Who are these Kings? After a riveting 131-120 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday evening, Sacramento is 1-2 on the season, but their offense is off the charts.
The Kings currently rank second in the league in points per game following Sunday’s win, averaging 125.7 points through the first three contests. Young players like De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield and Willie Cauley-Stein are posting big numbers and they are getting contributions from every man in the rotation.
The objective this season was to take advantage of the youth and athleticism of the team. Sacramento is pushing the pace, playing an exciting brand of basketball and their shot charts tell the entire story.
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Kings vs. Thunder
For a young team, Sacramento is showing remarkable restraint. 49.5 percent of their attempts are coming in the circle area, where they are knocking down 62.2 percent.
The team did a nice job of avoiding the mid-range, which is the lowest percentage shot in the NBA. The shots they did take from outside of the circle, but inside the 3-point arc, they drilled at a high rate, finishing the night 14-of-24 for a spectacular 58.3 percent.
NBA
Joerger could use an increase in 3-point attempts from his perimeter shooters. As a team, they knocked down 10-of-22 (45.5 percent) from long range. Over their first three games, the Kings are shooting 40.9 percent from deep, which is good enough for ninth in the league. But their 22 attempts per game ranks 23rd in the league.
It’s hard to fault the shot selection. When you knock down 54.9 percent from the field, there are going to be more red dots and than green, but the chart above shows that the Kings are dictating their offensive flow.
This is a huge development for Sacramento. It helps that they are pushing the tempo and getting into their offense early. The Kings scored 68 points in the paint against OKC, which is a hefty number for any club.
Kings vs. Pelicans
The numbers against the Pelicans look surprisingly similar. Sacramento hit 45-of-96 shots in the circle area, hitting an efficient 66.7 percent near the rim.
From the mid-range area, the Kings knocked down just 10-of-26 (38.5 percent), which shows you the danger of shooting from this area on the floor. 66.7 percent shooting from inside equates to 1.33 points per possession. 38.5 percent shooting from outside the circle and inside the arc is worth only .77 points per possession.
Sacramento hit 10-of-25 from 3-point range against the Pelicans, which is solid 40 percent. Again, the Kings have plenty of quality shooters and should be shooting a few more triples per game.
Kings vs. Jazz
Against the Jazz, the Kings only attempted 35 shots in the circle area, hitting on 62.9 percent of those opportunities. The biggest reason for the reduction in shots is likely the presence of reigning Defensive Player of the Year and shot blocking extraordinaire, Rudy Gobert.
Sacramento still managed to score 62 points in the paint against a defense that ranked second in the league last year in both points allowed and defensive rating.
From the mid-range, the Kings shot well, hitting 20-of-41 for 48.8 percent. Again, the increase in number can be attributed to Gobert’s influence, but also a veteran, defensive minded team dictating the flow of a young Kings team on opening night.
The Kings shot 7-of-19 (36.8 percent) from behind the arc, which was likely Utah’s gameplan. Overall, Sacramento shot an impressive 51.6 from the field and scored 117 points against a quality opponent.
Conclusion
Although the Kings sit at 1-2 on the season, their offense has been extremely impressive. They’ve dropped 117, 129 and 131 points in their first three games of the season, all against seasoned, playoff teams. They currently rank first in the league in points per game and seventh in offensive rating.
Sacramento has shot over 50 percent from the field in each game and they appear to be refining their attack from one game to the next.
In the paint, they’ve been deadly. Utah, New Orleans and OKC are all anchored by big time defenders in Gobert, Anthony Davis and Steven Adams, respectively. The Kings have attacked the paint and come away with baskets at an incredible clip.
From the outside, Sacramento has been efficient, shooting 40.9 percent from behind the arc, although they need to take more attempts.
Coach Dave Joerger was asked to push the tempo. So far, that is exactly what the Kings are doing. They rank second in the NBA in pace with 109 possessions per 48 minutes.
There are plenty of other stats to point to as well. Sacramento leads the league in field goal makes per game, which plays into the speed they are playing at. They rank first in 2-point field goal percentage, attempts and makes and they are 10th in the league in free throw attempts per game.
Despite having three new veteran additions, two rookies and the rest of the rotation all on rookie scale contracts, the Kings are finding offensive chemistry quickly this season. The defensive side of the ball is a completely different story, but that’s a post for another day.