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Highs and Lows: Sacramento Kings Oust Dallas Mavericks in Golden 1

By Rafe Wong

Dec 7, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Sacramento Kings center Willie Cauley-Stein (00) steals the ball from Dallas Mavericks forward Dorian Finney-Smith (10) during the second half at the American Airlines Center. The Kings defeat the Mavericks 120-89. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 7, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Sacramento Kings center Willie Cauley-Stein (00) steals the ball from Dallas Mavericks forward Dorian Finney-Smith (10) during the second half at the American Airlines Center. The Kings defeat the Mavericks 120-89. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Sacramento Kings earned the victory tonight as they defeated the Dallas Mavericks by a score of 98-87.

Listed down below are the highs and lows of tonight’s matchup that pertain to the Sacramento Kings.

HIGHS

Shooting Guards: The two-guards for Sacramento tonight were the main contributors to the team’s offensive success. The group of Buddy Hield, Langston Galloway, and Ben McLemore combined for 53 points, 14 rebounds, and 4 assists while shooting 48.6% from the floor and 68.8% from the three-point line. Without the performances of the trio, the Kings would have had an atrocious night scoring the ball. Major have to be given to Hield and McLemore, as their late-game surges helped the Kings score points in the second half.

Rebounding: The Kings have been a poor rebounding team all season long, but tonight they were able to oust the Dallas Mavericks in the battle of the boards. For the game, the Kings outrebounded the Mavericks by a score of 50-39. Players like Willie Cauley-Stein and Skal Labissiere led the Kings’ rebounding success tonight and continue to progress as they are becoming more aggressive and aware when the ball is up for grabs.

Perimeter Shooting: Perimeter shooting remains to be the core of the Kings’ offensive success. For tonight’s game, the Kings were able to make 54.5% of their three-point attempts which was the main contributor to the Kings’ scoring production this evening. Ever since All-Star break concluded, Sacramento’s success on offense is heavily relied on how well they are able to make three-pointers on a gamely basis.

LOWS

Team Offense: Although the three-point shooting was solid for the Kings tonight, the offense overall wasn’t great. Although the scoring picked up in the third and fourth quarters of the game, the ball movement was stagnant and points were hard to come by in the beginning stages of the game.

Turnovers: Turnovers remain to be an issue for Sacramento. For the game, the Kings turned the ball over a total of 18 times, resulting in wasted offensive possessions. The offense struggled tonight as a whole and the main reason why was because of the Kings’ lack of ball security. Turnovers have been a trend for the Kings all season long, and the problem will need to be addressed when the offseason comes into session.

Ball Movement: As mentioned above, the ball movement for Sacramento was close to nonexistent, and as a result, the team recorded just 17 assists for the night. With the low assist distribution for the Kings tonight, it ends the game with Sacramento recording an abysmal assist-turnover ratio of 0.94. Recipe for long-term success? I think not.

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