Team: Los Angeles Clippers (6-11) at Sacramento Kings (5-13)
Time: Saturday, November 25, 2017 at 10:00pm ET (Golden 1 Center)
Thanksgiving came early for the LA Clippers in the form of a win against the Atlanta Hawks. Now, Los Angeles looks to get their ship back on track by extending their win streak to 2. The Clippers’ opposition is their Pacific Division rival, the Sacramento Kings.
When these two teams played in October, the Clippers won 107-84. LA was successful because of their ability to outrebound Sacramento, move the ball, and play great defense. Sacramento was held to 40% shooting, while the Clippers shot 52% from the field.
Despite losing 5 out of the last 7 games, Sacramento has won 4 out of the last 5 home games. So that means the Clippers shouldn’t judge the Kings based on their win/loss record, and judge them based on their current home success. Here’s what the Clippers need to do to come out victorious:
No Easy Shots
The Clippers cannot allow Sacramento to make any wide open easy shots.
Nice start to Q3. pic.twitter.com/vXehsNv7V1
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) November 21, 2017
The Kings are the worst offensive team in the league at 94.3 PPG. However, they’re 6th in the league at minimizing turnovers (13.8 TOV), and 27th in assists per game (19.9 APG). This means the Clippers don’t need to gamble defensively, and just need to stay up on defense. There’s no reason to gamble on the passing lane when the Kings don’t turnover the ball, and don’t shoot very well. Sacramento needs to face some pressure when shooting the ball, and then they typically crumble. As long as Los Angeles can play honest and aggressive defense, it should spell success for them.
Contain the Glass
The Kings are the second worst rebounding team in the league, at 39.5 RPG. The Clippers are 14th in the league at rebounding, at 44.3 RPG. There is no reason for the Clippers to not win the rebounding battle, other than a lack of effort. Controlling the glass means controlling any easy second-chance points that Sacramento may have. The biggest key of this game is for Sacramento to have no easy shots. As long as the Clippers can play to their averages, they should win.
Bold Prediction: The Clippers win by 10+ points.
Tips Before Tipoff
1) No Easy Shots
2) Control the Glass
PLAY WITH EFFORT
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