The Sacramento Kings played Golden State remarkably close last season but came away winless. How will that change now with Kevin Durant out of the picture?
The Sacramento Kings have not won the season series against the Golden State Warriors since the 2012-13 season, somewhat understandably. The Warriors were trotting out lineups that won the most games of all time and that may have been more talented than the league has ever seen.
Meanwhile, we don’t need to talk about Sacramento’s prior lineups. With Kevin Durant on his way to Brooklyn, it may be time for the Kings to grasp control of this matchup. Last season, it was a 4-0 sweep in favor of Golden State. But they all had their late-game dramatics that with a few differences could have ended in a sweep in the other direction.
Game 1: 116 – 117
Game 2: 125-130
Game 3: 123 – 127
Game 4: 123-125
One game featured a jump ball mid-court with seconds left in the fourth quarter. Another, Buddy Hield should have shot the ball.
Buddy Hield hit a deep clutch three, argued with his coach, then hesitated on the game-winner
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 22, 2019
Postgame: “I should have pulled that b---h” pic.twitter.com/S6wxchtNTw
Now with Durant having been swapped for D’Angelo Russell, Klay Thompson out until at least February, and key pieces of Golden State’s bench no longer, Sacramento may have a stylistic advantage utilizing their roster’s strengths.
Kings’ Offense Will Remain Fast
The Kings won’t be surprising anyone with their playstyle this season. High-paced offense quarterbacked by the self-proclaimed fastest player in the association De’Aaron Fox and well complimented by wideouts Buddy Hield and Marvin Bagley III. That playstyle operates adequately against some teams, and not so well against others, but opponents will have it bolded atop their gameplans.
Aside from the signature pace, the strengths of Sacramento entail forcing turnovers (which leads to transition opportunities), a new depth to the roster, and point guard defense with the addition of Cory Joseph next to Fox. Also, the Kings were elite in three-point accuracy, finishing 4th in 2018-19, but 20th in attempts. Luke Walton says they want to reach a mark of 35 per-game, which would have had them at sixth in the league last season. Chalk that up as another strength.
Luke Walton just said that he’s hoping for around 35 3-pointers per game this season from his Kings team.
— James Ham (@James_HamNBA) September 28, 2019
As for their weaknesses, rim protection is an obvious one — although there is reason for optimism with the addition of Dewayne Dedmon to the roster to replace new Warrior Willie Cauley-Stein. Halfcourt offense is another struggle, along with opponent rebounding (30th in opponent RPG).
Warriors Will Struggle Defending
The perimeter defense of Golden State in 2019-20 will be atrocious without Thompson. Stephen Curry and D’Angelo Russell will not be capable of containing De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield, even with the help of all-time defender Draymond Green. Meanwhile, Fox can lockdown either of the two in the backcourt and Joseph is an ideal candidate to chase Stephen Curry through an absurd amount of screens. And Golden State’s bench point guard is rookie Jordan Poole.
Speaking of the bench of Golden State, it is a candidate for worst in the association. I’m sure they will stagger Russell and Curry to make up for it, but it consists of familiar faces Willie Cauley-Stein, Alec Burks, Omari Spellman, Glenn Robinson or Alfonzo McKinnie, and a slew of rookies. Meanwhile, Sacramento has two players that could start for Golden State coming off their bench in Bogdan Bogdanovic and Trevor Ariza.
Kings Need To Force Turnovers
One weakness that Golden State has always had, even during their championship run, was turnovers. Exactly what sparks the Kings’ threatening transition offense. Sacramento forced the 2nd most turnovers in the league last season and the Warriors being 21st in turnovers should bode well for the Kings.
The Warriors have been a solid defensive rebounding squad, but last season Sacramento was able to pull down 12 offensive rebounds per game over their four meetings. I’m thrilled at the idea of rebounding against Willie Cauley-Stein.
Final Thoughts
It will be far from a walk in the park to victories, and I am not someone who is sleeping on the Warriors this season, but their flaws fall right into Sacramento’s strengths as we saw last season.
The defense is where Sacramento will need to focus in. But again, it is solely Curry and Russell as the focuses of the offense. Help off every other player, and don’t let Draymond have clear passing lanes to those two.
This is one of those situations where Sacramento could benefit from playing small, as the Warriors are known to do. As aforementioned, you want both Joseph and Fox in to handle the two-star guards. Buddy Hield, with his neon-green light, Harrison Barnes as the swiss army knife with insider knowledge, and Bagley at the five.
I have a bet in place with my dad, who’s a lifelong Warriors fan, that Sacramento will win the season series and I could not be more confident. The weakness that Golden State has is their lackluster depth, being turnover prone, and the heavy reliance on perimeter scoring plays right into the Kings’ style. Grab some steals and get out in transition, show off the guard defensive pairing of Fox and Joseph, and play the 9th and 10th guys to run them off the floor.
It’s weird to say Sacramento may be favored in these matchups after all the years of Golden State dominance of California, but it may be time for a change.