Kevin Huerter, Keegan Murray return to form as Kings claw back to .500

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No one was truly convinced that the Sacramento Kings would hold up against a young and upcoming Oklahoma City Thunder squad on Friday night. Even the odds makers picked OKC by two points, despite the Kings hosting the Thunder in their first game of the In-Season tournament. 

Maybe it was the two shelackings the Kings took in Houston. Maybe it was an overtime win over a suspect Portland Trail Blazers team missing two starting guards coming into the night and then had another guard go down in the first five minutes.

There is no question that the Kings have been shaky in the first two weeks of the season, but when they stepped on the court against the Thunder, it was like it was the 2022-23 season again and everything was fine.

Despite missing De’Aaron Fox for the fifth straight game and Trey Lyles for the first eight to open the season, the Kings moved back to .500 with a convincing wire-to-wire 105-98 victory. The win is good for the team’s standing in the In-Season tournament, but the performances from Kevin Huerter and Keegan Murray were music to coach Mike Brown’s ears. 

“Everybody understands that those guys are great shooters and for us, it’s just a matter of keeping them uplifted and staying as positive as we can with them, but also pushing them in other areas, ” Brown said. “I push them both to defend. I push them both to rebound. I push them both to do the little things…and if you’re open, just shoot the ball, because I believe in it.”

This early season has been a balancing act for Brown. The word “push” that he used in the quote above is maybe a perfect word. His focus on the defensive end requires a new level of intensity from every player. By demanding that these two also focus on rebounding and filling up the box score in other ways may have overwhelmed the pair.