Key #3 – Slow Bogdan Bogdanovic
Part of the reason for the Kings’ offensive woes is the fact that they have very few guys they can turn to that are capable of consistently putting up points. In fact, no one on their team is averaging over 15 points per game as they’re led by aging veteran Zach Randolph with 14.8.
Nevertheless, rookie Bogdan Bogdanovic has been on quite a tear lately, especially for such a young and developing talent. In his last 10 games, Bogdanovic is putting up 14.2 points on 51.5 percent shooting from the field and a blistering 46.2 percent from deep on nearly four attempts per game.
"Hard to believe he's in his first year in the @NBA."@LeaderOfHorde getting it done. pic.twitter.com/hiudOfbNC3
— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) January 9, 2018
That recent stretch includes games where he’s gone off for 19 and 22 points, further proving his ability to score when he gets the hot hand. The rookie out of Serbia has proven to be quite the spark plug for the Sacramento Kings, so it will be vital that the Jazz hold him in check.
They’ve had a problem containing backcourt players in recent bouts such as Victor Oladipo, Kemba Walker and John Wall, and while Bogdanovic isn’t nearly as dangerous as any of those three, the Jazz still can’t continue their recent poor trend against opposing guards if they hope to win. Bogdanovic has certainly been playing with plenty of confidence lately and considering that he and his Kings team have little to lose, it almost makes them all the more dangerous.