Three preseason games are in the books and the Sacramento Kings have managed to tally three wins. Wins aren’t everything in the preseason, with Mike Brown and the rest of the coaching staff still sorting out the end of the rotation, but it’s nice to see nonetheless.<\/p>\n
Heading into Phoenix, Richaun Holmes and Keegan Murray were unavailable for the Kings due to non-COVD-related illnesses. The Suns were without TEN players on their end as well: Chris Paul (Rest), Devin Booker (Rest), Mikal Bridges (Rest), Deandre Ayton (Rest), Cam Jonson (right thumb sprain), Cameron Payne (right finger sprain), Landry Shamet (left hip strain), Dario Saric (personal reasons), and Jae Crowder (not with team).<\/p>\n
Here are a few takeaways from Sacramento’s 105-104 victory over the remaining members of the Suns.<\/p>\n
KZ Okpala, who started the first two preseason games for Sacramento, not only didn’t start in Phoenix but he didn’t play a single minute. It’s hard to know if it would have been a different story had Chris Paul or Devin Booker played, but Trey Lyles was Coach Brown’s player of preference instead.<\/p>\n
Lyles is a smart offensive player who is capable from beyond the arc – he converted 36.5 percent of his 2.6 three-point attempts per game last season with Sacramento.<\/p>\n
The bench lineup consisted of Chimezie Metu rather than Okpala. Metu is a superior offensive player to Okpala and scoring can be short to come by in that second unit with Murray and Holmes both unavailable.<\/p>\n
Sacramento has not been shy from beyond the arc in the preseason. After attempting 39 or more attempts just 11 times last season, they’ve reached that marker in each of their preseason showdowns.<\/p>\n
G1 @ LAL: 9\/39 from three<\/p>\n
G2 vs. POR: 21\/45 from three<\/p>\n
G3 @ PHX: 14\/39 from three<\/p>\n
Malik Monk has had an underwhelming start and is 3\/17 from beyond the arc through three games. He’s not exactly a stopper on the defensive end either, but his shot will surely come back around sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n
For the second consecutive game, Terence Davis was knocking them down. He is up to 7\/13 from three through three games.<\/p>\n
Kevin Huerter showed off his deeeeeep range and quick trigger knocking down 3\/5 from beyond the arc against Phoenix. He’s going to be a stellar fit capitalizing off of Fox’s dimes and playing through Sabonis at the elbow.<\/p>\n