Have the Kings found their swagger? Joseph’s defense and Bjelica’s iconic shot say yes
The Kings found something in Texas that was missing: Joy.
They had plenty to celebrate in Houston after they eked out a 119-118 win Monday night. Trailing the Rockets by two points with one second left, Nemanja Bjelica went way beyond the 3-point line to take an inbound pass from Cory Joseph. Bjelica turned and hoisted a moonball that rattled home and sparked a wild celebration from the Kings as the home crowd audibly moaned like they’d been punched.
Star point guard De’Aaron Fox is hurt. The Kings lost their first five games of the season. They blew a nine-point lead against the Spurs in the final two minutes Friday.
None of that mattered Monday night when Bjelica’s 32-foot shot landed. Bjelica was pulled out of the on-court fracas to do a live TV interview and, still pumped up by the dramatic win, he dropped a line that’s gone viral among Kings fans: “F--- it. We deserve this win man.”
Indeed.
The Kings went toe to toe with the Rockets throughout the fourth quarter, with neither team leading by more than three points. Buddy Hield took control in the final 15 seconds, hitting a 3-pointer from the left wing to tie the game at 116 with 8.4 seconds left. Then Houston’s Russell Westbrook took over, bringing the ball down the floor and knifing through the lane to give Houston a 118-116 lead with a second left.
Joseph leads Kings defense
The Kings put the brakes on James Harden, who was averaging more than 38 points a game. Harden still scored 27 points and had 10 assists. But Harden also had eight turnovers. Westbrook scored 34 but he also had six turnovers as the Kings were adept at both filling passing lanes and stripping the ball from the guards when they drove inside.
While Sacramento coach Luke Walton was obviously happy with Bjelica’s shot, he was quick to turn the topic to defense. The Kings employed a box-and-one defense against the Rockets, a tactic some players hadn’t used since high school. With no practice scheduled Monday, Sacramento had to work out the details in a hotel ballroom, using paper squares on the floor to mark where players are supposed to stand and move.
The plan: Four players lined up in a box formation and played zone defense while one played man-to-man on Harden. The guy doing most of the one-on-one work was point guard Cory Joseph.
“Belly hit a big shot, but even you go into what Cory did, we had him on Luka (Doncic) last night, we had him on Harden tonight,” Walton said. “Three days ago he couldn’t even walk, we didn’t even think he was going to play. As we talk about culture and what we’re trying to build, the example that he sets with that type of effort every single night is pretty good for our group.”
Walton was so happy with Joseph’s effort that he joked Joseph was going to guard Milwaukee’s 7-foot-3 Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Joseph let out a laugh when Walton’s joke was referenced.
“I’m up for any challenge,” Joseph said. “I hang my hat on the defensive end. Just trying to do whatever it takes to win.”
Joseph also had a nice night on offense. He hit 5 of 11 shots for 14 points, including 3 of 5 3-pointers as the Rockets seemed content to let Joseph get open perimeter looks. And it was Joseph inbounding the ball on Bjelica’s iconic 3-pointer.
“I’m a young veteran, I would say,” the 28-year-old said. “I’ve been in high pressure situations before, and I just read the D, and Bjeli was open. We all have all the confidence in the world in him, and he showed everybody why, because he’s a great shooter. He was open, he took it with confidence, and knocked it down. It was amazing.”
Bjelica’s iconic shot
It also wasn’t supposed to happen that way.
Walton said Bjelica was “probably the fourth option” on the inbound play. But the Rockets defense was glued to Harrison Barnes, who was likely the No. 1 option. Joseph and Bjelica simply took what the Rockets gave them. When Bjelica stepped out, P.J. Tucker stutter stepped, allowing the open look from 32 feet out.
Sure, it was a shot from cattle country. But Bjelica said he’s been working on shooting from that area in an effort to be more dangerous.
“I’m putting in a lot of work and I feel good with that shot, trying to spread the court as much as I can,” he said.
Have the Kings found their swagger?
The Texas swing might be what saved the Kings’ playoff hopes. True, they collapsed against the Spurs, but the players said they learned from that. That they went on to Dallas and beat the third-best team in the Western Conference, then stuck a dagger in the Rockets, says something about the Kings.
After they beat the Mavericks, Joseph talked about getting their “swagger.” Hield echoed that after beating the Rockets.
“We haven’t been ourselves lately and we know, and we know we’re a better team than (what) we’ve been showing,” Hield said. “It matters on the court, and we just need to get our swagger back and get back on our feet, and just play together and have fun.”
They had plenty of fun. Bogdan Bogdanovic put a video on Instagram showing a raucous locker room celebration, with players throwing cups of water on a smiling Bjelica.
And now the Kings finally get a break. They’re off Tuesday before hosting the sub-.500 Thunder and Knicks. At 10-13, the Kings are just a game out of playoff position, with Marvin Bagley III possibly coming back Wednesday and Fox getting ready to return later in December.
The Kings have had a fighting chance at wins in every game they’ve played for two weeks. In Texas, it looked like the hard work is finally paying off.
“I think we deserved this win,” Bjelica said. “Not because I made the shot, but we should have beat them earlier. We prepared ourselves very well, but also the crazy thing – we also played against Dallas, who was number two team in the West. Now, we need a day off tomorrow.”
This story was originally published December 10, 2019 at 7:01 AM.