Kings-Cavaliers Matchup of the Game: Zach LaVine vs Donovan Mitchell

The Sacramento Kings (37-40) start their final back-to-back of the season against the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers (62-15).

Sacramento is looking to do something that only few others have done this season, and that's beating the Cavaliers twice. The Kings took down the Cavs 123-119 on March 19th, so Cleveland will likely be out for revenge against Sacramento.

The Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets, and Atlanta Hawks have beaten the East's best team twice this year, so it's not an impossible feat to accomplish.

The Cavaliers come into the game with the league top-ranked offense, so the Kings will need to hit their looks from beyond the arc if they want to repeat their success against Cleveland. In the last matchup, they shot 16-of-35 (45.7%) from three, compared to 13-of-34 (38.2%) for the Cavs.

One of the best chances the Kings have of getting hot from three lies in the hands of Zach LaVine, but then again, he didn't play in the first matchup. For tonight's matchup of the game, we look at the dynamic shooting guards squaring off, especially with both team's injury reports being relatively clean.

Season Stats:

Zach LaVine: 22.8 PTS, 4.4 REB, 4.2 AST, 0.8 STL, 0.2 BLK, 50.8 FG%, 43.4 3P%

Donovan Mitchell: 24.0 PTS, 4.5 REB, 5.0 AST, 1.3 STL, 0.2 BLK, 44.3 FG%, 37.0 3P%

Zach LaVine is coming off of a great showing against the Charlotte Hornets in which he scored 25 points on 9-of-19 (47.4%) from the field and 4-of-7 (57.1%) from beyond the arc.

Not only is the efficiency great, but the volume of shots that LaVine took. The 19 shots is the most he's attempted in a game since the March 9th overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Sacramento brought the talented scorer in to make buckets, and it still seems like they are finding their offensive groove, but LaVine taking more shots against a tough defense may be what they need tonight.

For the Cavaliers, Donovan Mitchell continues to lead the East's best team quietly. His stats don't jump off the page and he doesn't get MVP recognition, but when he gets going there's no slowing him down.

He finished the first matchup against Sacramento with 26 points, but only shot 1-of-6 from beyond the arc. it's almost impossible to slow him down completely, but if the Kings can keep him from scoring on all three levels, they should put themselves in a good position to win during the season's final stretch.

Stat predictions:

Zach LaVine: 26 PTS, 3 REB, 4 AST, 1 STL, 0 BLK

Donovan Mitchell: 28 PTS, 7 REB, 3 AST, 2 STL, 1 BLK

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