Sacramento are averaging 118.7 points per 100 possessions this seasin which is the highest offensive efficiency in NBA history. This has come from the side who ranked 24th last season in offensive efficiency, an incredible achievement from the coaching staff and the team.
For the first time in a long time the Sacramento Kings will have NBA Finals odds against their name as they continue to keep their form going into the playoffs.
The 120-80 win over Portland Trail Blazers secured their place in this years playoffs, ending the longest playoff drought in league history.
A playoff spot was not expected at the beginning of the season from bookmakers or the media. The Kings had traded young point guard Tyrese Haliburton as well as Buddy Hield to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for offensive center Damantas Sabonis. They also hired Mike Brown from the Golden State Warriors as their head coach.
Brown has set this team up to win with its offense. Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox built up a quick chemistry bulldozing their way to the basket and the Kings didn’t stop there.
Keegan Murray was drafted in 2022 from Iowa, as well as adding Kevin Huerter from the Atlanta Hawks and Malik Monk from the Lakers.
Huerter settled immediately and slotted in alongside Fox in the starting lineup and has gone on to post career-high shooting percentages from inside and outside the arc. Monk has also been one of the most prolific reserves, ranking high amongst league leaders in points and assists off the bench.
Murray, Monk, and Huerter have all combined to make over 500 3-point shots this season which is a key reason for how Sacramento has ended its long run without a playoff appearance.
These players have been brought in to play around key performance Damantas Sabonis. Mike Brown knew he had a key forward-center in Sabonis and has matched players around him who all bring out the best from each other.
Sabonis has become the king of the dribble handoff. In the Kings matchup with the Phoenix Suns on March 24, 2023, in the third quarter, Sabonis held onto the ball on the left side and as Huerter came around Sabonis, he received the ball with Suns defenders Chris Paul. And Bismack Biyombo colliding with each other. Huerter got enough space to rise and score a 3-point shot which gave Sabonis his 1,000th dribble handoff of the season.
This total is mind-blowing, as the next best is 858, posted by Nikola Jokic back in the 2018/19 season.
The dribble hand off is key to their attack. “That’s our whole offense,” Huerter said earlier this month in Chicago. “We have a lot of movement; we have counters to everything … but the handoff has been effective all year.”
While Sabonis is the league leader in dribble handoffs, the Kings also have two other players in the top 12 in the league. De’Aaron Fox and Davion Mitchell have been getting rewards too with the Kings using this tactic almost twice as much as any other side in the NBA.
This has all come from Mike Browns coaching as when Sabonis arrived mid-season last year his dribble handoff rate was not really much different from when he was with the Indiana Pacers.
“I’ve been thinking this way ever since I got an opportunity to be a head coach, even back in my days when I coached in Cleveland with LeBron,” Brown said to The Ringer. “You know, you put him at the top of the floor and play Damon Jones and Donyell Marshall and play spread pick-and-roll. Everybody would say, ‘Post him up! Get him off the ball!’ but that’s his strength; his strength is with the ball at the top of the floor. And so we try to do that with our best players, which is obviously Domas and Fox.”
De’Aaron Fox is leading the points per game average with 25.2, Sabonnis is second with 19.1 and Huerter third with 15.4.
Sabonis is king of the rebounds for Sacramento with an average of 12.4 per game, with Harrison Barnes and Keegan Murray joint second with 4.6.
Under Mike Barnes this team is absolutely flying. He had the idea to get the most out of the strengths of his key players and it has worked. The dribble handoff isn’t something which has just been invented, but it is a play that the Sacramento Kings have perfected this season and use so dangerously on the court.
A return to the playoffs has been a long time coming, but the leagues meanest offense have carried them back and will look to keep them going as far as possible.
