Kings vs. Pelicans: LaVine’s shooting, Sacramento’s offensive dip among 3 things to watch
Zach LaVine and Jonas Valanciunas both lost in their Kings debuts after being acquired ahead of the NBA trade deadline. Maybe Jake LaRavia will have better luck.
LaRavia is expected to be available when the Kings play host to the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
The Kings acquired the 23-year-old forward minutes before Thursday’s trade deadline, adding much-needed wing depth after making trades for LaVine and Valanciunas. Sacramento suffered a 130-111 loss to the Orlando Magic in LaVine’s debut on Wednesday and a 108-102 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers in Valanciunas’ debut on Thursday.
The Kings (25-26) have lost four of their last five games to fall to 10th in the Western Conference after briefly moving up to eighth earlier in the week.
The Pelicans (12-39) are coming off a 144-119 loss to the Denver Nuggets. They are last in the West after losing seven in a row.
Here are three things to watch in Saturday’s game.
Sacramento’s offense
The Kings have struggled offensively the past two games after trading De’Aaron Fox to the San Antonio Spurs in the deal that brought LaVine to Sacramento. Their offense could be explosive once LaVine settles in, but integrating him into the lineup with Malik Monk, DeMar DeRozan, Keegan Murray and Domantas Sabonis could take time.
Here’s where the Kings rank offensively on the season and over the past two games.
Scoring: No. 9 (116.1) | No. 25 (106.5)
Offensive rating: No. 8 (115.1) | No. 25 (109.8)
Field-goal attempts: No. 7 (91.0) | No. 17 (.458)
Field-goal percentage: No. 11 (.473) | No. 17 (.458)
3-point attempts: No. 21 (35.6) | No. 29 (28.5)
3-point percentage: No. 25 (.346) | No. 19 (.351)
Assists: No. 12 (26.7) | No. 30 (22.0)
Turnovers: No. 5 (11.8) | No. 21 (22.0)
Assist-turnover ratio: No. 7 (2.04) | No. 28 (1.47)
Assist percentage: No. 20 (.619) | No. 28 (.571)
Pace: No. 14 (99.90) | No. 24 (96.75)
Get LaVine going
LaVine, who was thrown into the lineup after taking time off due to the birth of a child, is still trying to find a rhythm with the Kings.
LaVine averaged 24.0 points while shooting career highs of 51.1% from the field and 44.6% from 3-point range in 42 games with the Bulls. In his first two games with the Kings, he averaged 17.5 points on 37.5% from the field and 23.1% from beyond the arc.
Pelicans’ injuries
The Pelicans have been decimated by injuries this season. They will have several key players out against the Kings.
Bruce Brown (not with team), Herb Jones (right shoulder strain), Dejounte Murray (right Achilles rupture) and Kelly Olynyk (not with team) have all been ruled out. In addition, Brandon Ingram, who has been out since early December with a left ankle sprain, is no longer with the team after being traded to the Toronto Raptors.
Pelicans at Kings
When: 7 p.m.
Where: Golden 1 Center
TV: NBC Sports California
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140
Odds: Kings -7.5
Over/under: 237.5
Injury report
Pelicans: QUESTIONABLE — Karlo Matkovic (illness). OUT — Bruce Brown (not with team); Herb Jones (shoulder); Dejounte Murray (Achilles); Kelly Olynyk (not with team).
Kings: None.
