With the Sacramento Kings not playing another game for three days, we figured it wise to take a look at some important stats/storylines following the team as they gear up for post NBA Cup play.
The Kings' longest win streak of 2024-25
After narrowly defeating the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday, the Kings are now on a three game winning streak. This ties their longest winning streak of the year (which took place from October 28 to November 1).
Winning three games is a sign that you are not a completely inconsistent team, as those kinds of teams are not usually good enough to get their act together for three straight games. So, cheers to that!
Anyway, the Kings will have a chance to extend their win streak to a season-best four games against their stylistic rival, the Denver Nuggets, on Monday, December 16.
Kings miss out on NBA history
While the Kings may have won the game, they did miss out on the chance to etch their name in the history books.
If you'll recall, the team scored at least 140 points in their wins against the San Antonio Spurs and Utah Jazz. If the Kings had done it against the Pelicans (they only tallied 111 points), they would have been only the sixth team in NBA history to score 140 points in three straight games. No team has ever done it four times.
Domantas Sabonis' special game
In the win against the Pelicans, the Kings' 2024-25 All-Star hopeful (be sure to vote for him when the polls open up!) Domantas Sabonis dropped 32 points and 20 rebounds. According to Stathead, this is the first time this season that a player has managed a 30-point/20-rebound game. The last time it was accomplished was last March by the prodigious Victor Wembanyama (40 points and 20 rebounds).
Kings finally conquer their demons
Another cool milestone in the Kings' victory over the Pelicans is that it was the first time they've beaten them since April of 2023. Last year, the two times met six times, and six times the Kings came out on the losing side.
To be fair, these are not the same Pelicans from last year. This group is suffering from arguably the worst case of the injury bug in the entire league. In this game, the Pelicans were missing Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, Jordan Hawkins, Jose Alvarado, and Javonte Green.
Keegan Murray 3-point resurgence continues
One trend we need to continue monitoring is how well Keegan Murray shoots from three in the month of December. In the first two years of NBA his career, Murray shot terribly from three in November and then heroically from downtown in December.
This year, he once again struggled from beyond the arc in November (26.1%). So, we are hoping that he can figure things out again in December.
So far, this looks to be the case. Against the Pelicans, Murray hit three of his seven 3-point attempts (42.9%), bringing his percentage for the month up to 37.9% (11-for-29).