Welcome to the B-Ball Brunch. Enjoy reading about my NBA musings about last night during your brunch hours.
The Sacramento Kings have won five of their last seven games.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Rich Pedroncelli/AP.)
The Sacramento Kings have been PRETTY good once the calendar turned to November. After a horrid 0-5 start, the KANGZ (apparently, you’re cool if you spell it that way) have gone 5-2 since. Their losses have been to the reigning, defending champion Toronto Raptors and their hated rivals, the L.A. Lakers. And those were close losses, too. Also, they’ve been doing this without Marvin Bagley III. And they also lost De’Aaron Fox recently (who could be out longer than the original 3-4 weeks).
So what’s going on with the Kings?
October was awful. They were only scoring 97.2 points per 100 possessions in that month, which was 28th in the league. And that might have affected their defense, which was bottom five in the league (allowing 113.8 points per 100 possessions).
They didn’t move the ball around. They couldn’t grab a board. They couldn’t make a shot. It was almost like they forgot how to play basketball. The Kings lost by an average of 19 points in their first five games.
November came and, suddenly, the Kings are okay. They upset the Utah Jazz as they were the first to score 100 points against them. Then they took care of the Knicks (as they should) before losing that close game to Raptors. They won three of their next four, which culminated in an upset win against the Boston Celtics on Sunday.
The Kings found a groove on offense. They’re 15.7 points better on offensive rating in November. They’re moving the ball a little better. And it makes a HUGE difference when you’re making shots. Sacramento is second in three-point percentage in the month of November at 41 percent.
Buddy Hield has been a consistent shooter this season but the uptick in production is noticeable. He’s scored 20 points in his last six games, topping it off with that 35-point showcase against the Celtics. He’s rebounding more, too, as he helps the Kings whittle away the gap in that department.
Harrison Barnes has been much-maligned for his deal but his experience has helped him be at the right place at the right time. He made the game-winner against the Jazz to get the Kings on the board in the win column. He’s also found his shooting in the month of November (.405 from three). And Barnes has also done some more playmaking going from four ENTIRE assists in October to 3.1 per game in November.
They have had strong production from Richaun Holmes. His energy has helped the Kings off the bench. You see his highlight dunks on all the sports shows and YouTube. It gets the team hyped up and you always need someone to do the gritty work.
But the one that has stood out the most is Bogdan Bogdanovic. He’s another one that has found the touch, going from 26.7 percent from threes in October to 48 percent in November. He has also been able to find his teammates more, evidenced by two 10-assist games in the last three Kings games. Hopefully, the Kings get the November Bogdan more than the October Bogdan.
Obviously, Fox will reclaim his starting spot once he comes back. It might be a bit more of a question with Bagley since Nemanda Bjelica is playing pretty well, too. He’s been steady throughout the season and it might get the team thinking that Bagley could be better off as a spark off the pine when he comes back.
Either way, the Kings are back on the right track. A few bounces and calls their way and they might be on a seven-game win streak. Still, five out of seven ain’t bad at all.
Bullet Passes
Markelle Fultz’s comeback continues! Fultz scored a career-best 19 wins and made the clutch plays against the Wizards. His story is seriously so inspirational.
Denver got the Jamal Murray they wanted. 39 points against the Grizzlies. He made 7 three-pointers. Keep firing, Jamal.
The Lakers reclaim the best record in the league after beating the Hawks into a pulp on Sunday night. And who didn’t see this coming? LeBron James is doing the bulk of the work again after all the claims that the offense should run through Anthony Davis. James leads the league in assists at 11.2 per game and leads the team in scoring at 25 PPG.
But while James continues to defy Father Time, he can’t avoid it for so long so, yeah, this is worrisome. Then again, the team isn’t so great when he’s off the floor. Woof.
This is the craziest NBA injury report I have ever seen. And I’ve seen a TON of NBA in my lifetime.
By the way, Frank Jackson ended up not playing. The Pelicans beat the Warriors, 108-100, even though a lot more action happened in the infirmary than the basketball court.
This is probably the best dunk of Danny Green’s NBA career:
(VIDEO CREDIT: CaCHooKaManHLS.)
It was like his teammates couldn’t believe Danny Green dunked. The Lakers are having THAT much fun right now.
(Also, I am very aware that dunk gave the Lakers 69 points. I am so mature.)
Watch This Play
Fultz made this clutch sequence against the Wizards. SO good to see.
MARKELLE FULTZ IS THE MAN. #MagicAboveAll #NBA pic.twitter.com/4Hv50SJsXf
— FOX Sports Florida & Sun (@FOXSportsFL) November 18, 2019
Hopefully, he continues to trend upward.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
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