The Sacramento Kings are hoping their second major in-season move works out as well as the first one.
Since Doug Christie took over as interim coach for the fired Mike Brown, the Kings have gone 12-6. Now, Sacramento has made another big move by trading for two-time All-Star guard Zach LaVine on Monday.
LaVine is expected to play in his first game for the Kings when they face the Orlando Magic on Wednesday.
The Kings acquired LaVine in a three-team trade with the Chicago Bulls. In the deal, Sacramento sent star point guard De’Aaron Fox to the San Antonio Spurs. The Kings also got second-year forward Sidy Cissoko from the Spurs in the seven-player, seven-pick trade. Sacramento received six of those draft picks.
LaVine missed his last three games with Chicago due to personal reasons. He now joins a Kings team that has lost four of their last six games after a strong stretch of 10 wins in 11 games. Before Monday’s games, Sacramento was tied for the second play-in spot in the Western Conference.
Despite the changes, Kings star Domantas Sabonis believes the key to keeping their success going is staying focused on the task at hand, even with the challenges.
“It’s been a crazy year, a lot of change,” Sabonis told the Sacramento Bee. “It (stinks), but we’ve just got to somehow come together, be professional and keep this thing moving forward.”
Before his absence, LaVine was playing well, averaging 26.4 points in his last five games, shooting 48.9% overall and 38.6% from three-point range.
LaVine has faced Orlando twice this season with Chicago, scoring a total of 19 points on 5-of-18 shooting.
While the Kings are returning from a six-game road trip, the Magic are still on their own six-game journey, having lost the first four. They’ve failed to score 100 points in their last three losses to Portland, Utah, and Golden State.
Despite losing 104-99 to the Warriors on Monday, the Magic showed some fight. They were ahead 92-90 in the final minutes but couldn’t close it out. Cole Anthony had 26 points in the loss.
Magic coach Jamahl Mosley didn’t think the final 14-7 run by the Warriors was the main reason for the loss.
“We always talk about it coming down to those final possessions. It’s never that,” Mosley said. “It’s a 39-point third quarter (by Golden State), where you let go a little bit, your communication breaks off, you don’t knock some shots down, you look at a 15-0 free-throw count.”
Orlando has struggled at the free-throw line during its four-game losing streak, being outscored 84-67. The Magic have attempted just 90 free throws, while opponents have shot 110.
Mosley made it clear that the Magic aren’t lacking aggression.
“We had 52 points in the paint, attacked the basket 47 times, and (shot) 10 free throws,” he said after the Golden State game.
This will be the first meeting between the Magic and Kings this season. The two teams will face off again in Sacramento on March 29.
