Following a crushing loss against the Los Angeles Clippers, the Sacramento Kings travel back home on Thursday to host the Oklahoma City Thunder in a battle of two of the most electric, young teams in the league.
The Kings and Thunder have already faced off once this season, as Sacramento won 105-98 in an In-Season Tournament battle. Sacramento got the job done without All-Star G De'Aaron Fox, who was out with an ankle injury, so Oklahoma City has yet to face the Kings at full strength.
Since fans were robbed of the matchup in their last meeting, the two players to look for in Thursday's game will be Kings' Fox and Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Despite their loss to Sacramento, SGA led the Thunder with 33 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two steals, and two blocks. With Fox active, the Kings will look to their All-NBA talent to contain SGA.
Injury Report Kings vs. Thunder 12/14
Kings:
F Trey Lyles - QUESTIONABLE (illness)
C Alex Len - OUT (ankle)
Thunder:
None
Thursday's Western Conference matchup is relatively healthy, except for Lyles, who has already missed 13 games this season. The Kings backup forward has made a tremendous impact since returning from injury, averaging 7.9 points and 5.4 rebounds in just 20.0 minutes per game.
With Len already missing extended time with a high ankle sprain, the Kings cannot afford to lose any more big man depth. Oklahoma City sits at 15-7 and 2nd in the Western Conference, as Sacramento will have a tough matchup regardless of who is active.
The Thunder are an impressively skilled team, and the Kings will certainly have their hands full attempting to contain the All-Star caliber trio of SGA, Chet Holmgren, and Jalen Williams.
With Lyles possibly sidelined, the Kings need their second-unit wings, Chris Duarte and Sasha Vezenkov, to step up.
The Kings host the Thunder on Thursday at 7 P.M. PT/10 P.M. ET.
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