Kings 113, Rockets 103: Sweeping in Houston

Sorry for the late, late comment regarding the win against the Rockets from the perspective of sitting behind the Kings bench a few rows up. There were many good things to watch, and they have been covered by other commenters better than I.

Here is what I noticed looking “around the edges” of the action on the floor. First, Jake LaRavia had a highly impactful game with his defense, rebounding and, encouragingly, his ability to be a point forward in the game.

He looked really good snagging a rebound and then heading up the floor immediately where his dribbling, passing, and creating for others was highly and pleasantly visible.

Jake also played pressure defense all night long and was inside his opponents dribbling space on every possession. He is a thinking defender, often using the out of bounds lines as an extra defender. He had great anticipation in the passing lanes on D and made more than a few great passes setting up his teammates.

Jake and Zach Lavine were often speaking to each other at the tail end of timeouts or on the bench. They seem to be forming a great tandem of intertwined skill sets and look for each other on the court on offense. If Jake becomes a point forward by design it would be a big development at least for parts of the game for the Kings. He looked very good running the floor with the ball and the transition offense in his hands last night. I hope there is some sort of wink and a nod deal that can be worked out with LaRavia that can keep him with the Kings next year and perhaps beyond.

Second, when the Rockets Chip on My Shoulder, Dillon Brooks, decided to use DDR as a catalyst to fire up his teammates the entire Kings bench jumped up and ran, literally ran, to the confrontation. I glanced over at the Rockets bench and, yes, Rockets players had stood up but did not rush the court, lingering mostly closer to their bench, without the same urgency the Kings went to Demar’s aid. The possibility of a fine for leaving the bench may have influenced them, but that thinking had zero impact on Kings players who ran across the floor to confront Brooks.

That’s a good sign in my mind. As some have commented here in other threads, perhaps it’s The Christie-ization of The Kings. The entire team seemed prepared to land a modern day version of Doug’s Rick Fox Uppercut on Brooks in defense of their teammate.

Three, Keegan played a much more aggressive game on offense which is a good thing to see, fighting for second chance offensive rebounds and taking the open shot when it is there for taking. His defense was really important when Green started to heat up in the 3rd period….and I don’t want to not mention how impactful Keon also was when Doug brought him off the bench to slow Green down.

Four, Doug was fun to watch during timeouts, he had his white board out diagramming plays and defenses to the team as a whole. The rotational players were all paying attention and the deeper bench players were also engaged in the row behind them. But, the thing that was interesting to see is after the team huddle broke up and before going back on the floor, Doug never quit teaching. He always finds another one and sometime two players, even starters, to make a separate point…he never misses a chance to teach. It’s a small point, but it says a lot about Doug and those listening to him, at least in this game. As another commenter mentioned, perhaps this team is starting to gel.

It goes without saying….Keon! I was at the LVSL when he played his first game. I think he had nine, maybe ten, the limit in Summer League, personal fouls. But he showed a lot of good raw qualities that maybe the Kings might have a player, but it took some hard squinting to see it in those early days. He has exceeded all that and more that could be seen in that Summer League and in the G League. Keon is a disrupter supreme. Each of his five steals were consequential. What a joy to see him in person. As another commenter noted his offense around the basket is evolving rapidly and he was dazzling on the play the commenter pointed out.

Probably headed to Dallas to watch the game tomorrow. I want to see AV quietly walk up to whoever the Maverick’s equivalent is to Dillon Brooks and while smiling at him remind him that he will be watching him and that he is bigger and stronger than him and he will not hesitate to hard body him to teach him a lesson if he goes after one of his King’s teammates. I watched AV after the DDR incident and that is what happened in the game about a minute or so after the double technical. “Quiet diplomacy” by AV with the muscle to back it up. There is a reason Dillon didn’t score any points after the second period. That was one of them.

Go Kings.