Coming in as the so-called playoff rookies and unsure what to expect, the Kings relied on a season-long mentality Saturday: Next man up.
Sacramento entered Game 1 of its first-round playoff matchup against the defending champion Golden State Warriors and found itself in a familiar situation. Three of the Kings’ starters -- Domantas Sabonis, Kevin Huerter and Keegan Murray -- had their struggles in the playoff opener at Golden 1 Center.
But they never broke a sweat.
Instead, Mike Brown turned to his bench and several players stepped up in major ways for the Kings, helping their team stay afloat and take an early 1-0 series lead against the Warriors.
“That’s been a thing all year,” Huerter told reporters after Kings practice Sunday. “We’ve talked about how deep our team is all year. Malik [Monk] and Trey [Lyles] were huge for us. Davion [Mitchell] coming in, [Alex] Len.
“Our bench has been a big part of why we’re sitting in the position we’re in. I think that’s what makes us so dangerous. Hopefully, me, Keegan, a little bit of Domas will pick it up next game. We’re a good team because we got a lot of guys who can play.”
Sabonis (12), Huerter (6) and Murray (2) combined for 20 points Saturday. Monk came off the bench and scorched the Warriors with 32 points in his first NBA playoff game.
The energy off the bench didn’t end there.
NBA
Lyles, who averaged 7.6 points this season, drained four 3s and finished with 16 points, six rebounds and one assist in 18 minutes. Len and Mitchell’s impact spoke louder than the stat sheet might show.
Len provided some length to a fairly small Kings team and did exactly what Sacramento needed from him. He protected the paint and played his role perfectly on the other end of the floor, finishing with four points, seven rebounds and a block in 13 minutes.
Mitchell had the tall task of defending reigning NBA Finals MVP Steph Curry -- one of the hardest challenges in the league. He didn’t do it all game, but when he did, he had some success.
RELATED: Stephen A 'worried' about Warriors after Game 1 loss to Kings
Even though the explosion from the bench might have shocked the Warriors -- and the rest of the world watching -- Brown wasn't surprised.
"Guys have struggled throughout the course of the year," Brown told reporters Sunday. "When they’ve done so, it always seems like somebody different steps up. And that was the case. Malik stepped up big for us, but Trey did too. Alex had a huge game for us on both ends of the floor. And Davion had a big game for us.
"So we have guys to go to if somebody else isn’t quite getting it done. But we have confidence in everybody and we want them to be able to continue to shoot the ball and play with aggression over the course of our postseason run."
The Kings were victorious in Game 1, but they'll need to rely on their bench -- and their key starters -- to defeat the defending champs and advance to the Western Conference semifinals.