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The game was close for much of Wednesday, but Sacramento was able to pull away in the 4th. Hopefully the Kings will do that a little earlier in this rematch game.', '_version': 2, 'componentVariation': 'paragraph'}, 'original_ref': 'www.audacy.com/_components/paragraph/instances/clcuq6s3u000x01sa7wlfe1te@published'}, {'data': {'text': 'It never really felt like the Kings were going to lose on Wednesday, but the game was uncomfortably close at the end of the 3rd quarter, with the Rockets actually leading after the 3rd quarter 95-94. Then the Kings turned the f’ing jets on and demolished Houston in the 4th to close it out strong. They won the final frame 41-20, but even the Point differential doesn’t tell how well they played to close the game. Sacramento had a Net Rating of 90.8 in the 4th. For reference, the league leading Net Rating is Boston’s 6.3.', '_version': 2, 'componentVariation': 'paragraph'}, 'original_ref': 'www.audacy.com/_components/paragraph/instances/clcuq7ma0001c3b7cu7iovgdu@published'}, {'data': {'text': 'With that type of showing late in the game, many Kings fans were asking where that level of play was earlier in the game, and it will be a question leading into this one as well. Can they come out and dominate from the get go against the 10-win Rockets?', '_version': 2, 'componentVariation': 'paragraph'}, 'original_ref': 'www.audacy.com/_components/paragraph/instances/clcuq7mcm001d3b7c8ksuqt1s@published'}, {'data': {'text': 'A key stat that we all continue to watch will be Points in the Paint. For the 2nd straight game, the Kings limited their opponent to under 50, this time keeping Houston to 46 Points inside. One thing clearly stood out last game though, and it was Houston’s high volume of dunks. They had 10 in the game. For reference, they lead the league with 6.1 per contest. Yes, they are good in the category, but that number is well above the league leading number, and something the Kings will need to try to limit tonight for a chance to repeat as winners.', '_version': 2, 'componentVariation': 'paragraph'}, 'original_ref': 'www.audacy.com/_components/paragraph/instances/clcuq7mfn001e3b7cvkfo1975@published'}, {'data': {'text': 'The reason why the dunks are so important to limit is because this Rockets team is not a good shooting team, and we saw that on Wednesday. Let’s take a look at their Restricted Area scoring. They shot 18-of-30 (60.0%) in the RA. If you take out those 10 dunks, they went 8-of-20 (40%) at the rim. That is…not great. Now let’s expand it to all 2P Field Goals. They went 28-of-55 (50.9%) on 2PA’s when you count the dunks, and 18-of-45 (40%) when you don’t. 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Sacramento Kings

Kings vs. Rockets Preview – By the Numbers

By espn1320 Jan 13, 2023

The Kings are back in action on a Friday night to once again take on the visiting Rockets. The game was close for much of Wednesday, but Sacramento was able to pull away in the 4th. Hopefully the Kings will do that a little earlier in this rematch game.

It never really felt like the Kings were going to lose on Wednesday, but the game was uncomfortably close at the end of the 3rd quarter, with the Rockets actually leading after the 3rd quarter 95-94. Then the Kings turned the f’ing jets on and demolished Houston in the 4th to close it out strong. They won the final frame 41-20, but even the Point differential doesn’t tell how well they played to close the game. Sacramento had a Net Rating of 90.8 in the 4th. For reference, the league leading Net Rating is Boston’s 6.3.

With that type of showing late in the game, many Kings fans were asking where that level of play was earlier in the game, and it will be a question leading into this one as well. Can they come out and dominate from the get go against the 10-win Rockets?

A key stat that we all continue to watch will be Points in the Paint. For the 2nd straight game, the Kings limited their opponent to under 50, this time keeping Houston to 46 Points inside. One thing clearly stood out last game though, and it was Houston’s high volume of dunks. They had 10 in the game. For reference, they lead the league with 6.1 per contest. Yes, they are good in the category, but that number is well above the league leading number, and something the Kings will need to try to limit tonight for a chance to repeat as winners.

The reason why the dunks are so important to limit is because this Rockets team is not a good shooting team, and we saw that on Wednesday. Let’s take a look at their Restricted Area scoring. They shot 18-of-30 (60.0%) in the RA. If you take out those 10 dunks, they went 8-of-20 (40%) at the rim. That is…not great. Now let’s expand it to all 2P Field Goals. They went 28-of-55 (50.9%) on 2PA’s when you count the dunks, and 18-of-45 (40%) when you don’t. The Rockets team is young and athletic, but if the Kings can even just turn some of those dunks into layups, it has the potential to turn into a huge swing in the score.

Sacramento is still trying to get that elusive 5-games over .500 record that they haven’t had since April 18th, 2006. This will be their 8th try this season, and maybe their best chance at getting over the hump that they’ve had for 16 years.

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