The Sacramento Kings didn’t get the win tonight against the Miami Heat, but compared to the other eight losses this season, this one feels palatable for the Kings. It’s sad when a single-digit loss feels like a win, but alas, that’s just where Sacramento is so far this season.
Even though they fell to 1-9, this felt like a game where the Kings could walk away feeling like they learned something. Darius Acuff Jr. continued to shine, scoring a game-high 32 points and dishing out 10 assists for his third double-double of the season against one of the best on-ball defenders in the league, Davion Mitchell, and the defensive duo of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo.
Even without Domantas Sabonis setting the screens tonight, Acuff looked like a polished NBA player leading the offense. He had five turnovers, but continues to look exactly like everyone hoped he would in his rookie season.
Precious Achiuwa’s Best Game Yet
Precious Achiuwa’s game doesn’t stand out in the box score, but he had his best game of the season, finishing with 7 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists, and a block. Just like Acuff, the turnovers weren’t great (6), but the Kings needed someone to step up with Domantas Sabonis missing the game and Maxime Raynaud’s continued absence.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t feel like a coincidence that Achiuwa played so well with Sabonis sitting. It’s not that Aciuwa is better than Sabonis, but so far, the two of them haven’t clicked in the lineup together due to their lack of shooting.
Just like how Sabonis is better when surrounded by shooters, Achiuwa thrives as the longe non-shooter who can do all the dirty work. And he played that role perfectly tonight.
Wings Everywhere?
Keegan Murray’s return to action doesn’t jump out at you, as he finished with 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting from the field and 0-of-3 from three, but his return did stand out to the eye test. He immediately catapults all the Kings’ lineups in terms of size, and between him, De’Andre Hunter, and Leaky Black, the Kings have three true wing options Doug Christie can cycle through throughout the game.
It’s what was so intriguing about Ben Simmons being on the Kings, and Black isn’t anywhere near the player Simmons is, but the size comparison is there, in theory at least to some extent. The Kings still couldn’t slow down Giannis, but at least they have some more options on the wings with Murray’s return.
LaVine Sits Late
The most interesting development in this game might have been more about who was off the court than how the Kings closed out the game. Zach LaVine didn’t see any fourth-quarter action, even though the game was within striking distance until the end.
Christie found a combination that works with Acuff and Malik Monk on the court together, and he stuck with it tonight after they got their rythym going. Monk is more of a natural ball handler than LaVine and seems to take more pressure off Acuff that way than LaVine doesn with his pure scoring ability.
Rotations are going to be a hot topic all season long for the Kings, but tonight felt like a shift to leaning into what was working more than we’ve seen before. Especially after the Nique Clifford trade, LaVine’s minutes will be closely watched going forward, as rumors will almost certainly swirl.
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