There were some fireworks on Monday night when the Sacramento Kings and Portland Trail Blazers faced off at Golden 1 Center. When Kings guard Iman Shumpert tried to run through a screen set by Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic, the latter clipped the former with his shoulder.
Intentional or not, Shumpert took exception to the hard screen, as seen below:
Iman Shumpert barked at Jusuf Nurkic as he ran down the floor, making sure the big man knew that the move wasn't acceptable.
The Kings shooting guard is listed at 215 pounds, so Nurkic has 65 pounds on him. This wouldn't truly be a fair fight, but Shumpert isn't backing down to anybody on the court.
Shumpert is having a solid season in his first full season with the Kings. He is currently averaging 9.3 points and 1.3 steals, starting in 31 out of the 33 games he has played in.
The 2016 NBA champion provides valuable experience in the Kings locker room. The team is one of the youngest in the league, and having a proven champ has certainly helped in accelerating the growth.
Overall, the Kings have done much better than expected and is still in the playoff chase in the West. Behind DeAaron Fox and Buddy Hield, the Kings have become one of the best shooting teams in the league, and they should be even better next year. The team definitely has a bright future ahead of them.