The Kings will start adjusting to life without Keegan Murray when they play the Los Angeles Clippers in a preseason game Wednesday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
Murray tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb during the first half of Friday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers. He had surgery Monday in New York and will be reevaluated in four to six weeks.
This is the third of four preseason games for the Kings (0-2). They suffered a 130-122 loss to the Toronto Raptors in their preseason opener on Oct. 8 and a 124-123 loss to the Blazers on Friday.
The Clippers (1-1) split their first two preseason games. They beat the Guangzhou Loong Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association 142-95 on Thursday and suffered a 102-94 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.
Here are three things to watch in Wednesday’s game.
Starting lineup
Kings coach Doug Christie will have to make a change to his starting lineup given Murray’s absence at the power forward position.
Christie could start veteran Dario Saric, rookie Maxime Raynaud or Isaac Jones alongside Domantas Sabonis in a traditional lineup with two big men. Christie could also choose to start Malik Monk, Keon Ellis or Nique Clifford in what would essentially be a four-guard lineup with Dennis Schroder, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Sabonis.
Zach attack
LaVine was sensational in Sacramento’s first two preseason games.
He scored 16 points against the Raptors, going 5 of 7 from the field and 3 of 5 from 3-point range. He scored 19 points while going 7 of 11 from the field and 5 of 8 from long distance against the Blazers.
So far this preseason, LaVine is shooting 66.6% from the field and 61.5% from 3-point range.
How to watch
Fans who were frustrated by Friday’s online streaming experience will be pleased to see Wednesday’s game on NBC Sports California.
Sacramento’s first two games were not televised locally. Fans within 75 miles of Golden 1 Center were able to stream the game at Kings.com, but the in-house video feed from Friday’s game in Portland left a lot to be desired.
Clippers Kings
When: 7 p.m.
Where: Golden 1 Center
TV: NBC Sports California
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140
Odds: TBD
Over/under: TBD
Injury report
Clippers: Not yet submitted.
Kings: Not yet submitted.