Sacramento Kings: Don’t look now, but this team might be onto something

The Sacramento Kings won their fourth straight game, improving to 5-3 on the season, and may just be onto something good.

When the 2018-19 NBA season got underway, nobody thought much of Dave Joerger’s Sacramento Kings. Most pundits figured their win total would be somewhere in the mid-20’s by season’s end, and would not be a factor in the Western Conference at all.

And, if we’re being honest here, that may still yet come to pass. However, through the first eight games of the season – or more specifically, over the last four – the Kings have looked like a team that’s starting to figure it out, and is playing some solid basketball.

It’s not difficult to understand the skepticism surrounding this Kings team. After all, they’re incredibly young, inexperienced, and for many on the roster, they’re getting their first taste of NBA action. Logically speaking, it’s not exactly a recipe for success.

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And after the first four games of the season, the Kings did nothing to change the perception that they’re a team that will dwell at the bottom of the Western Conference, starting off 1-3, with losses to Utah, New Orleans, and Denver.

The common theme in all three of those losses – and even their lone win – was a lack of defense, which of course, was highlighted by the Pelicans lighting them up for 149 points in their 20-point victory.

Over those first four games, the Kings gave up an average of 129.5 points per game. Suffice it to say, defense was in short supply. However, they were still pretty good on the offensive end, averaging 122.3 points of their own.

But then, something seemed to kick in, and over the next four games, the Kings have been more Dr. Jekkyl than Mr. Hyde, defensively speaking. In their four straight victories over Memphis, Washington, Miami, and Orlando, their scoring average dipped to 110.8 points per game, but somehow, their defense woke up, and is limiting the opposition to just 104 points per game.

That defensive awakening has led Sacramento to a 5-3 record – currently second place in the Pacific Division, but also currently has them looking at the eight-seed in the absolutely loaded Western Conference.

Yes, yes, yes. It’s obviously far, far, far too early to even start projecting playoff seedings. And Sacramento still has a long way to go, and much to prove, before they can even think about announcing themselves to be a factor in the West.

However, led by a young core that includes Willie Cauley-Stein (17.4 ppg, nine rpg), Buddy Hield (18.9 ppg), De’Aaron Fox (17.5 ppg, 6.9 apg), and Marvin Bagley (12.4 ppg, 7.1 rbg), the future – as well as the present – appear to be bright for this Kings squad.

Armed with a roster stuffed with young talent, HC Dave Joerger promised to push the tempo, and create an exciting, wide-open style of basketball. And so far, the Kings are delivering. Their 116.5 ppg average is among the league leaders.

Unfortunately, opposing teams are averaging 116.8 points against them per game, which puts them in the bottom third of the league. However, there is a spark of hope, given that over the last four games they’ve played, they’ve shaved 25 points off their opponents’ per game average.

The flames of that hope are only fanned, when you consider that the first four games of the season, when their opponents were able to score at will, have skewed the running tally, making them seem a bit worse off than they’ve been of late.

Now that the seem to be figuring things out on the defensive end of the floor, Sacramento’s average of 104 defensive points per game they’ve given up (again, over the last four) would put them inside the top-five in the league, behind Indiana, Memphis, and Boston’s league-leading 97.6 defensive ppg average.

This is a team most people wrote off before the season even started. And probably for good reason, given the lack of star power, combined with a profound lack of experience. But, after eight games, with five wins under their belt already, it seems like this is a team that should exceed the very modest mid-20 win total most expected of them.

It’s going to take the same commitment on the defensive end of the floor we’ve seen over the last four games, as well as the fast paced, wide open offensive attack that’s led them to be one of the top scoring unites in the league over the course of this young season.

Sacramento is a fun team to watch, and plays an exciting brand of basketball. Though it’s early, and the sample size is incredibly small, the early returns for Joerger’s youthful group have got to be encouraging. And they have to inspire some hope that the bright future he’s been talking about, is already here.

It’s still very early yet, and there are still many more trials and tribulations this Kings squad must pass through, but it certainly seems like they might be figuring some things out, and may be onto something really good up in Sacramento.