Jan 12, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Sacramento Kings forward DeMar DeRozan (10) shoots against Chicago Bulls forward Jalen Smith (7) during the second half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images
One year ago, DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine were on the Chicago Bulls. Now they’re on the Sacramento Kings as the Bulls come to Sacramento for the first time since the big trades.
Let’s talk Kings basketball!
**When:** Thursday, March 20th, 7:00 PM PT
**Where:** Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA
**TV:** NBATV, NBC Sports California
**Radio****:** Sactown Sports 1140 AM
The Kings are coming off of what might just be their best win of the season, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers last night despite missing two of their best players. Tonight they’ll be going up against the Chicago Bulls, an opponent that at least on paper should be far easier, but one that the Kings should take no less seriously. Coby White is a certified Kings killer and we’ll also see the return of Kevin Huerter to Golden 1 Center, probably looking for a bit of revenge against his former team. The Kings are on a back to back and might have a bit of fatigue after last night’s effort against the Cavaliers, but this is the easiest matchup of the homestand for the Kings and they can’t afford to waste this opportunity.
Both of these teams are in the 9th spot of the Play-In races for their respective conferences, which is crazy to consider when the Bulls are 11 games below .500. The NBA needs to abolish conferences already, because no team should be eligible to make the playoffs with that kind of record. The Kings still have an outside shot of climbing into the upper rungs of the Play-In tournament themselves, but to do so they need every single win they can get. The last time the Kings played the Bulls, both teams entered with more similar records but much different looking teams. The Kings eked out a 124-119 victory, with De’Aaron Fox leading the way for the Kings with 26 points. Zach LaVine was the games leading scorer with 36 points, but now he plays for us. It’s unclear if LaVine will be available for the Kings tonight though, as he missed yesterday’s game due to personal reasons. Hopefully everything is alright with Zach and he is able to return to the team sooner rather than later.
Since trading LaVine to the Kings, the Bulls have gone 8-11 while the Kings have gone 11-9. Most of those Bulls wins have come recently, as they’ve won 5 of their last 7 games, including impressive wins over the Orlando Magic and Indiana Pacers. Still, those victories are the only games the Bulls have won against teams with a winning record since the LaVine trade, although they did scare the New York Knicks and take them to Overtime before eventually losing. Coby White has taken over as Chicago’s leading scorer with LaVine gone, averaging 22.1 points in the 19 games since the trade. Josh Giddey has probably been the biggest benefactor of the increased opportunities though, now averaging 20.8 points since the trade and making 50% of his threes on 4.5 attempts a game during that span, also while leading the team in assists at 7 a game. For those wondering how old friend Kevin Huerter has been doing out East, the answer is slightly better but still not great. Huerter is averaging 12.1 points and shooting 35.4% from three on 7.5 attempts a game, but is only at 39.2% from the field. Of course, it wouldn’t surprise me if Huerter makes 10 threes tonight (or missed 10 threes to be honest).
Hopefully Zach LaVine is back in action tonight to give the Kings a bit more energy and firepower, but if he isn’t, I’d expect the Kings to run pretty much the same rotation they did yesterday with Keon Ellis starting and Devin Carter getting plenty of minutes off the bench. Carter had the best game of his young career last night, scoring 16 points to go with 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and pesky defense. That was the kind of impact many had hoped to get from Carter when the Kings drafted him, and while he’s had big games in the G-League, he’s only shown glimmers in the NBA. Hopefully he’s starting to get his rhythm and wind now and can continue to finish the season strong and build some momentum heading into his sophomore campaign.
Domantas Sabonis is out, but even still, the Kings should be pounding the paint as much as possible. This Bulls team is the worst team in the league at guarding the paint, allowing 54.3 points in the paint a game. Nikola Vucevic is a solid player but he’s not a rim protector at all and the Bulls don’t have a ton of size inside either. The Kings managed to win this battle 56-42 in their first matchup against Chicago but that was with Sabonis available. Valanciunas should hopefully be able to provide a similar interior presence, but I’d also like to see slashing from Sacramento’s guards and even DeRozan and Keegan Murray to get easy looks against a bad defense.
Prediction
----------
DeRozan and LaVine give their former Chicago teammates one last show, unfortunately this time at their expense.
Kings 123, Bulls 109