Kings vs. Trail Blazers Preview – By the Numbers

November 8, 2023

After a disappointing 3-game road trip in which the Kings went 0-3, Sacramento returns home to take on the new look Trail Blazers. De’Aaron Fox and Trey Lyles will be out tonight, so it’s up to the reserves and players who looked lost against the Rockets to figure it out and get back into the win column.

Portland comes into this game as the worst ranked offense in the NBA, sitting last in the league with a 103.8 Offensive Rating. While they struggle to score, they are doing a much better job on the defensive side of the ball with the 9th ranked defense (109.2). In the past, this would be a dream matchup for the Kings. They would slow down a bad offense enough, and with the ability to score on anyone, walk away with the win. This year though, the Kings come into this game with the 20th ranked offense in the league (109.0), so who knows how things could turn out tonight without Fox.

A hot topic amongst Kings fans of late has been their lack of pace. They are scoring a league low 7.5 Fastbreak Points per game, and don’t have a game where they scored more than 11 said points. Even with Fox, they scored 10, 5, and 7 Fastbreak Points in the first 3 games.

The good news is that the Blazers are giving up 17.9 Fastbreak Points per game, 5th most in the NBA. If there was ever a time to get out and run, it’s tonight against Portland. They miss a ton of shots, shooting 42.2% from the field (29th) and 29.5% from 3 (30th), so the Kings should have ample opportunities to grab a rebound and get out and run.

The only thing Sacramento will have to look out for is keeping the Blazers off of the offensive boards. They grab 13.6 per game, 4th most, and score a league high 18.7 2nd Chance Points per game. Leading the way on the glass is Deandre Ayton with 3.3 and Shaedon Sharpe with 2.1. Sharpe loves to sneak in for a putback when he sees an opening, so the Kings guards will have to be sure to put a body on him and box out on the perimeter throughout the game.

Sharpe isn’t just a nice rebounding guard, as he’s having a great start to his sophomore season. He’s doing a little bit of everything with 20.1 Points, 5.9 Rebounds, 2.9 Assists and 1.0 Steal per game on 45.5% from the field and 37.8% from beyond the arc. He’s long, athletic, has a nice Mid-Range shot (53.8% this season), and can get up for a dunk anytime, especially on the backdoor cuts. Scoot Henderson, Anfernee Simons, Robert Williams III, and Ish Wainright are all out for the Blazers tonight, so Sharpe should be heavily involved tonight.

The other main player to watch will be Deandre Ayton. He’s averaging 10.4 Points and 13.3 Rebounds, but can score on multiple levels, shooting 66.7%% in the Restricted Area, 42.3% from the Floater Area, and 66.7% from Mid-Range. He added the mid-range shot to his game and has only gotten better there this year.

Getting back to the Kings, they need someone to step up and score with Fox out. Ayton did a great job guarding Domantas Sabonis last season, holding him to just 9-of-19 (47.4%) from the field, so it might have to be someone other than Domas who get’s going tonight. Whether it be Harrison Barnes, Keegan Murray, Malik Monk or a combination of players, the Kings need offense. If they don’t get going tonight, I fear what Kings fans will start to say. It’s still early, but this has the feel of a must-win game.