Led by a backup point guard, the Kings are on the verge of playoff position
NBA superstars aren’t big on offering up compliments to their opponents. So when two-time All-Star Bradley Beal had words for Kings guard Cory Joseph after Sacramento’s 113-106 win Sunday, it carried a little extra weight.
“He was guarding me on offense,” Beal said. “When he had the ball he was still guarding me. That was his job tonight and he did a good job.”
Joseph looked like a man possessed while guarding Beal. On offense, Joseph had 10 points and five assists in 36 minutes of work. But those aren’t the offensive numbers that mattered. Joseph scrambled to keep his body in front of Beal all night. There were no open runs to the basket. Beal had just 12 points in the first 40 minutes of the game before adding a few buckets in the waning moments.
Joseph’s quickness clearly frustrated Beal, who came in averaging more than 30 points a night.
His job done for the night, Joseph sat at his locker with his feet soaking in a bucket of ice. Teammate Dewayne Dedmon told the approaching media, “Yeah, you can talk to him. He’s the DPOY: Defensive Player of the Year.”
It was a startling turnaround from Friday’s game in Brooklyn, where the Kings wandered through a disjointed 116-97 loss. Joseph, who was playing with an injured heel, took that loss personally and used it to focus on Beal and the Wizards.
“Brooklyn, it was uncharacteristic of us there,” Joseph said. “We let those guys just go and take these open shots, so I said to these guys after this game that I was going to be better this game, so I tried to put that in my mindset that I would come out here an initiate the defensive side of the ball. I got up and pressured the ball a little more, and we all just brought that energy.”
Kings’ all-around effort
He wasn’t the only one fired up. Nemanja Bjelica had 12 rebounds, including four offensive boards.
Richaun Holmes was a force on both ends of the floor. If one of the Wizards happened to get past a Kings defender, Holmes was down low to swat shots. He blocked four and added two steals.
“Just trying to protect the rim,” Holmes said. “They have a lot of guys that like to go downhill, like to attack the rim. I just wanted to do my best to protect the rim and be there for my teammates, so I was able to block a couple shots tonight.”
There was plenty of offense, too.
Harrison Barnes had his best night of the season to finish with 26 points. He hit 7 of 8 shots – with his last fourth-quarter attempt just rolling out of the cylinder. He made three 3-pointers and 9 of 11 free throws as he showed the ability to play both inside and outside.
Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 21 points off the bench, including several buckets and free throws in the closing minutes to help the Kings salt away a win that left them with a 7-8 record. Prior to Monday’s game with Boston, the Kings won seven of their last 10 games. The difference from their 0-5 start is palpable.
“It’s just being joined together,” Barnes said. “I think at the beginning we were trying to work out a lot of things, but the energy and effort wasn’t there on a consistent basis. Forty-eight minutes, us coming out there competing at the level that we needed to, to be in ball games. Two 30-point blowouts in the first five games, we were just not ready to play. I think that was kind of a wakeup call for us.
“No matter how much talent we think we have, or we believed we had in the locker room, we had to come out ready to play.”
A .500 record is in sight
The win over the Wizards left the Kings tantalizingly close to a three-way tie for seventh place in the Western Conference with the 8-8 Timberwolves and Suns. Road games with the Celtics on Monday and 76ers on Wednesday will determine whether the Kings can come all the way back from being the last NBA team to earn a victory to playoff position.
During their hot streak, the Kings have shown they work with whatever players are available. With De’Aaron Fox sidelined by a sprained ankle and Marvin Bagley III close to returning from a thumb injury, the Kings need Bogdanovic, Holmes and Joseph to continue to step up, Barnes said. And that means defensive wins.
“We talked a lot about our depth coming into the season,” Barnes said. “I think that’s a testament to how Cory [Joseph] is playing. From playing 10 to 15 minutes the first five games to playing 38 minutes against Portland. He’s had tough defensive matchups – Bradley Beal tonight, a guy who is hot, averaging 30 points a game. I think overall, he speaks to what we are all about. Next man up, get that comeback grip.”