Promising Stat Supports the Kings’ Preseason Focus

The Sacramento Kings have maximized their second-chance opportunities early into the 2024-25 NBA season.

Oct 29, 2024; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown reacts to a play against the Utah Jazz during the first quarter at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images / Rob Gray-Imagn Images

The hot topic coming out of the Sacramento Kings training camp and preseason was offensive rebounds and second-chance points.

At first glance, it appears that the Kings are faltering in that aspect of the game with only 6.8 offensive rebounds per game, the second-fewest in the league. But taking a closer look at the numbers tells a different story.

An interesting combo of stats for the Kings:
Offensive Rebounds: 6.8 (29th)
2nd Chance Points: 14.8 (18th)

Some #'s from PBP Stats on Kings 2nd chance opportunities
FG: 15-of-19 (78.9%)
3P: 7-of-10 (70%)
Pts/Poss: 1.69 (!!)

— Will Z. Stats (@will_zimmerle) November 1, 2024

The Kings are doing a phenomenal job of taking advantage of their second-chance looks. For reference, 1.2 points per possession is a good number to shoot for on any given possession, so getting 1.69 points per possession on the putback attempts is astounding.

Oftentimes, getting an offensive rebound leaves the defense in scramble mode. And for a Kings team with scorers everywhere, they have ample players who can take advantage of a scrambling defense.

These numbers are likely going to even out as the season goes on. While the shooting percentage will likely go down, I anticipate the offensive rebounding numbers to go up. 

The Kings are quietly putting together a great combination of schemes on offense and defense. They are making the most out of every opportunity and taking away their opponent's possessions with steals and deflections.

Between their increased activity on defense and effectiveness on their second chance looks, Sacramento has something cooking early on in the season. As DeMar DeRozan gets more comfortable in Sacramento's system this season, the Kings will look more and more like contenders.

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