SACRAMENTO -- After a three-day break, the Sacramento Kings return to action Thursday evening at Golden 1 Center. They'll host a red hot Los Angeles Clippers team that has won eight of their last nine games and currently sit atop the Western Conference standings.
The Kings have dropped two straight and fallen back to .500 on the season. They are dealing with another bout of chaos after head coach Dave Joerger asked assistant general manager Brandon Williams to leave shootaround earlier in the day.
Los Angeles is playing the second night of a back-to-back after dispatching the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday.
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Line
Clippers by 2.5
Projected Starting Lineup
NBA
Kings
PG De’Aaron Fox
SG Buddy Hield
SF Bogdan Bogdanovic
PF Nemanja Bjelica
C Willie Cauley-Stein
Clippers
PG Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
SG Avery Bradley
SF Danilo Gallinari
PF Tobias Harris
C Boban Marjanovic
Injury Report
Kings
C Kosta Koufos (right calf strain) OUT.
Clippers
SG Jerome Robinson (foot) OUT, Luc Mbah a Moute (knee) OUT.
Rotation Outlook
Kings
Joerger turned to Bogdan Bogdanovic as his starting small forward in the team's loss to Utah on Sunday. The second-year wing came into the season as a penciled in starter, but a knee injury cost him the first 10 games of the year. There is no word on whether Bogdanovic will start a second straight game or if veteran Iman Shumpert will rejoin the first team after missing Sunday for "load management."
Rookie Marvin Bagley is having a breakout week. Over the last five games, he's posting 16 points and 10 rebounds per game off the Kings' bench.
Clippers
Doc Rivers has his team off to a fast start. They are healthy and playing much better than expected. Rookie Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is starting and playing major rotational minutes. The forward tandem of Danilo Gallinari and Tobias Harris present a major matchup problem for the Kings and Boban Marjanovic will eat up plenty of space in the key.