Breaking down Sacramento’s In-Season Tournament group

Aug 21, 2024, 4:45 PM

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 04: Malik Monk #0 of the Sacramento Kings reacts after making a t...

Malik Monk #0 of the Sacramento Kings reacts after making a three-point shot against the New Orleans Pelicans in the fourth quarter of an NBA In-Season Tournament Knockout Round game at Golden 1 Center on December 04, 2023 in Sacramento, California.(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

BY BRENDEN NUNES

Sactown Sports writer

With the inaugural year of the In-Season Tournament in the rearview, it feels safe to say it was a success. The games were competitive, and fans were more engaged at a time when many would often tail off into the NFL season.

Unfortunately for the Sacramento Kings, advancing to the elimination stage led to the New Orleans Pelicans, whom they played five times in the regular season. They won zero of those matchups despite their desire to excel in the IST.

From speaking with them throughout the season, the Kings’ appetite heightened because it was the inaugural season.

“If you can win that first In-Season Tournament, you’re stamped in history,” De’Aaron Fox said. “Just like for me (in 22-23), winning Clutch Player of the Year. No one can ever take that away from you. You’re the first to ever do it.”

That title ended up going to LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. Maybe the fact that the appeal is gone could lessen their interest, but I doubt it.

For the upcoming 24-25 season, Sacramento was placed into the In-Season Tournament group “West A,” which includes the Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets, and Portland Trail Blazers.

Most of those rosters will look similar to last season’s, with the Clippers being the obvious exception as Paul George headed east to Philadelphia. So, it’s worth looking at how the Kings stacked up against them previously as a predictive measure for their odds this time.

Minnesota (2-1 season series)

Nov. 11th at Minnesota: Kings won 124-111
Dec. 23rd vs. Minnesota: Kings lost 110-98
Mar. 1st at Minnesota: Kings won 124-12

The Timberwolves dominated the Western Conference for most of the season, but two of these matchups took place before the start of 2024. Ironically, Sacramento won the first game when Keegan Murray was absent, lost the second game with a fully healthy squad—while Minnesota was without Rudy Gobert—and then came away victorious on the road without De’Aaron Fox.

You might remember that game without Fox. It was an overtime thriller in which Malik Monk scored 39 points on 16/29 from the field and 5/8 from three.

The Kings needed every bucket and benefitted from Anthony Edwards’s inability to play into the second half.

Malik Monk got BUCKETS tonight in the Kings OT win 😤🪣

39 PTS (season high)
16-29 FGM
5 3PM
4 AST pic.twitter.com/QrD0G1yvrl

— NBA (@NBA) March 2, 2024

Domantas Sabonis has often played well against Gobert, but Jaden McDaniels has been able to bother Fox at times on the other end. Frequently a physical battle, it shouldn’t be surprising that Sacramento’s lone blunder in the series came on a night where they shot 24.2 percent from three. Fox was 3/11 from distance.

Outside of the game he left early, Edwards showed up against the Kings and has even mentioned Golden 1 Center as his favorite stadium. It showed when he dropped 34 points, ten rebounds, and five assists in that building.

This matchup feels primarily centered around the Kings not letting offensive lulls be extended due to the Timberwolves’ shutdown defense while managing to get stops on the other end. Maybe DeMar DeRozan can aid them in that aspect.

It should make for some fun In-Season Tournament battles, but expect the T-Wolves to be the favorites coming into it.

Clippers (2-2 season series)

Nov. 29th vs. LA Clippers: Kings lost 117-131
Dec. 12th at LA Clippers: Kings lost 99-119
Feb. 25th at LA Clippers: Kings won 123-107
Apr. 2nd vs. LA Clippers: Kings won 109-95

This series was funky for a few reasons last season, including scheduling.

The matchup came one night after Sacramento pulled off a nearly 20-point comeback in Golden State off a Malik Monk game-winner. The night after, the Clippers took a 22-point lead into the half and never looked back.

Game two was a back-to-back for both sides, but Sacramento struggled to slow Kawhi Leonard en route to 31 points on 11/14 shooting. The first time they played the Clippers with at least one day’s rest, they defeated them by 14.

Paul George didn’t play in that matchup, but he won’t be around this coming season. Sacramento’s starters combined for 98 of their 123 points. Fox had 33, while Sabonis managed 17 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 assists.

Their final matchup was one of the better defensive showings of the season. They managed to win despite shooting 28.6 percent from three. Including that game, the Kings were 4-13 when converting less than 30 percent of their triples.

Leonard averaged 28.3 points, seven rebounds, and three assists on ridiculously efficient 64/44.4/85 shooting splits in the three games.

It was one of those series that highlighted how poor the Kings’ three-point defense was. The Clippers shot 39.6 percent from three over the four games, while Sacramento converted just 31.8 percent.

Maybe it’ll be different without George, but they’ve got to either be able to keep up, improve in that aspect, or both.

Portland (2-1 season series)

Nov. 8th vs. Portland: Kings won 121-118
Dec. 26th at Portland: Kings lost 130-113
Mar. 14th vs. Portland: Kings won 121-82

Let’s be honest here. The 23-24 Trail Blazers were a horrible team. Not Detroit or Washington horrible, but they deserved to be at the bottom of the Western Conference. But Sacramento often struggled last season against lower-tier teams for inexplicable reasons.

Their first matchup against Portland was tough, coming just seven games into the regular season. It was a back-and-forth game the entire night. Fox was sidelined, but that shouldn’t matter.

Jerami Grant effortlessly converted 38 points while shooting 5/8 from deep. That was his second-highest-scoring game of the season. His best came in February against the league-worst Pistons.

Sacramento missed ten of their 38 free-throw attempts, which was a sign of things to come. But a win is a win… I guess.

Portland put up 130 or more points on six occasions and won all of them. They went 15-61 outside of those offensive explosions. Fox and Sabonis combined for 77 points on 66.7 percent shooting, but the rest of the team shot 31.3 percent, including 3/27 from three.

Sometimes, those sorts of nights happen on the offensive end. The defense that was the issue. You may remember it as the Doup Reath game, where he managed 25 points and nine rebounds. There’s not much more to say than that.

The third and final showing was when Sacramento finally took care of business and held what ended as the 29th-rated offense to 82 points. Hopefully, the Kings won’t be guilty of playing down to their opponents’ level during In-Season Tournament play.

Houston (0-3 season series)

Nov. 8th at Houston: Kings lost 107-89
Nov. 6th at Houston: Kings lost 122-97
Mar. 3rd vs. Houston: Kings lost 112-104

I’m not sure which was worse, the Houston season series or Portland’s, but it’s not an encouraging exercise for Sacramento.

Fox was inactive for the early season consecutive matchup against his hometown Rockets, but both losses were blowouts.

So was the March butt-kicking, where everyone was healthy. The Kings had a baffling inability to score the ball against this team.

They averaged 96.7 points in the three matchups on 42.6/27.4/72.6 shooting. Meanwhile, the Rockets managed 113.7 points on 49.6/41.7/77 splits. That’s a losing formula and a clear-as-day sign that they were not playing their free-flowing brand of basketball.

It’s just hard to figure out why, of the nine games the Kings had where they failed to reach 100 points, three of them came against H-Town. No other team held them below that marker more than once.

Simply put, they have to be better there. But with a largely returning roster, I’d bet on them remembering these matchups heading into 24-25 In-Season Tournament games.