NBA playoff preview: Sacramento Kings emphasizing physicality against Golden State Warriors
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Sacramento Kings in the Playoffs
Kings playoffs have arrived! Here’s everything you need to know.
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The Kings on Wednesday had a longer practice and film session than usual ahead of their first playoff game Saturday against the Golden State Warriors — largely because the Stephen Curry-led offense tends to do things differently than most in the NBA.
“I don’t think any other team plays the way that they play. So, obviously, you come in and gotta prepare differently,” Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox said. “Just physicality, we have to be able to be a physical team without fouling. That’s been one of our biggest problems this year, and going into the playoffs, that’s one thing we know we have to fix.”
Physicality has been a theme for Sacramento under head coach Mike Brown all season. It was often among the first things he mentioned after losses while the Kings finished the regular season ranked 24th in defensive efficiency, the lowest of any playoff team, at 116.0.
The Warriors helped popularize the “pace and space” offense that’s been adopted throughout the NBA, including by Brown’s Kings. He brought over his version of Golden State’s offense to Sacramento when he was hired in May, but the Kings haven’t replicated the Warriors’ defensive chops that were key in winning their four championships since 2015, including three after Brown joined Steve Kerr’s staff in 2016.
During Brown’s Golden State tenure, the Warriors in the playoffs ranked second in defensive rating in 2017 (105.5), first in 2018 (103.6), 10th in 2019 (111.9) and sixth in 2022 (110.0).
Defensively this season, the Kings never ranked better than 14th in the NBA over a full month. They hit that mark in December before ranking 16th in January — and then fell to 27th in February.
Brown and his coaching staff compiled clips for Wednesday’s elongated film session to show examples of when his team is being properly physical and when it’s lacking. He was asked how he emphasizes physicality to his players.
“You try to be proactive,” Brown said. “You try to get into their bodies early. And you can’t relax, because as soon you relax or take a breath defensively, it’s a wrap. They move too well. Their spacing is too good. They have great passers, and so you have to be in tune for 24 seconds of the shot clock on the defensive side of the ball. And part of that means that you have to dictate which direction these guys are going by getting into their bodies.”
The Warriors’ offense differs from others in the NBA because of the freelancing involved. Curry, Klay Thompson, Jordan Poole and others have free reign to run all over the court in an effort to get open shots, forcing defenders to remain active when their man doesn’t have the ball.
“How we guard them will be key,” Fox said. “How physical we are with them will be key. Obviously we want to limit their freedom of movement just because how much they move, especially guys like Klay, Jordan and Steph. You just want to be able to control them. You can’t let them dictate the way they want to play.”
Rebounding will be imperative — and also require physicality. Domantas Sabonis is among the most physical centers in the NBA, but he figures to have his hands full with Warriors big man Kevon Looney, who led the NBA with 274 offensive boards this season.
“You’re not going to just put a body on him. You’re going to have to put two bodies on him at times,” Brown said. “They have guys, like (Donte) DiVincenzo and Wiggs (Andrew Wiggins), who are two of the best offensive rebounding guards in the NBA. So you gotta go find them as well. There’s a lot of different aspects of the game where physicality’s going to take place. Not just defensively, but offensively, too. With us setting screens and when we cut, if we get bumped, run through the bump. I can go on and on.”
The Warriors had a disappointing season relative to their expectations as defending NBA champions. They snuck into the sixth seed at 44-38 and avoided the play-in tournament on the final day of the regular season Sunday with a win over the Portland Trailblazers. They were without Curry and Wiggins, arguably their two best players during last season’s playoff run, who missed 71 combined games this season.
But the Kings aren’t treating Golden State like a normal No. 6 seed.
“It doesn’t matter,” Sabonis said. “They’ve been there. They’ve proved a lot of doubters wrong many times, so we can’t go in there thinking (because) we’re the three seed it’s going to be easy.”
Added Brown: “At the end of the day, they’re the champions. And in my opinion, everything goes through them. They’re the last team to win it.”
This story was originally published April 13, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
