakers for the first time since 2015-16 when they swept the season series. For a series where the Lakers lead the Kings 280-163, enjoy this time when the Kings are looked as the favorites for the matchups.

The Lakers are on the 2nd night of a back-to-back and coming off of a 130-114 win against the Hawks. They are battling injuries, but had LeBron return and lead them with 25 Points. Even with all of the injuries and question marks this season, the Lakers remain a dangerous team whenever LeBron plays, as witnessed by his 25 Point, 7 Rebound, 10 Assist game against Atlanta.

The Lakers are 12-11 when LeBron scores 25 Points or more, which may not seem impressive, but they are 2-6 when he scores under 25, and 4-5 when he doesn’t play. James’ 3P% is way down, sitting at 29.9% on the year, which would rank as his 2nd lowest shooting from deep in his career. Comparatively though, his 2p% is way up. He’s shooting 60.3% on his 2-point field goals, which would be the 4th highest finish of his career.

Los Angeles as a team is one of the best teams in the league at getting into the paint, averaging 56.4 Points per game inside, 2nd most in the NBA. In what has been a very large problem for the Kings lately, they will have to step up their interior defense against LA. The Kings are now allowing 54.8 Points in the Paint per game, 3rd most in the league. In their first two games, the Lakers averaged 54 Points in the Paint, but luckily the Kings averaged more with 59 in the two games.

The good thing about the Lakers is that even if they get going from inside, they don’t have the firepower to keep up with most teams from deep. Their 34.0% from deep is 25th in the NBA and they are tied for the 2nd fewest made 3’s per game at 10.5. It gives the Kings, who average 13.1 made 3’s per game, 6th most, about a 9-point buffer to deal with.

Another hot topic for Sacramento is their bench production. On the season, the Kings bench is averaging 36.9 Points per game, which is 8th most in the NBA, but in their last 4 games, it’s plummeted to 21.0 Points per night, which would rank last in the season rankings. The good news for Sacramento is that the Lakers allow 43.9 bench points per game, 6th most in the league. The Kings bench should theoretically win the bench battle, but after the last few games, it’s hard to say. Malik Monk’s questionable status make it even harder to gage. If Monk can’t go, or even if he can, the Kings will need someone to pick up the slack on the offensive side off the pine.

If not, then the Kings will have to continue to rely on their starters to carry the offensive load. Luckily for them, the starting lineup of Fox, Huerter, Barnes, Murry, and Sabonis has a +/- of +90 in their 402 minutes. It’s the 3rd highest +/- of any lineup in the NBA (min 50 minutes).

Mike Brown is searching for lineups that work, but in years past part of that search has been for an effective starting unit as well. I’ll take having one of the best starting lineups in the league and searching for backup centers any day compared to searching for a starting caliber player.