The Sacramento Kings are rolling on offense. They have scored 281 points over their last two games on a combined 56.8 percent from the field and 48.7 percent from three.
Yet, after converting 22-of-44 from three in Sunday’s 141-97 win over the Utah Jazz, head coach Mike Brown said he hopes “the story isn’t about making threes.”
“I hope the story is about how we played defensively,” he continued.
Recently, their shooting has been the story more often than not. This season, the Kings are 6-1 when shooting 40 percent or higher from three and 3-6 when they fail to surpass the 30 percent mark.
But, sometimes, the process is more important than the results.
“We didn’t change anything when it came to making the threes,” Brown said after the game. “We’re telling them the same thing. Touch the paint and spray it… and if somebody closes out to you, then drive, kick, swing… and if you’re open, shoot it.”
“That’s all our guys did, but they did a helluva job defensively tonight for 48 minutes, and whether you make threes or you miss threes, if you bring an effort like that, especially on the defensive end of the floor, and you try to get out and run, you’re going to find a way to win.”
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Brown was asked pregame about the reality of his team having lived and died by the triple up to this point, and he was quick to point out why that shouldn’t be the case for a high-caliber NBA team.
He referenced two examples of teams who have consistently found ways to win despite poor shooting: the Orlando Magic and the Houston Rockets.
Orlando is currently dead last in three-point percentage (31.1 percent) but sits third in the Eastern Conference at 17-9 thanks to their defense, which ranks third best in the league.
The Rockets (16-8) have functioned similarly. Despite shooting 33 percent (26th in the NBA) from deep, their second-highest-rated defense has them eight games above .500.
The current Kings’ roster construction will likely never equate to a top-five defense akin to Houston or Orlando. But that doesn’t mean they should overlook that end and feel a need to get desperate when their conversion rate dwindles.
From Brown’s perspective, the defensive end is where they can find added consistency.
According to NBA Stats, Sacramento currently ranks 13th in defensive rating (112.7) and is 5-1 when holding its opponents to under 105 points. They’re 0-5 when allowing 120 or more.
While the Kings don’t have any players who have earned All-Defensive honors in their careers—despite Fox leading the league in steals last season—their head coach believes they can remain impactful by not getting “bored stacking plays the right way.”
“What I mean by that is we don’t need the home run steal,” Mike Brown said. “We don’t need the home run three. We just need to be methodical about stacking on playing the right way, possession after possession, after possession, after possession…”
To cement his point, he repeated “possession after possession” 26 times in his postgame comments—yes, I counted. The repetitive and monotonous nature of his words fit the message. It might be boring, but it works.
Everyone loves a well-timed steal in the passing lanes that leads to an electric transition finish, but taking that risk and failing often leaves a player out of position, resulting in an easy bucket for the other side.
Don’t get greedy or flashy; stay in front of your man, rotate into the gaps when needed, and do your job.
On the other side of the ball, it’s about being content with a hockey assist or not feeling solely responsible for creating and making a shot to regain positive momentum. Trust each other and make the simple, albeit sometimes bland, play. They did that Sunday against the Jazz.
“The ball was humming,’ Brown said. “The ball was touching the paint and getting sprayed. We were spacing correctly. We were talking defensively. We were contesting shots. We were boxing out. We were getting off the glass and running, and we didn’t get bored with it. And that’s why the game resulted in what it did.”
So, while averaging 127 points over their last five games certainly swings the odds in their favor, sometimes shots aren’t going to fall. How can you win games in those situations?
By remaining calm, cool, and collected, trusting the game plan, and swinging for singles rather than aiming for the fences, on both ends.
Consistency is found on defense, and Brown has been preaching that to his players, staff, the Kings’ fans, and the media alike. His message remained consistent when asked how much fun he had watching Doug McDermott explode for 18 points in the fourth quarter.
“Right now, where we’re sitting, I’m locked in,” he said. The Kings (12-13) are 12th in the Western Conference. “It’s not time to have fun. It’s time to win games and stack plays the right way.”
When is the next Sacramento Kings game?
With the NBA Cup’s knockout stage set to begin next week, Sacramento will play just one game over the next seven days, providing Mike Brown’s group a chance to regroup and get some much-needed practice.
The Kings’ lone game this week will be against the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night at the Smoothie King Center, the building that witnessed the end of Sacramento’s season in the Play-In Tournament just eight months ago.
New Orleans has been the Kings’ worst nightmare lately, going 6-0 against Sacramento last season.
Be sure to catch all of the Kings vs. Pelicans action right here on Sactown Sports 1140 AM, with pregame coverage starting at 2:00 PM PT on The Drive Guys before action tips off at 5:00 PM PT from New Orleans.
Sacramento Kings 2024-25 Schedule
Thursday, December 12th – @ New Orleans Pelicans – 5:00 PM PT
Monday, December 16th – vs. Denver Nuggets – 7:00 PM PT
Thursday, December 19th – vs. Los Angeles Lakers – 7:00 PM PT
Saturday, December 21st – vs. Los Angeles Lakers – 3:00 PM PT
Sunday, December 22nd – vs. Indiana Pacers – 3:00 PM PT
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