The Sacramento Kings put their six-game winning streak against the high-powered offense of the Chicago Bulls. Today’s matchup is a no-brainer, as two former teammates in DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine faceoff.
Season Stats:
DeMar DeRozan: 20.9 PTS | 3.8 REB | 3.9 AST | 1.3 STL | 0.4 BLK | 48.0 FG% | 31.3 3P%
Zach LaVine: 23.6 PTS | 4.6 REB | 4.4 AST | 0.8 STL | 0.3 BLK | 51.8 FG% | 44.4 3P%
Zach LaVine, is once again in trade rumors, but is having a fantastic season. Two of the biggest knocks on LaVine when discussed in trades, as Kings fans know well, are his contract and injury history.
This year though, he’s only missed five of 38 games, and his contract doesn’t look nearly as bad when he’s putting up 23 points on 44% shooting from three.
In his last five games, he’s averaged 32.8 points on an extremely efficient 59.8% shooting from the field.
For DeRozan, he gets the chance to take down his former team as the Kings look to extend their winning streak to six games. The Bulls’ roster is relatively similar to what it was last year, so Chicago knows his game well.
-While the Bulls offense is high-powered, averaging the fourth most points per game at 118.2, they struggle mightily on defense, allowing 120.8 points per contest, 2nd most.
DeRozan has the ability to get hot and carry a team on any given night. With emotions high in his return to Chicago, the Kings could look to get the six-time All-Star going early and often to win their seventh straight game.
Stat predictions:
DeMar DeRozan: 28 PTS, 5 REB, 4 AST, 2 STL, 0 BLK
Zach LaVine: 32 PTS, 4 REB, 6 AST, 0 STL, 0 BLK
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