Kings vs. Trail Blazers Preseason Preview: By the Numbers

The Sacramento Kings host the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday.

Apr 14, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings guard De'Aaron Fox (5) holds onto the ball in front of Portland Trail Blazers forward Justin MInaya (24) in the third quarter at the Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images / Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

After two games against the Golden State Warriors, the Sacramento Kings host the Portland Trail Blazers for a Sunday matinee at 3:00 pm PT.

Portland is 0-1 so far in the preseason, while the Kings sit at 0-2. The Blazers had trouble scoring last season, averaging 106.4 points per game, 29th in the league. They scored just 99 points against the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday but didn’t have their full roster as Deni Avdija, Anfernee Simons, and Shaedon Sharpe did not play.

The matchup will be a good test for the Kings defense. After going up against a team that loves to shoot the three in the Warriors, the Blazers attempted 33.2 three-pointers per game last season, 20th in the league, and made them at a 34.5 percent clip, good for last in the NBA.

They shot 32.3 percent on 31 attempts against the Clippers for similar splits, so look for the Kings to defend the three-point line well tonight.

Sacramento’s starters looked great for the second straight game on Friday, leaving the game with a ten-point lead against the Warriors.

So far they are running an extremely well-balanced attack on offense. De’Aaron Fox leads the way with 22 total field goal attempts, DeMar DeRozan behind him at 20, Keegan Murray at 17, Domantas Sabonis at 16, and Keon Ellis with 11.

The ball is moving, they are setting screens everywhere, and the spacing issues brought up in the offseason are non-existent.

If anything, the spacing looks even better with Sacramento playing five-out (no offensive players in the paint) to open up cutting lanes.

The bench scoring is still hard to come by with the injuries, but what the bench currently lacks in scoring they are making up for with defense and hustle.

The two standouts so far have been Issac Jones, especially on the offensive glass, and Boogie Ellis for his sharpshooting abilities. He’s shot 5-of-11, 45.5 percent, from beyond the arc so far in the preseason.

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