Having not made the playoffs since the 2005-06 season, the Sacramento Kings appeared to have their work cut out working their way into the postseason after winning just 30 games last year, even with De’Aaron Fox, AKA ‘Mr. Clutch’, and Domantas Sabonis leading the charge. Throughout the course of this season, however, they’ve proven their critics wrong, going 48-34 and locking up the third seed in a competitive Western Conference. They’ll face a tough first round matchup against the Golden State Warriors, but these are four reasons why they will beat last year’s NBA champions and make it through to their first Conference Semi-Finals since 2004.
The best offensive rating in history
The Kings’ offense has been close to unstoppable this season, with Fox and Sabonis a major reason why. Over the course of 82 games, they’ve scored an incredible 118.6 points per night, with the gap between them and the second-highest offense in the league – the Boston Celtics – the same as the gap between the Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks in sixth.
That rating of 118.6 is the highest in league history, beating out the 2020-21 incarnation of the Brooklyn Nets – a side which boasted, at various points, each of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving. It’s worth noting that the vast majority of teams towards the top of that list are from the past few years, with the increasing use of the three-point line a major reason for the improved efficiency of offenses, but nonetheless it’s an impressive feat, and one which will make them very difficult for the Warriors to stop.
Warriors’ woes on the road
One of the Warriors’ biggest issues this season has been their inability to be competitive on the road. At home they’ve been sensational, going 33-8 over the course of the regular season. The story on the road has been close to the exact opposite. They won just 11 road games out of 41, and over the past couple of months their traveling form has been an unmitigated disaster.
They won their last two games of the season on the road against the Kings and the Portland Trail Blazers, but neither opponent had much skin in either of those games and played a second unit lineup. Prior to those two games, their record was 2-12 on the road harking back to the beginning of February. With the Kings boasting home court advantage for this series, that doesn’t bode well for the Warriors. Of course, all it takes is one road win if they can remain unbeaten at home, but a road record like theirs is far from optimal for the lower-ranked seed.
Turnovers
The Kings are certainly not an elite team when it comes to forcing turnovers, ranking 14th in the league for percentage of opposition possessions on which they create one. This is, however, one area which they will look to exploit in this series. Turning the ball over is the Warriors’ Achilles heel; they do it on 15.8% of possessions, worse than every team in the league with the exception of the Houston Rockets, and the 19.4 points per game they give up from turnovers is also the second-worst in the league behind the Rockets.
The Kings are mid-table, as mentioned, in terms of producing turnovers, but they do rank a little higher in terms of converting those turnovers, with the 17.6 points they score per game off them ranking them equal tenth in the league. This will be a key focus for them, and if they can force the Warriors to continue their season-long trend of giving up the basketball it will go a long way to them winning this series.
Youth isn’t necessarily the most sought-after trait in postseason teams, but it’s something the Kings will certainly be looking to use to their advantage. These two sides could hardly be more different in terms of their age profile; of their starters, Harrison Barnes’ is comfortably the oldest at 30. Sabonis is 26, Fox is 25, Kevin Huerter is 24 and Keegan Murray is 22. That stands in stark contrast to the Warriors, whose three best starters in Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are 35, 33 and 33 respectively.
Invariably that means the Warriors have more experience, but the Kings will be hoping that the exuberance of youth will prove beneficial to them. While their stars are still in the early stages of their career and on the way up, the Warriors’ are at the opposite end of the spectrum. The Kings’ spritely offensive game style relies heavily on energy and enthusiasm; if they can avoid wilting under the bright lights of the playoffs, they can use this to their advantage against the Warriors’ aging legs.
It’s been close to two decades since the Kings last made a postseason appearance. This year, not only have they returned, but they’ve secured the third seed in the Western Conference and with it, home court advantage. That’s just one of multiple things this exciting young side have in their favor, and with their historically good offense, the Warriors’ penchant for turnovers and the exuberance of youth, the Kings can win their first playoff series since 2004.
Source: https:/clutchpoints.com
