Keegan Murray vs. Amen Thompson

The Sacramento Kings (20-20) return home to host Houston Rockets (27-12) as they try to start their next winning streak.

The Rockets are seeing all their young talent come together and sit in second place in the Western Conference standings. One of the standout young players who has excelled of late gets tonight’s matchup of the game: Keegan Murray vs. Amen Thompson.

Season statistics:

Keegan Murray: 11.9 PTS | 7.2 ROPE | 1.4 AST | 0.7 STL | 0.8 BLK | 41.7 FG% | 31.9 3P%

Amen Thompson: 12.9 PTS | 7.8 ROPE | 2.4 AST | 1.2 STL | 1.2 BLK | 55.6 FG% | 25.0 3P %

Two fourth overall picks who have both developed into two-way players facing surprisingly similar numbers but very different offensive styles.

Thompson has been on a tear of late, averaging 16.6 points, 12.0 rebounds, 2.2 steals and 1.6 blocks over the last five games. As the Rockets deal with injuries to Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason, Thompson has seen an increase in minutes that he is taking advantage of.

Although he doesn’t shoot many threes with just 1.3 attempts per game. competition, Thompson thrives inside. He is shooting 73.5% in the restricted area. The Kings will need to be on the lookout for Thompson attacking the paint tonight.

On the back end, Murray brings the three-point game that Thompson lacks. Over his last five games, the third-year forward is shooting 47.4% from beyond the arc on 7.6 attempts per game.

The Kings are at their best when Murray hits his threes, and against the No. 3 ranked Houston defense, the Kings may need him to hit a few tonight.

State Predictions:

Keegan Murray: 17 PTS, 8 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 1 BLK

Amen Thompson: 14 PTS, 7 REB, 2 AST, 3 STL, 1 BLK

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