The key to the Sacramento Kings’ first win of the season was obvious: Keep it simple
There was a sense of angst for the Sacramento Kings heading into Saturday’s afternoon tip against the Miami Heat. They stood with the Lakers as the NBA’s only winless teams through the first week-plus of the regular season. They were ushering in a new coaching staff and new-look roster under Mike Brown.
They were hosting a team renowned for its toughness and discipline. The Heat have trips to the Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals in two of their last three seasons — and are often a foil to the league’s younger, untested teams. They expect to make the playoffs every year.
But Miami’s had a rough go early in the new campaign. The Heat entered Saturday 2-4 in the midst of a three-game West Coast swing. The Kings took advantage of their malaise early, jumping out to a 22-point halftime lead thanks to a hot shooting start and some bad Miami offense. But there were signs the Heat would come back before the Kings made enough plays down the stretch to hold and celebrate their first victory under Brown, 119-113.
The Kings had their best shooting performance of the season, knocking down 55% of their shots including 14 of 31 from the 3-point line (45%). They led wire to wire, something they didn’t accomplish once throughout last year.
That sense of angst stemming from Sacramento’s winless start was felt inside Golden 1 Center during the third quarter, when the Kings had nine of their season-worst 21 turnovers. Their 22-point lead was cut down to 8, and that inevitable feeling was setting in. The Heat were going to make it a game.
“My thing with our guys, we just gotta keep hitting singles,” Brown said. “Because Miami, they’re an aggressive team, and they’re an experienced, championship-level team that’s well coached.”
Brown’s modern offense emphasizes pace and space. With it comes a propensity at turning the ball over because of all the movement, cutting and screening. The Kings were out of control at times, with Miami taking charges on aggressive drives, and the Heat had seven steals to just one for Sacramento.
The Heat got back into the game largely because the Kings let them back in. The Heat missed some timely shots down the stretch and Sacramento hit a significant number of shots.
But one takeaway from Saturday is pretty straightforward: The Kings can’t bank on hitting 45% of their threes every night, and even if they do, they’re not going to win many games with 21 turnovers. The key, as Brown said, is to keep hitting singles.
“And so instead of us trying to hit home runs, throwing a lob to a guy rolling or penetrating too deep, hey just get off it early (and pass),” Brown said. “Because when you face teams that are over aggressive at times, they’ll over commit to the ball a lot of times. That means somebody’s going to be open. And when you get off the ball in a timely manner, someone else might commit to the ball and that’s where that next single happens, and then you knock down a shot.”
That ethos was evident early in the game when center Domantas Sabonis was playing one of his best offensive halves of the season. He began the game 8 of 9 from the floor, often getting dump-off passes from drivers who had beaten their man. It was in stark contrast to the season opening loss to the Trailblazers when he would get bottled up in the lane.
On Saturday, he was able to play off his teammates and get easier looks when they would break down the defense with their drives. His offensive flow comes easier when he can roll to the rim rather than trying to create from the elbow.
“Just pass the ball to the next open guy and the dominoes will fall. And when they fall, good things are going to happen for us,” Brown said.
The offensive star of the night was shooting guard Kevin Huerter, who scored 27 points while going 7 of 8 from distance and 8 of 11 overall. He joined Steph Curry as the only player with three games of at least five made threes. Huerter improved to 20 of 37 on threes this season, good for 54%.
“Offensively, we weren’t great, we weren’t getting those same shots,” Huerter said of the third quarter. “We we turning the ball over. Defensively, we were giving up plays in transition. That’s losing basketball. It’s not surprising they were able to come back on us.”
De’Aaron Fox had a career-best 13 rebounds and a few key defensive sequences on the potent scorer, Tyler Herro (34 points), which included getting a block late in the fourth quarter and then drawing an offensive foul on a push off before a corner three. Fox, of course, is often maligned for his defense, but Brown has remained steadfast that he believes Fox can be the tip of the spear of a quality defensive team no matter how he’s played on that side to this point of his NBA career.
Brown said he coached Fox while he was a high-schooler at an Adidas camp when he first thought so.
“Defensively, anything he does, it doesn’t surprise me,” Brown said. “I thought that (defense) was going to be his superpower. ... Back in high school because he was so good in that camp. I’m going to continue to push him to take that challenge on.”
Fox at least being an acceptable defender is going to be key for Sacramento. Brown early in his tenure has harped that Fox has no problem scoring 30 points a night (he had 17 Saturday). But he can become an All Star if he improves the non-scoring aspects of his game, like cutting down on turnovers, playing better defense and better involving his teammates down the stretch.
Rookie Keegan Murray continued his strong start to his NBA career. He had 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting, but he turned the ball over five times. Sabonis fouled out after playing just 23 minutes, with a couple questionable calls going against him, forcing Sacramento to play most of the second half without him. Still, Sabonis managed 18 points and seven rebounds.
“It’s a lot better than coming in the locker room after a loss,” Murray said of getting his first win in the NBA. “The talk in the locker room is a lot shorter than usual, so that’s a good thing. But it feels to get our first win, finally. Just hoping to get a lot more.”
This story was originally published October 30, 2022 at 7:33 AM.
