Kings Get Win Number One, Defeat Utah Jazz

The Sacramento Kings brought home their first win of the season against a Utah Jazz team that sat at the top of the Western Conference.

Sacramento needed this. Every player in the Kings locker room needed this. I needed this.

The Sacramento Kings won their first game of the 2019-20 season, and have improved to 1-5 on the season. The Utah Jazz came into the night sitting at the top of the Western Conference, bolstered by an elite defense that had yet to allow over 100 points. The Kings became the first team to do so, winning a nail-biter 102-101. They were not only the last team to tally a game in the win collum, but they were also seemingly the last team to display enough effort to be close.

Sacramento is still yet to win a now-dreaded third quarter, but they were competitive throughout. Dewayne Dedmon still struggled from downtown (until it mattered most!) but showed his usefulness on the defensive end. Bogdan Bogdanovic had an impact on both ends, and De’Aaron Fox continued to show out with the ball in his hands.

Individual Performances

Let’s begin with Fox. He seems to have realized that he can take over a basketball game for stretches when he wants to, and we have been lucky enough to witness that on a few occasions early into this season. He ended the night with 25 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. Most impressively, he had 12 free throw attempts and showed no fear in attacking Rudy Gobert by continuously penetrating the paint.

Richaun Holmes was the starting big for a second consecutive showing but continued to rack up fouls that may have reminded some of the still inactive Harry Giles. Dewayne Dedmon was inserted early after playing less than 5 minutes in the previous game, and let it fly from three with little success, missing his first 5 attempts. The defensive end, however, an area that was a main factor in the signing of Dedmon, was a clear advancement. He would end the night with 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks in 27 minutes of play.

He also sank the most important attempt from range of his young Kings’ career to break a tie with under a minute remaining, cementing Sacramento as the first team to score 100 points on the Utah Jazz.

The only member of the Sacramento roster with a higher plus-minus than Dedmon (+11) was Nemanja Bjelicia at +14 on the night and provided a solid overall contribution on the offensive end.

Bogdanovic and Buddy Hield both needed to come back to life after several rocky games, only one of them did so. Bogdanovic ended the night with an efficient 14 points, many of them coming late in the game. Hield’s shooting woes continued, as he didn’t make a single one of his five three-point attempts, something he did only four times last season.

Solid Down The Stretch

In regards to the infamous third quarters, the Kings were only outscored by two points this time around. In every other showing, they failed to finish with less than a 10 point margin in the third. This time around, the energy from the first half didn’t get left in the locker room when Sacramento came back out after the break. In fact, the effort throughout the entire game was something that supporters have been begging to see from this roster.

It was the perfect ending to a night where effort made all the difference: a put back from Harrison Barnes, who never gave up on the play.

If the Kings can continue to exhibit effort on both ends from 9-10 players, they might be able to string a few wins together.

This game gives them a good possibility to keep this positive momentum rolling, as they take on the also 1-5 New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, November 3rd at 3 P.M.