Keegan Murray feels roar of Sacramento crowd; Kings blast Blazers in preseason home opener
Kings rookie Keegan Murray felt the roar of the Sacramento crowd for the first time when he came off the bench midway through the first quarter of Sunday’s preseason home opener against the Portland Trail Blazers.
“It was cool,” Murray said. “I’ve been looking forward to that since I got drafted.”
Murray was one of eight players who scored in double figures to help the new-look Kings turn in another impressive performance in a 126-94 victory over the Blazers before an announced crowd of 14,250 at Golden 1 Center.
Murray, the No. 4 pick in June’s NBA draft, was smooth and efficient, scoring a team-high 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting from 3-point range to match his point total from Monday’s 105-75 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. He received a big ovation from the home crowd when he checked into the game with 6:35 to play in the first period.
“You could just see the passion right when I walked onto the court, so I was for sure excited,” Murray said. “I’m excited to play our home games here and I know it will definitely be a homecourt advantage.”
Terence Davis also had a big game off the bench for Sacramento, finishing with 14 points, three rebounds and four assists in just 11 minutes. Davis made 5 of 8 from the field and 4 of 5 from 3-point range.
Davis said the team’s chemistry and camaraderie are coming together nicely under first-year coach Mike Brown, who is implementing a free-flowing read-and-react offense while demanding maximum effort and attention to detail on defense.
“It’s great,” Davis said. “Guys just joke with each other, and anytime you can have fun with one another and laugh and things of that sort, that’s different. I’m not just saying that. It’s a great spirit right now from the coaches to the players to the front office.”
De’Aaron Fox, Kevin Huerter, Harrison Barnes and Domantas Sabonis led the starting unit for Sacramento. Fox finished with 14 points and made 3 of 3 from 3-point range, showing progress after working over the summer to improve his perimeter shooting. Sabonis had 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Huerter and Barnes scored 11 points apiece.
Portland was led by Jerami Grant with 17 points and Anfernee Simons with 16. Blazers star Damian Lillard had a rough night. He was held to eight points on 2-of-10 shooting, going 0 of 4 from 3-point range.
Some of Lillard’s struggles could be attributed to KZ Okpala, who made his second preseason start at power forward. Okpala guarded LeBron James in Monday’s win over the Lakers. He demonstrated his versatility while guarding Lillard in Sunday’s game against the Blazers.
“What he can do defensively is different than a lot of people, being able to guard ’Bron one day and then you’re guarding a guy who’s 6-2,” Fox said. “Not a lot of people in this league can do that night in and night out. If that’s what the lineup looks like, and that’s what his job is, I think he’s fully equipped to do that.”
The Kings led 31-19 at the end of the first quarter and 70-53 at the halftime break. They led by 19 points in the first half, went up by 23 in the third quarter and led by as many as 36 in the fourth.
The Kings outshot the Blazers 50.6% to 40.3%, made 21 of 45 (.467) from 3-point range and collected 34 assists on 45 made baskets while outrebounding the Blazers 47-29. Sacramento had a 13-6 advantage in offensive rebounds.
“You can’t get the ball without rebounding,” Murray said. “Just getting rebounds is a big thing. To get the ball in transition is huge for us. We know our principles. We have to crash offensive rebounds, so it’s been big for us to try and win the rebounding battle.”
Fox said he is most encouraged by what his team is doing defensively.
“Most pleased, definitely, by the defense,” Fox said. “I think we’ve done good, and obviously guys aren’t playing full games, but even in the first half, I think we’ve done a tremendous job defensively.”
Fox also likes what he sees in Murray.
“Watching film of him in college is different because he was so much bigger than some guys, so a lot of his stuff was post-ups and things like that,” Fox said. “But the way he shoots the ball, you think every single shot he shoots is going in. When he missed, it looked like it was going in. You kind of watch and you look up, and you’re like, damn, he has 16 already and he has a steal and four rebounds. He’s very impressive with the way he comes in and affects the game, and not even in a big, spectacular way, but he’s very effective.”
Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said he wasn’t pleased with anything he saw Sunday.
“No, there was nothing I liked about that one,” Billups said. “Out of all the players that played, not one guy played well. It happens, but, more than anything, I think it was the physicality on both ends that hurt us. Defensively, they were pretty physical. Offensively, they were very physical. They just attacked our guys.”
This story was originally published October 10, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
