Gameday live: Kings’ Davion Mitchell anticipating matchup with Blazers star Damian Lillard
The Kings are eager to play the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday at Golden 1 Center after being cooped up in the practice gym for the past five days.
They beat the Los Angeles Lakers 105-75 in Monday’s preseason opener and haven’t played since. That has given coach Mike Brown an opportunity to teach. It has also given second-year guard Davion Mitchell all kinds of time to pester his own teammates on defense.
“We’ve been going at each other the past couple days,” Mitchell said following Saturday’s practice. “We’re just ready to get this game on, especially guarding new faces. Like, tomorrow, I get to guard Damian Lillard, Anfernee Simons, those type of guys, so it’s super fun.”
Lillard is back after being limited to 29 games due to an abdominal injury last season. The six-time NBA All-Star has averaged 24.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 6.6 assists over 10 seasons with the Blazers. He leads a Portland squad that could be right in the thick of the Western Conference play-in race along with Sacramento.
Mitchell, already considered one of the most tenacious on-ball defenders in the league, serves as the backup to De’Aaron Fox and one of Sacramento’s best defensive stoppers. Mitchell was asked about preparing to face the league’s biggest stars in his second season after going up against them for the first time as a rookie.
“I think year one, I kind of was starstruck to get to play those guys,” Lillard said. “You’ve been watching them all your life. I think year two, I’m kind of getting comfortable. I know I’m going to play with these guys for a long time in the league, so I’m just kind of comfortable now.”
Ring the bell
Kings forward Harrison Barnes explained the team installed a big golden bell at the team practice facility Saturday to recognize players for taking charges and other hustle plays, but the bell quickly went on the disabled list.
“I took the first charge,” Barnes said. “They tried to ring the bell and it broke, so we’ve got to get a new one.”
Injury report
Kings center Domantas Sabonis missed Saturday’s practice due to a family matter, but he is expected to play against the Blazers on Sunday. Backup center Richaun Holmes is not expected to suit up after missing the past three days due to a stomach ailment.
Scouting report
The Blazers have already played three preseason games. They suffered a 102-97 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers and a 118-101 loss to the Utah Jazz before beating Maccabi Ra’anana of the Israeli National League.
Lillard scored 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting against the Clippers. He had 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting against the Jazz.
Rookie first-round draft pick Shaedon Sharpe was quiet in the first two games, but he had a breakout performance with 27 points on 10-of-13 shooting in the win over Maccabi Ra’anana.
