Game Info

  • Tip Off: 7:30 PM PT
  • Television: CSN-BA

Sacramento Kings Team Profile

  • Offensive Efficiency: 102.7 (16th in NBA)
  • Defensive Efficiency: 108.4 (29th in NBA)

Leaders

  • Points: DeMarcus Cousins, 16.9 PPG
  • Rebounds: DeMarcus Cousins, 10.1 RPG
  • Assists: Isaiah Thomas, 3.7 APG
  • Steals: DeMarcus Cousins, 1.5 SPG
  • Blocks: James Johnson, 0.9 BPG
  • Field Goal Percentage: Patrick Patterson, 54.7% FG
  • 3-Point Field Goal Percentage: Patrick Patterson, 58.3% 3PT FG

Scope the Opposition: Cowbell Kingdom.

Preview: The Sacramento Kings (25-46) are coming off back-to-back losses and will try to rebound at Oracle Arena tonight.

The last time they stepped into the building, Klay Thompson hit a beautiful right corner 3-pointer that gave the Dubs the lead late and the victory.

Sacramento’s usual suspects struggled on March 6th against the Golden State Warriors (41-31) and instead relied on two other players to carry the load.

Jason Thompson and Patrick Patterson scored a combined 32 points on 14-for-23 field goal shooting. They also converted the last two field goals for the Kings and gave them an opportunity at closing the game out.

Unfortunately for Kings fans, that’s not quite how the game finished.

A big part of the problem for Keith Smart was and is the team’s lack of offensive sophistication. They might run a few hand offs here and there or even a couple of pick-and-rolls, but other than that the expectations are fairly low in terms of their schemes on this front.

The Kings rely on beating people off the dribble, drive and kicks and post ups. Those can be good strategies provided that players are moving in concert with each other and have a clear understanding of what others can and will do.

Sadly, that just isn’t the case with this team.

And this was made clear in the last encounter against the Dubs.

The Sacramento Kings took an 83-82 lead with 48.4 seconds left at Oracle Arena on March 6th thanks to a corner 3-pointer by Patrick Patterson. Both teams then exchanged possessions without scores.

The Warriors ran their offense and manufactured some decent looks at the hoop while the Kings went a bit playground.

Dribble, dribble, dribble, pass, shot, miss.

On the next two possessions, here’s the breakdown of the Sacramento offense:

  • Toney Douglas brings the ball up court, dribbles the shot clock away, goes away from a screen-and-roll with Patterson and fires a semi-contested 3-pointer for a miss. The Warriors scored on the following possession with the Thompson clutch trey and took a two-point lead.
  • Down two, the Kings inbounded the ball to Tyreke Evans at half-court after calling a timeout. With a little over seven seconds left, he caught the ball in the middle of the floor, set himself up with a series of dribble moves and drove to his right for a difficult — contested — one-legged shot that badly missed. Ball game.

It’s worth noting that Klay Thompson’s dagger 3-pointer came as the result of Golden State running an actual play. Smart made the defensive call resulting in Stephen Curry getting trapped in the pick-and-roll in the middle of the floor.

With the added attention from the Kings, Curry made a beautiful pass to Thompson that caught and fired all in one motion, thus giving the Dubs the lead and eventually the victory.

The Sacramento Kings have a talented roster, but they do a poor job of utilizing it. Until they figure that out, they might be destined for sub-.500 record.

Questions or comments? Feel free to leave them in the comments section or you can contact me by email at [email protected].