Game Preview: Sacramento Kings
It’s hard to say why the Kings, owners of one of the NBA’s fastest offenses and most dynamic young point guards last season, have performed such a stark about-face this year under first-year head coach Luke Walton. Sacramento ranked second in average time of possession last year as De’Aaron Fox pushed the ball at every opportunity, and rode that speed to a 17-ranked offense and 39-win season – far better marks than the team’s sheer talent would suggest. This offseason, the Kings signed Dewayne Dedmon, Trevor Ariza, and Harrison Barnes – overpaid but useful veterans – to new deals while each of their young players aged another year into their primes. Sacramento had nearly every characteristic of a young team ready to take another step toward making the playoffs.
But through the first eight games of the season, the Kings have hardly resembled the lively team that surprised the league last season. With a 2-06 record, they rank 29 in offensive efficiency and 25 in defense – good for the third-worst point differential in the NBA – and, most shockingly, have played at one of the slowest paces in the league. Their transition frequency has plummeted from 19.6 percent (first in the league) last season to 15.8 percent (15) this year. That has stifled what could be a potent attack, and the Kings just don’t have the offensive or defensive personnel to consistently wear teams down in the halfcourt. They’re turning the ball over at a higher rate at their slower tempo and seldom getting to the foul line – two areas a team can use to boost its offense without changing its shot profile or accuracy.
This should all come with the caveat that the Kings have played a mere eight games and will likely hit an inflection point at which they’ll rediscover last season’s groove. So long as that doesn’t happen Friday night, the Hawks are catching Sacramento at the right time. Last season, these two teams would have borne a striking similarity to one another. Each played at breakneck pace, with a promising young point guard leading exciting, if inefficient, offenses. Just as Sacramento has reversed course, the Hawks have regressed in their own right, slipping to 19 in pace (again, through seven games) and 28 in points per possession. Coming off its worst showing of the young season, Atlanta desperately needs a response to Wednesday night’s clunker against the Bulls and a boost of positive momentum as it travels to the west coast for a five-game road trip.
Game Time: Friday, November 8, 2019, 7:30 PM ET
Location: State Farm Arena, Atlanta, GA
TV: FOX Sports Southeast & NBC Sports California
Streaming: NBA League Pass, FOX Sports Go
Stopping Sacramento begins with containing Fox, one of the quickest and most dynamic lead guards in basketball. The youngster figured things out last season after a brutal rookie year, clearly seeing the game in a different light than he used to. He’ll manipulate your defense to a point of looking foolish before slinging a pass to a cutter or shooter, but also has enough in his bag as a scorer to punish teams for shading toward the pass. Fox shot 37 percent from deep last season on almost three attempts per game, though his shooting hasn’t quite caught up this year. For a player who poached so many easy buckets and assists in transition last year, Fox seems to be struggling as much as any King to slow down. Turnovers are up, assists and efficiency are down, and he isn’t running his offense with quite the same command.
Still, Fox can tie Atlanta’s defense into knots when he wants to, especially given Trae Young’ weaknesses on that end of the floor. His running mate, Buddy Hield, is as dangerous a shooter as anyone in the league outside the Bay Area; the 26-year-old has hit nearly 41 percent of his nine 3-point attempts per game and has new layers to his game that weren’t there the last time he came to Atlanta. Barnes is perhaps the most versatile and reliable scorer on the roster at the moment and Nemanja Bjelica has filled in capably for the injured Marvin Bagley III.
Most of the other Kingsmen, however, have yet to find a rhythm. Dedmon and Ariza don’t have much value on offense if they don’t hit shots, which they haven’t. Bogdan Bogdanović will play better, but hasn’t given Sacramento the same punch he did last year. All will improve as season numbers begin to even out – Sacramento ranks 25 in effective field goal percentage and 29 in opponent shooting – but the Kings simply aren’t making opponents feel them like they did last season. Atlanta can relate, having shown up to Wednesday’s contest with as little energy as possible, but seems more firmly rooted in its identity. The Kings are still trying to find theirs, and that search has been curiously taxing.
