The Sacramento Kings chalked up another loss last night, this time against the Miami Heat. While there are a lot of things that went wrong for Sacramento, it's impossible to ignore the fact they got destroyed from the three-point line. That just won't fly in today's NBA where the three is king.
The three-point line wasn't adopted by the NBA until the 1979-1980 season and was viewed as a gimmick. Chris Ford of the Celtics made the first NBA triple at their season opener. That game was also the debut of a player who would be closely associated with three-point shots, Larry Bird.
These days, the three-pointer has become a key part of a team's offense, partially due to the success of the Golden State Warriors. A big part of the reason they won four titles was because Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were raining triples on every one. Steph still is.
The Heat take the Kings to three-point school
An imbalance in threes becomes incredibly obvious on the scoreboard, which is what happened between the Kings and the Heat last night. Miami was on fire from the three-point line while the Kings could barely get a spark going. That has been an issue for Sacramento all season.
During the course of the game, Miami took 42 three-point attempts and made 21 of them for 63 points. They were shooting at 50% from three. The league average this season is currently 35.9% per game. The Heat were shooting the lights out from beyond the arc.
Conversely, the Kings only took 30 three point shots, sinking 11 of them and collecting 33 points. That's an average of 36.7%, which isn't great but is still slightly above the league average. Their season average isn't as good, and is currently at 35.2% after last night's loss.
The Kings need to take more threes
Every time the Kings got a bit of momentum, the Heat would nail a couple of threes and shut that down right quick. Sacramento didn't seem to be able to answer. By the end of the game, Miami had scored 30 more points from the arc than Sacramento. The Heat only won the game by 13 points.
Get dominated from the three-point line has been a issue for the Kings in 2025-2026. They are dead last in both three-point attempts and made three-pointers, though they are 18th in three-point percentage. Honestly, the Kings just need to start taking more shots from the arc and find a rhythm.
If the Kings had 42 three-point attempts at their current shot percentage, that puts them at roughly 15 successful triples and 45 points. That additional 12 points makes it a one point game for the Heat, and turns that loss into a much more winnable scenario for the Kings.