Today’s NBA League Pass Game: Hawks vs. Kings

On By Littum

De’Aaron Fox joins GameTime on the heels of his historic two-game scoring streak, opening up his Kings journey and more.

The Kings and Hawks are two teams with playoff aspirations, which makes their regular-season matchup exciting from a big-picture perspective. Here are five things to know to get ready for tonight’s matchup between the Hawks and Kings in Sacramento (10 p.m. ET, NBA League Pass).

De’Aaron Fox on fire: Fox’s scoring average has increased to 28.9 points per game. match so far in 2024-25. How has he managed it? Counting 109 points over two contests certainly helps. Fox scored 60 in an overtime loss to Minnesota on Friday, but the next night he scored 49 in a win over the Jazz. Can Fox hit 40 for a third straight game?

The Rise of Dyson Daniels: When you have 44 steals in 12 games, you’re turning heads (and likely drawing the task of shadowing Fox on the court, too). That’s what Daniels has done in his first season with the Hawks. However, he has also got some scores, which was not a strong suit previously. Daniels also recently had 20-point games against the Celtics and Wizards.

An important opportunity for both teams: The Kings sit at 8-6, while the Hawks dropped to 6-8 after a tough loss Sunday in Portland. Sitting around .500 isn’t bad early in the season, but to get to the Play-In it’s important to win games like this. The stakes may not be sky high yet, but this is a game both teams see as winnable.

Will the Kings be short-handed? Sacramento will be without star forward DeMar DeRozan (lower back) for the second straight game, but will have big man Domantas Sabonis back in the lineup after missing the last game against Utah. Those two are the only Kings players, other than Fox, to average over 20 points per game. game. While Fox has proven he can score in bunches, he’ll welcome help if one or both of his teammates return.

Trae Young has the potential for a big game: When talking about players who can score 40, it’s hard to ignore Young. While he hasn’t topped 38 points this season, he has scored at least 35 three times. Last season he dropped 40 points in four games and he could be ready to do it again. It’s possible we could see Fox and Young trade buckets all night.