Kings-Warriors Matchup of the Game: Zach LaVine vs. Jimmy Butler

Two old Eastern Conference foes face off in the West as the Kings host the Warriors.

Feb 10, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Zach LaVine (8) makes a jump shot against the Dallas Mavericks during the first quarter at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

After a week-long break, the Sacramento Kings begin the final stretch of the season against the new-look Golden State Warriors.

Both of these teams went through massive overhauls at the trade deadline, with the Kings bringing in Zach LaVine, and the Warriors trading for Jimmy Butler.

That makes the two new players for each squad an easy choice for the matchup of the game.

Season Stats:

Zach LaVine: 23.7 PTS, 4.6 REB, 4.6 AST, 0.9 STL, 0.2 BLK 50.1 FG%, 42.2 3P%

Jimmy Butler: 17.6 PTS, 5.5 REB, 4.9 AST, 1.1 STL, 0.4 BLK, 52.4 FG%, 32.6 3P%

LaVine is coming off his best game in a Sacramento uniform in which he scored 32 points and dished out 10 assists.

Unfortunately for him and the Kings, that came in a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, negating the strong performance.

One of the biggest keys to the Kings future success is LaVine finding his three-point shot.

LaVine was shooting 44.2% from deep this season with the Bulls, but just 26.1% with the Kings through six games.

On the flipside, Butler has seen an uptick in his stats since joining the Warriors.

In four games, he's averaged 21.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 5.3 assists, all up from his time in Miami.

What has gone down though is his shooting efficiency. The six-time All-Star is shooting 44.6% from the field and 14.3% from beyond the arc.

Butler has never been a knockdown shooter from deep and doesn't shoot much from three, but that has been a continued struggle for Sacramento since the trades.

What Butler is doing is shooting more. His field goal attempts are up from 10.5 with the Heat to 14.0 with the Warriors.

He was brought in to be a major factor for the team, and he's done exactly that in his early Golden State tenure.

Stat predictions:

Zach LaVine: 28 PTS, 4 REB, 4 AST, 1 STL, 0 BLK

Jimmy Butler: 31 PTS, 6 REB, 3 AST, 0 STL, 1 BLK

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