The Sacramento Kings decided to play exclusively their young talent tonight against the San Antonio Spurs. The purple and white played well, but unfortunately, fell to the Spurs by a score of 113-93.
Joerger Pulling A 180
For tonight’s game, Dave Joerger decided to give the fans what they have wanted. In the team’s preseason opener, Joerger played a starting five consisted primarily of veterans which were George Hill, Garrett Temple, Vince Carter, Zach Randolph, and Kosta Koufos.
But in tonight’s game, the Kings sat all five players in the previous starting five and decided to go with a lineup of De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, Malachi Richardson, Skal Labissiere, and Willie Cauley-Stein. Young talents who are ready to get better!
How Did The Youth Play?
As a result of the new lineup, the Kings played great. The offense was clicking, the defense was showing effort, and the chemistry looks to be improving. For the game, the lineup totaled 76 points for the night.
https://twitter.com/SacramentoKings/status/916474335350554624
Who Stood Out From The Reserves?
With the bevy of young talent Sacramento has, the team also had more young guys who came off the bench. Out of this group, Frank Mason III and Georgios Papagiannis shined for the Kings.
In tonight’s contest, Mason scored 5 points in limited time, giving Sacramento fans flashbacks of Isaiah Thomas when he was a King back in the day. Papagiannis was also solid as he recorded 6 points, 1 rebound, and 2 assists.
Conclusion
Overall, the Kings and their youth played well as they went back and forth with the Spurs throughout most of the game. Unfortunately, the Spurs were able to find their groove in the second half and gave the young Kings a valuable learning lesson going forward.
The next game for Sacramento will be against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday. Both these clubs are in a current rebuild so this matchup should contain a ton of young talent that any NBA fan should be excited to see!