The Kings keep charging. That’s what teams are finding out early in the season. The Miami Heat were the latest victim to underestimate Sacramento on Monday evening. They slowed the game down early, but the Kings came out in the third quarter and ran them off the court.
Coach Dave Joerger has his team playing together and for each other early in the season and results are more than a little surprising.
Here are two positives and two negatives as the Kings picked up their third straight win and moved over the .500 for the first time in two years.
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The starters
Joerger went for the win against the Heat on Tuesday evening, playing four of his five starters major minutes. All four responded with huge numbers, led by Willie Cauley-Stein and his 26-point, 13-rebound double-double.
Buddy Hield caught fire in the third quarter to help break the game open. The Kings’ starting shooting guard scored 14 of his 23 points in the quarter to help his team outscore Miami 43-32 in the period to take an 11 point lead into the fourth.
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De’Aaron Fox struggled with turnovers, giving the ball away six times on the evening. He still managed to score 20 points and dish out eight assists in 34 minutes of action.
Nemanja Bjelica continued his strong play, hitting Miami for 19 points, five rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block. The 30-year-old forward has quickly found a home in Sacramento.
Iman Shumpert didn’t put up huge points like the rest of the first unit, but he hit a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to help put the game away.
Consistency
Fox, Hield and Cauley-Stein have all shown remarkable consistency throughout the first seven games of the season. It’s early, but the trio are all finding ways to compliment each other on the court and they are a huge reason for the team’s early success.
Fox has posted four 20-point games this season after accomplishing that feat just five times in his rookie season last year. He’s pushing the tempo and posting 18 points and 7.1 assists per game.
Everyone knew that Hield was an elite shooter, but he’s becoming a lot more than that in Year Three. He’s averaging 18 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 31.1 minutes a game while shooting 51 percent from the field and 47.1 percent from long range.
Cauley-Stein talked a big game before the season, but he’s backed it up with strong play. He’s averaging 17.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists in seven starts and he has registered double-doubles in three straight games.
NEGATIVES
Fox pulls up lame
The Kings are off to their best start in years and Fox is a big reason for that success. In the final minutes of the fourth quarter, Fox was in noticeable pain moving up and down the court.
Following the win, Fox was diagnosed with a lower back strain. The injury is not considered serious and the 20-year-old is listed as questionable. If he can go against Orlando, he’ll get a few days to rest before facing Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks Thursday at State Farm Arena.
Hassan Whiteside, glass cleaner extraordinaire
Sacramento has struggled to keep teams off the boards in plenty of games already this season. They were coming off back-to-back 50 rebound games, but then Hassan Whiteside happened.
The 7-footer pounded his former team on the glass, grabbing 14 boards in the first quarter alone. He finished the night with 16 points, 24 rebounds and five blocks in 29 minutes.
Someone has to put a body on a player like this and drive him out of the lane.