Not even the most optimistic preseason predictions would have predicted this Sacramento Kings As the third best team in the Western Conferencethe moment you reach the All Star Game. However, this is exactly what those who lead are Mike Brownwho with his record 32-25 appear directly below Denver and Memphis in qualifying for the playoffs.
Even if they logically drop a few spots the rest of the regular season (Phoenix is a great candidate to pull through), all indications are that the Kings will break their 17-year drought without making the postseason. By far the most expansive of the league’s 30 franchises.
But How did they manage to make such a qualitative leap this 2022-2023? Here are some keys to the secret of your success.
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120 points per game
The first thing to say is that the good results of the Kings They are essentially explained by their production on the offensive side. Defensively, they rank 23rd in points allowed per game and rating, but on offense they have the highest scoring average (119.5) and the second best rating per 100 possessions. Weak defense, elite offense.
Within this dominant offense, there are some specific areas where they excel. And in almost all of them with their two main figures, with Domantas Sambonis as the central axis.
Sacramento is a good triple team. He appears in the Top 10 in triple jumps (7th), attempts (7th) and percentage (9th). Where they really excel, though, is in their own performance near the rim: leads the NBA in double-double percentage (58.5%) and they are second in percentage of success near the basket (63.4%).
about De Aaron Fox in this area he is excellent for a point guard (7.7 conversion doubles per game and 57.1% accuracy), but It’s Sabonis who really transforms the Kings into a super efficient offense.
Kings mini-Jokic
Among the 43 players who get at least 10 doubles per game, Sabonis comes in with the second-best two-point percentage: 64.1%. Only Nikola Jokic (67.3%) figures above him. And not coincidentally, Denver is the only team to beat Sacramento in offensive rating and shooting percentage near the rim.
The comparison between Sabonis and Jokic It can also be extended to the impact of both on Create points from your teammates. The Serb is the indoor leader (10.1), while the Sacramento star comes in second (6.9).
both are the axis of much of their teams’ attacks, but they get those assists very differently. Jokic does it in a more traditional way, using his combination of strength, height and unparalleled vision and accuracy to find wide teammates with forward or behind-the-back passes worthy of a point guard.
Sabonis, on the other hand, adds a significant portion of those assists in a type of game that Sacramento explodes like no other in the NBA: heads-up or do not touch.
The Kings are by far the team that adds the most this way to the contest: they score 11.3 points per game with such actions, while the second (Spurs) remains at 8.4. Even Golden State, with Draymond Green able to pass the ball to Steph, Klay and Poole, doesn’t come close to the numbers of Mike Brown’s men (they sit at 8.3).
Sabonis already shined in this area in Indiana and has stepped up his performance in Sacramento, with two beloved teammates complementing each other: he do not touch on De’Aaron Fox’s explosive drives to the rim…
… and hand-to-hand to free up Kevin Huerter as a shooter. In fact, the former Hawk is the leading scorer in those types of games in the entire NBA (3.6 points per game), while Fox is 11th.
A real contender in the West?
Another unavoidable point, even more so in today’s NBA context, is the lucky he had sacramento with the injury. None of his starting five have missed more than five games: Harrison Barnes has played all 57, Domantas Sabonis 55, Kevin Huerter 54, Keegan Murray 53 and DeAaron Fox 52. The two top-averaged relievers scoring term, Malik Monk (54 ) and Trey Lyles (51) were also mostly available.
With all this in mind, Can the Kings be considered among the contenders in the West? For now, it seems complicated, even though the record would support this idea. Sacramento will have the same challenges Denver has with Jokic, albeit amplified: How will they respond defensively when they have to play a seven-game crossover against the best teams and players in the league?
Although of course, there are still months left for that and in the meantime, his followers They can enjoy like they haven’t for a long time.
The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the NBA or its organizations.
