The Sacramento Kings finished their regular season opener last night, and here are my main takeaways from the contest.
Sacramento Kings basketball is here again, people! Last night, the purple and white took the court in the Golden 1 Center once again as they began their campaign against the Utah Jazz.
For many in the public, it seemed close to a shoo-in that Utah was going to be victorious in this game. While the Kings are projected to finish in the basement of the Western Conference, the Jazz are a team on the rise that is predicted to make a deep playoff run this year. The Kings tried their best, however, to shock the world.
The Kings displayed excellent basketball during the game as they were hot at the beginning of the first and third quarters of the match. But during the rest of the time, they pretty much performed like the team fans expected them to be. As a result, the Kings fell short by a score of 123-117.
It is safe to say that the Kings made last night’s game a surprising and entertaining one for their fans to see. Especially since Utah gave Sacramento a beatdown last week during preseason play.
Yes, the Kings performed decently during their first show of the 2018-2019 campaign, but what were the main notes to take away from the opener?
Enjoy this slideshow that will showcase my three takeaways from the Sacramento Kings’ first game of the 2018-2019 regular season.
Sacramento’s Starters Owned
Going into the opener, it was unknown what the starting five would be for the Kings. But once Scott Moak announced it during the pregame festivities, it was clear. The Kings decided to go with De’Aaron Fox, Yogi Ferrell, Buddy Hield, Nemanja Bjelica, and Willie Cauley-Stein, and this was a great decision by head coach Dave Joerger.
Like I mentioned in the previous slide, the Kings played their best basketball at the beginning of the first and second halves of the game. In the first quarter, the Kings’ starters put a beating on the Jazz which had the purple and white up by 16 during a point in the period. To start the third quarter, where the Kings trailed by 13 points, the starters prevailed again as they rallied back into the game and even took the lead for a brief time as well.
No doubt that the group of Fox, Ferrell, Hield, Bjelica, and Cauley-Stein was the best lineup the Kings displayed last night. Everyone had a positive number in their +/- and the group combined for 93 points, 26 rebounds, and 15 assists. With the exception of Ferrell, who shot 43% (3-7) from the floor, every starter made at least 50% of their shot attempts.
There may be some hope, after all, Kings fans. If Joerger opts to play this lineup going forward and they continue to dominate like yesterday, the league better watch out.
Sacramento’s Bench Did Not Own
There was a lot of optimism that the Kings’ reserves could give their team a spark if needed. But at least from last night’s performance, it does not look good. When the starters for Sacramento were giving it to the Jazz, the bench could not do the same. In fact, the bench for the Kings actually did the opposite and coughed up the lead multiple times during the game.
I know that the injury of Bogdan Bogdanovic has the Kings thin at the moment, but there were players that the Kings hoped can provide good minutes off the bench who underperformed. Two players that were outstanding for the Kings in preseason were Harry Giles and Frank Mason III. Giles, who made his NBA debut yesterday, finished with just two points, one rebound, and one assist. Mason did not do any better as he scored three points and dished out zero assists.
If Sacramento’s second-unit players cannot make strides going forward, it will be a big problem. This team really needs to rely on other lineups to excel other than their starting five. But like I said, guys like Giles and Mason showed lots of promise during the preseason. They should get better as the season goes on.
The Kings Are Fast
For the last few weeks, the Kings have talked about committing to a fast-paced offense, and that was exactly what they showed last night. Led by De’Aaron Fox, the offense was definitely faster than it was last season, and as a result, the team was able to get easier shots up on the offensive end. Even though the second unit struggled on both ends of the court, they still committed to playing fast as well. The results just did not pan out the same compared to the starters.
But due to the Kings increasing the tempo on offense, it worked well in their favor. Utah was tied for the best team in the NBA in terms of points allowed per game (99.8), and Sacramento was able to score 117 points on them yesterday. Definitely a small sample size, but I will take this compared to last year’s club who only put up under 99 points a night.
The Kings have a ton of young talent on their roster, talent that is athletic enough to be successful when playing fast. If the Kings continue to commit to the fast-paced offense and get better at it throughout the year, they will be a dangerous team sooner than later.