How the Kings’ season-opening loss showed it’ll take some time to incorporate DeMar DeRozan
The Sacramento Kings thought they had a chance to pull away from the Minnesota Timberwolves in the third quarter of their season opener on Thursday.
They scored 22 points in the first 5:38 after halftime. The lead was pushed to 12 against the team that led the NBA in defensive efficiency last season during its run to the Western Conference Finals.
Then the Kings were outscored 48-34 over the game’s final 18-plus minutes, falling to Minnesota, 117-115. It was a bitter ending to an otherwise energized night at Golden 1 Center where DeMar DeRozan made his anticipated debut in purple and black.
The loss highlighted the adjustment period the Kings are in while they incorporate their 35-year-old, six-time All-Star.
“His game is the midrange,” Sacramento coach Mike Brown said. “He’s an elite midrange guy, and so he’s going to take a lot of shots, and that’s going to probably take away from the (3-point shots) some.”
The Kings were outscored by 27 points on 3s by the Timberwolves, who had 50 attempts to Sacramento’s 29. One game in, the new offense powered by DeRozan looked markedly different that last year’s version that finished third in 3-point attempts per game.
And it was the third quarter when the team wasn’t getting its typical looks from distance, particularly in a sequence following a missed shot from Keon Ellis, which Brown cited after the loss.
“Where I think we could be better, is we went through stretches after Keon’s floater, and the next three possessions after, where we had an opportunity to touch the paint and spray it. But we shot tough 2s over Rudy (Gobert). And when you got a guy as big and as long as Rudy, that makes it really, really, really hard to score.”
DeRozan finished with 26 points while going 12-of-14 from the free-throw line. The other side of Sacramento taking fewer 3s was DeRozan getting to the line at a clip rarely seen last season. The Kings on Thursday shot 35 free throws after having 30 or more attempts in just eight games all of last season.
‘We’ll get a lot better’
DeRozan after the game acknowledged the Kings are still early in the process of getting to know one another just one game into the season.
“It’s a great learning experience,” he said. “That lapse (in the third quarter) in that game, I think that’s what made it tough on us. I felt like the whole game up to that point, we had the whole game in control. We played well. We defended well. They only hurt us when we hurt ourselves and gave them open shots.”
Perhaps the most notable statistical oddity from the game was center Domantas Sabonis finishing with a single assist after finishing fourth in the NBA in total assists last season.
“I think we were rusty with a lot of things,” DeRozan said. “But the effort was there. We competed, we moved the ball. Once we get that rhythm with one another, I think everything will fit in perfectly. Understanding where guys like the ball, get to their spots. Everything. But for the most part, I’m happy (with) how aggressive we were, how we competed. It just sucks we didn’t get the victory.”
Part of the adjustment with DeRozan includes incorporating shooting guard Kevin Huerter back into the fold, who only recently was fully cleared after suffering a labral tear in his left shoulder in March. Huerter was back in the starting lineup and scored just 2 points in 20 minutes and didn’t hit a 3-pointer.
Huerter’s 3-point shooting was a staple of Sacramento’s offense when he made a career-high 205 3s in 2022-23 as the Kings set a then-record for offensive efficiency. But with DeRozan being folded in, his adjustment figures to be one of the steepest of any Kings player.
“He can run an offense all by himself,” Huerter said. “There’s times you can just give him the ball and he can go make plays. He doesn’t need plays drawn up for him. As he continues to get more comfortable, we’ll get a lot better. ... It’s game one, so we’re early. It’s obviously going to take time. Everybody’s still figuring everything out.”
This story was originally published October 24, 2024 at 11:35 PM.
