Sacramento Kings Magic Number Points to Winning Formula

With nine games under their belts since Zach LaVine made his debut, the Sacramento Kings look like they are starting to gel as a new roster with two straight wins over the Charlotte Hornets and Utah Jazz.

Yes, the Hornets and Jazz are both at the bottom of the standings, but the fact remains that the Kings won the games, which is all anyone can ask for.

By bringing in LaVine, Jake LaRavia, Jonas Valančiūnas, and Markelle Fultz, the Kings completely shook up their roster and rotation leading up to and following the trade deadline. With that, it took time for everyone to learn each other's tendencies, but it appears that the players are starting to get a rhythm going on the court.

Since taking over as interim head coach, Doug Christie has preached playing the right way, playing for each other, and sharing the ball. It took the Kings some time with all the new pieces, and the turnover issues are still present, but the assist numbers in the last six games are encouraging with the postseason looming.

Over the last six games, the Kings are averaging 29.7 assists, which would rank second in the season rankings to only the Denver Nuggets 31.3 per contest. In that span, Sacramento is 4-2, with one of the losses ironically coming in the highest assist total game when they had 38 against the New Orleans Pelicans.

But after starting off with 23, 21, and 24 assists in LaVine's first three games, the Kings have steadily been around what stands out as their magic number for assists; 28.

Kings go to their "Horns Chin" series - LaVine comes off a backscreen from DeMar after that entry to Sabonis, gets a wide open look at the basket out of it. pic.twitter.com/W6XuxdleqP
— Skyler (KFR) (@SacFilmRoom) February 27, 2025

Sacramento is 17-9 (.654) this season when they have at least 28 assists. Of those 26 games, 16 have occurred under Christie, with five coming in just the last six games. As a reminder, Christie has coached 27 games this season. So that means the Kings hit the mark 10 times in Mike Brown's 31 games, and 16 times in Christie's 27.

Of the 16 games the Kings have hit the 28-assist mark under Christie, they've won 11, good for a .688 winning percentage.

It's clear that when the Kings pass the ball (and make the shots that follow), they put themselves in a great position to win games. It's not rocket science, but it backs up everything Christie has talked about since taking over. Play the right way and let the actions lead to the results.

The downside of the passing and ball movement has been the turnovers, which peaked with 24 against the Golden State Warriors, but the turnovers have dropped over the last three games (24, 18, 16) while the assist numbers have stayed about the same (26, 30, 28).

If the Kings are going to make a postseason run, the key will be continuing to bring that turnover number down while maintaining or improving the assist number. If they're able to do that, they could unlock the potent offense that everyone has been hoping for since the trade and make a run to the playoffs.

Recommended Articles