Kings’ big three powers them past the Wizards 143-131

SACRAMENTO, CA – Live by the three, die by the three.

The Kings have done a lot of living behind the arc the past two seasons, and their shooting prowess has paid dividends more often than not. But on a night where not was reigning, it was good to see Sacramento get it done by dominating the paint against a Washington Wizards team that has looked pretty allergic to defense for most of 2023.

Sacramento started just 4-17 from behind the arc, a clear departure from Saturday’s Keegan Murray-led firestorm, as most of the lineup failed to find their mark from deep. But instead of trying to shoot their way out of it, the Kings went a different direction, choosing to attack the paint and dominate inside.

Despite Mike Brown electing to play more small ball, with Trey Lyles playing the 5 when Domantas Sabonis was on the bench, the Kings got whatever they wanted in the painted area against a Wizards team that had little interest in stopping them. Sacramento finished with 64 points in the paint, and led by as many as 26 before ultimately beating the Wizards 143-131.

“Coach always says we can’t fall in love with the three,” Sabonis said. “It’s not always going to go in. To come out and have the guards really attack the paint, have people help, make the right read, pass, get everyone involved… we had 35 assists tonight. Once the ball is moving like that, it’s tough for teams to stop us.

Saturday, it was an explosive third quarter that made the difference against the Jazz; Monday the Kings came out of the first quarter break on a mission, exploding for 39 points — 37 of which came from the combo of De’Aaron Fox (15 points), Sabonis (14 points), and Murray (8 points). After leading by five through one, the Wizards found themselves down 10 at the half, despite Jordan Poole and Kyle Kuzma combing for 26 points through the first 24 minutes of play.

In the third quarter, they turned the heat up even further, dropping 46 and putting the game out of reach as their lead grew to as many as 26.

Sabonis, who has flirted with triple-doubles over the last several games, finally got over the hump Monday, putting together a final line of 30 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists. Fox wanted to remind people that what he’s doing isn’t normal.

“Everything he does for us, I mean, grab a rebound and push it, or we are able to outlet to him, there aren’t many people that have been able to do that at that size,” Fox said. “He’s such a focal point of our offense, there are just so many things that he does for us. There’s just so much that he does on the court that I feel like doesn’t get appreciated enough.”

Recee Fox, De’Aaron’s wife, agreed, tweeting during the game “Although Sabby does this on a nightly basis I hope we never take it for granted. I know national media doesn’t get it but we can continue to recognize he’s special.”

Mike Brown was asked about a star player’s wife tweeting about another star player, and what that says about the culture of his team.

“This group is connected. Everybody wants everybody to have success. When you see stuff like that, you read stuff like that, it’s awesome. It’s not something that you hear a lot of see a lot around the NBA because of the money, the prestige, and the accolades.”

Fox also discussed how much the locker room enjoys celebrating each other and seeing a different player rise to the occasion on any given night.

“With this team, everybody loves seeing everybody [succeed]. Keegan had his game and everybody was happy for him. Whenever I’m playing well, everybody is happy for me. That’s just the way everybody in this locker room is. When you enjoy playing with each other, it makes basketball more fun and makes you a better team.”

All five starters were in double-figures, with Harrison Barnes breaking out for 19 on 8-11 shooting and Kevin Huerter adding 11. Malik Monk also crested the double-digit mark with 10 and Sasha Vezenkov added eight points and a career-high seven rebounds off the bench. It was a struggle for the rest of the reserves though, as the other seven players that recorded PT managed just 12 points on 5-17 shooting.

The Wizards were led by Poole’s 28 and Kuzma’s 27, though both cooled off considerably after the first quarter. Washington shot nearly 49% from behind the arc, connecting on 18-37 attempts, but it wasn’t enough on a night when the Kings played the right way and collected 35 assists on 53 made field goals.

Playing better at home has been a focal point for Sacramento this season, and it appears they’re delivering on that promise. Monday’s win was the team’s fourth straight at the Golden 1 Center, but the toughest challenges of the home stretch are still to come.

“We’re doing good,” Brown said. “I think we have the best fans in the NBA and guys should be excited to play in this building. They should get energy from the fans. We have to take advantage of it when we are here.”

“A big thing was JaVale [McGee] talking about being able to protect home court,” Fox said. “I feel like we have done a pretty good job of that. I think this next three game stretch is extremely important for us and we have to prove that we can win at home, especially against these teams that are about to come in here.

It’s important because come playoff time, if you’re able to win at home – especially if you’re the team that has home court advantage – that’s a big plus that you have. We were really good on the road last year so we want to continue that, but being a better team at home makes us a better team overall.”

Another aspect to being a better team overall is the ability to close out wins when you have a big lead, something that Sacramento struggled with.

Brown was happy with the win postgame but disappointed in the final few minutes, challenging his bench to step it up on the defensive end.

“It’s something that you hope that we can learn to do,” Brown said. “Our guys heard it from me, we will watch much film. I thought that the last group that was on the floor, they didn’t do a good job on the defensive end. The thing I keep telling the team is that’s how Keon [Ellis] got in the rotation. Keon went out and played his behind off when we played at Houston in “insignificant minutes”. He played the right way and he played hard, so he got another opportunity.”

It’s always good to learn in a win, and there was much to learn Monday night. But ultimately, Sacramento comes out with a third straight win and a ton of confidence in their stars.

With a stretch featuring Boston, Phoenix, and Minnesota ahead on the home stand, they’ll need to keep playing at a high level if they want to continue to establish themselves as one of the elite teams in the NBA.

They certainly believe they can do just that.

“When we have multiple guys playing at a high level in the same game hard to beat us,” Fox said.

That was the case Monday, and the Kings hope it carries over to Wednesday night when the Celtics come to town.