Thrown off by injuries and shooting struggles, the Kings were very up-and-down to start the season. After a quality win over the Utah Jazz in the season opener, they lost to the Warriors and edged past the Lakers in overtime before going on a three-game losing streak while De’Aaron Fox was injured.
Altogether they have only lost nine games so far, but most of those losses have been incredibly ugly. On the other hand, however, they have beaten some of the best teams in the West already.
The Timberwolves, the Thunder, and the Nuggets are all ahead of the Kings in the Western Conference, but the Kings have yet to lose to any of them. Despite the initial inconsistencies, the Kings are now off to their best 25-game start to a season since 2004-05.
To put that in perspective: the last time the Kings had a similarly good start to the season, Keegan Murray was four years old.
Kings roll past Wizards to secure their 16th win of the season
The Kings are not a good defensive team, but the Washington Wizards are even worse. Last night’s 143-131 score reflects that. Overall, the Kings played pretty well, though. Fox returned from a shoulder injury and immediately dropped 30 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block in 33 minutes.
Sabonis recorded a double-double. Murray amassed 25 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 steal. Barnes added 19 points to the mix, and Sasha Vezenkov and Malik Monk were big off the bench.
Everyone chipped in to push the Kings to the fourth seed in the West and put them in a positive mindset to start one of the toughest stretches of the season. Next, the Kings will face the Celtics, the Suns, and the Timberwolves. The Kings already beat the Timberwolves before, but not a single one of those games is going to be easy, especially considering that the last is the second night of a back-to-back.
Back-to-backs have not gone well for the Kings so far. Hopefully they will break that spell soon. For now, Kings fans should just focus on the best 25-game start to a season since 2004-05. Hopefully, it is a good sign for some more success this season.