One of the joys of living in the Bay Area is proximity to Sacramento and Golden 1 Center. I like everything about the experience there; ease of access, cheap tickets, better quality and priced concessions than at other stadiums, and a raucous crowd. Golden 1 is arguably better than its glitzier neighbor down I-80 on every one of those dimensions. So on a Monday night, a friend and I found ourselves watching the Sacramento Kings blow out the science experiment Orlando Magic.1 In honor of the Kings scoring a franchise-record 23 three pointers, here are three takeaways from the game.
In Praise of Harrison Barnes
I like Harrison Barnes, the oft forgotten hero of the Golden State Warriors’ 2015 championship run. In subsequent stops in Dallas and now Sacramento, he has remained solid. While initially asked to do too much in Dallas, Barnes has found his sweet spot as a stable defender who does all the little things around Sacramento’s starrier players. Barnes’ basketball IQ is underrated; there is a reason he slotted in so well on those Warriors teams.
After going down by 15 early in the second quarter, the Magic cut Sacramento’s lead to 6 by going into a 2-3 zone on defense. The Kings were initially flummoxed, with De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis turning the ball over on consecutive possessions driving into a crowd of arms.
Teams faced with a zone often try to get the ball to the nail, but passing in to a flashing cutter can be a smarter way to attack zones like the Magic’s where the defense overloads help on the inside against drivers. Orlando had the middle man in the back 3, Wendell Carter Jr. playing high up at the nail, making the zone almost a 2-1-2.
The next possession down, watch Barnes point Sabonis towards the nail. Barnes also throws in a smart cut to the weak side block; with Carter playing up on Sabonis, that throws enough indecision into Paolo Banchero’s mind to afford Keegan Murray the daylight to fire up a three:
The next possession shows Barnes’ zone-busting chops again. He flashes up above the nail, almost to the arc, drawing Carter well away from the basket. That opens up space for Sabonis to seal Banchero under the rim. Although Sabonis misses the bunny, this is a good possession for the Kings, led by Barnes.
Oh, and Barnes led all scorers with 30 points on 13 shots. Put some respect on that man’s name.
Coach Brown Keeping it Simple
Kings coach Mike Brown is one of the league’s most likable personalities. He is also not afraid to be loud when he needs to be.
Watch a Kings broadcast and you will hear Coach Brown bellowing instructions from the sidelines. Heck, I could hear a couple of calls from the upper tier last night. On the last few Kings possessions of the first half, he could be seen screaming “FIVE”, holding up five fingers on his right hand while tugging at his left ear lobe. As far as I can tell, that play calls for the point guard dribbling into a handoff or a pitch with a wing, who then passes to a post player flashing up to the elbow from the opposite side block.2 The post player then goes to work with the other four players spacing outside the arc. The Kings ran it with Fox handing off to Barnes, who then passed in to Sabonis.
On the first possession, Sabonis passes out to Keegan Murray in the corner after Banchero brings the double.
Next play down, the Kings run the same set and with Banchero reluctant to help off of Murray, Sabonis has the time and space to back Mo Bamba down and score.
This is simple basketball: space out on the perimeter to make it hard to double and force Mo Bamba to guard one of the most efficient post players in the league one-on-one. Sabonis is third in the league in efficiency on post touch field goals amongst players who score at least two points per game on such shots. Behind him, the Sacramento Kings are the most efficient team in the league on field goal attempts in the post per NBA Advanced Stats. Sabonis and the Kings know how to use those opportunities.
The simplicity of that play belies how subtly smart it is. By minimizing pre-shot actions and passes (thereby minimizing the risk of turnovers), it serves to burn the clock and preserve a lead at the end of the quarter. Moreover, by having Sabonis flash to the right elbow before working down to the left block, the Kings sow sufficient doubt as to where the extra help should come from. Is it Banchero from the strong side corner? We see how that works out the first time. Is it the man in the weak side corner? Sabonis is capable of making the skip pass, but even if he wasn’t that’s a long way for a double to come and it may be too late. The answer is probably Cole Anthony sinking off of a so-so shooter in De’Aaron Fox on the wing, but Sabonis has put the ball in the basket in the time it took you to read that sentence.
Coach Brown runs a smart offense.
Domas Handoffs Contain Multitudes
The Kings lead the league in both frequency and efficiency of handoffs per NBA Advanced Stats. They score nearly 1.1 points per possession on those plays. Domantas Sabonis is at the center of that whirling handoff machine; in his recent appearance on The Lowe Post, Kevin Huerter mentions how he and Sabonis were running those from the very first scrimmage.
I could watch Sabonis running dribble handoffs with Sacramento’s guards - Huerter, Fox, Malik Monk even - all day long. He has a bag full of tricks and does not get mundane. Every variation seems calculated to maximize the shooting window for his guard compadre. Rather than just execute a routine handoff, Sabonis holds onto the ball a beat longer, giving Franz Wagner pause, before pulling off a casual reverse bounce pass into Huerter’s shooting pocket:
Or how about a routine handoff in which Sabonis almost looks disinterested, before pivoting into a reverse screen for Fox:
Papa Sabonis, by many accounts one of the greatest passing big men of all time, has to be proud.
Two other short, random bullet points from the game:
Sacramento’s defense continues to stink, bottom five in the league per Cleaning the Glass. It doesn’t matter on nights when the shoot the way they did against the Magic, but that remains a concern. One thing I noticed: How many easy switches they give up early.
Something is up with Jalen Suggs. He looks sapped of confidence, pump fakes ghosts on what should be routine layups, and generally looks some way off from the potential he flashed at Gonzaga.
A little less science experiment-y with Bol Bol unfortunately out for the matchup.
Sabonis, the Kings’ 5/center is the post player on these plays, which probably explains the “five” in the call.