The Kings in search of their defensive identity

the road trip of the Kings in the East ended on a bad note. Beaten this night at the Celtics, they cracked in the space of three minutes against the best team in the league. The time to collect this 19-0 which was fatal to them, straddling the last two quarters…

If they remain in the positive (10-8) and the Top 8 of the West (7th), the men of mike brown came down from their little cloud, after their series of seven straight victories which had already ended on Wednesday, at the Hawks. And against an opponent of the caliber of Boston, they especially showed their collective limits, on each side of the floor…

” We lost far too many balls, sometimes without it being forced », cursed afterwards the coach of Sacramento. ” Committing 18 ball losses and then conceding 27 points as a result, away and against the best team in the league, it’s just hard to overcome. In such situations, if the shots do not fall into it, you have to be solid with the ball in hand and good in defense. »

A balance to be found

Backed by the league’s second most effective offense (116 points scored on 100 possessions, behind the Celtics’ 119), the Kings unfortunately haven’t been as reliable defensively so far. With 114 points conceded out of 100 possessions, they thus have the fourth least effective defense in the country, outstripped only by three “dunces”: San Antonio (117), Detroit (117) and Houston (115)…

” You must have a defensive identity and we must find it without losing [de notre superbe] offensively “, warned Mike Brown a little earlier in the week. ” If you can do that, you’ll have a lot of fun in the regular season and it’ll be fun to watch. You will score a lot of points and the fans will appreciate it. The media too. »

In a press conference, the coach’s words seem to be well understood but, on the ground, the situation is somewhat different. These two statistics bear witness to this: the Californian franchise has not yet won (0-6) when it has scored 110 points or less and it has only completed two small games (out of sixteen) under the bar of 110 points against ( for two wins).

“ You don’t want to depend on your attack “, estimated in any case De’Aaron Fox, the natural leader of Sacramento, particularly flamboyant offensively this season. “ Sometimes you can get on the pitch and be inside on offense, but if you can trust your defense and make saves when you need them most, that makes you better as a team. »

Two new tests to come…

What is certain is that if the Kings really want to find the playoffs for the first time since 2006 (a period of record scarcity), they will have to roll up their sleeves defensively, otherwise they will experience yet another collective disillusionment.

All the more so in this Western conference where the slightest slackening is likely to pay cash, with the Top 11 which is held for the moment in just… three games apart!

” We don’t just play to win regular season games “, also recalled Mike Brown, now expected on the defensive level. ” This is just the beginning of our adventure, and in order for us to get where we want to go, we need to find some sort of defensive identity. »

The return home can only benefit Sacramento players, who will test themselves against Phoenix and then Indiana next week. Two teams present in the Top 8 of the most effective attacks in the NBA…