Week in review: Kings continue to improve, stretch win streak to five

Kings improve to 8-6 with big week of blowouts

November 19, 2022

Kings record: 8-6

Kings record on the week: 3-0

Foot ailment? Rub a win on it. Head ache? Take two wins and call me in the morning. Chronic back pain? Well, winning may not cure everything, but it does make it feel a little bit better.

The idea that winning would make everything better in Sacramento has been an unproven proposition since 2006. A five-game win streak is putting the hypothesis to the test.

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After dropping the first two matchups of the season to the World Champs, Mike Brown and his squad finally broke through on Sunday, beating the Golden State Warriors by a final of 122-115.

Domantas Sabonis, De'Aaron Fox and Keegan Murray each broke the 20-point barrier and the team finished 16-of-37 from behind the arc. The Kings limited Stephen Curry and took advantage of a poor bench performance from the Warriors to come away with victory.

Riding a modest three game win streak, the Kings hosted the dysfunctional Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night. Kevin Durant and his band of misfits were no match for the Kings' high-octane offense.

Terence Davis came off the bench to drop a season-high 31 points and grab nine rebounds. Six other players scored in double-figures for Sacramento and the team dished out a season-high 39 assists in a 153-121 blowout.

The Kings didn't have the same type of offensive success against the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday, but the result was similar. De'Aaron Fox dropped 28 points and Malik Monk chipped in 26 to help lead Sacramento to a 130-112 victory, their fifth straight.

Devin Vassell matched his career-high with 29 points, but it wasn't enough to stop Brown from getting a win over his former mentor, Gregg Popovich.

Player of the Week: Mike Brown

This award is usually reserved for players, but Brown deserves an exception here. The veteran coach kept his team focused during an 0-4 start. He continued to preach positivity and togetherness and he's now led his team to five straight wins and an 8-2 record over the last 10 games. The Kings' defense is still a work in progress, but their offense is elite, ranking No. 2 overall in the NBA just behind the Boston Celtics.

Last week's POTW: Malik Monk

Injury Report

Rookie Keegan Murray took a bad step against the Nets and tweaked something in his back. He missed the win over the Spurs and is listed as day-to-day, although the injury is not considered serious. Richaun Holmes missed the San Antonio game as well due to a non-covid related illness.

Themes of the Week

  • Juggernaut. After a hard fought victory over the Warriors on Sunday, the Kings ran over the Nets on Tuesday and then made a speed bump out of the Spurs on Thursday. It's not often you see a team score a combined 283 points in two games. Brown's squad has scored 120 or more in each of the last five games.

  • Beams and band-aids: After struggling to connect with their fanbase for the last decade-plus, the Kings have found common ground with both the beam shining into the night sky following wins and Monk's insistence on wearing a band-aid on a tiny scratch on his cheek. You can hear fans chanting "light the beam" near the end of wins and the team partnered with a local hospital to hand out 5,000 band-aids to the crowd this week. These two things are organically building bonds with the fans and adding a fun element to game nights.

Stats of the Week

  • 5: The Kings haven't won five straight games since the 2020-21 season, which isn't all that long ago. If they can somehow pick up a victory against the Pistons on Sunday, they launch into unfamiliar territory. The last time the Kings won six consecutive games was 2004-05 when the team had both a six and a seven-game win streak under Rick Adelman. For some perspective, current Kings assistant Doug Christie began as the starting shooting guard that season.

  • 117.5: Sacramento's current offensive rating is an incredible 117.5, which ranks second overall in the NBA behind the Boston Celtics. For a new group of players, this is a wild first 14 games. The Kings are in the top five in almost every offensive category, including assist percentage, field goal percentage, true shooting and effective field goal percentage.

  • 39: The Kings can really move the ball. In the team's win over the Nets, they handed out 39 assists, including an incredible eight players with three assists or more.

Quotes of the Week

"Coach said we didn’t do good on offense. 130 and those are the numbers? Damn, I’m surprised." -Domantas Sabonis on the Kings dropping 130 on the Spurs while shooting 57.8 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range and 91.7 percent from the line.

"I feel like if there was a perfect game, it was tonight. It was definitely tonight.” -De'Aaron Fox after the 153-121 blowout win over the Nets.

"Before the season, all we’ve been hearing is about the drought…about the drought, the drought, the drought and the Kings this, this, this, this, this. We’re just happy to have some energy in here and the fans are pushing us, man, and they’re just energizing us. So we’re going to keep it up.” -Malik Monk

Tweets of the Week

Light the Beam:

Pop has some fun with Brown:

Win one for coach:

De'Aaron Fox, hater of band-aids:

Weekly Reading

Weekly Podcasts

What's next?

Kings vs. Detroit Pistons, Golden 1 Center, Sunday 3PM

Kings vs. Memphis Grizzlies, FedEx Forum, Tuesday 5PM

Kings vs. Atlanta Hawks, State Farm Arena, Wednesday 4:30PM

Kings vs. Boston Celtics, TD Garden, Friday 5PM

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