Kings Ruling On Road Behind De’Aaron Fox, Balance

October 30, 2021

Maybe the Kings can just play 82 games on the road from now on.

Hey, why not? Following Friday’s 113-109 win over the Pelicans, the Kings improved to 3-0 away from home. And hey, one of those road wins came over the defending Western Conference champion Suns.

Yes, all of this means the Kings (3-2) have lost their lone two home games. But let’s stay focused on the positives.

For starters, point guard De’Aaron Fox has been at least as good as always, scoring 23 points at New Orleans. He is averaging 19.4 points and 6.8 assists on the season.

But Fox has rarely been alone. For instance, Richaun Holmes went for 20 points vs. the Pelicans, Buddy Hield scored 20, and Harrison Barnes and Tyrese Haliburton had 18 and 17, respectively.

It was Barnes, as you know, who hit a buzzer-beating game-winner in Phoenix. So for Sacramento, it’s been a case of confidence and balance leading to some pretty cool things.

“That’s what we’re trying to build towards, is knowing that we don’t have to just rely on one person,” coach Luke Walton said. “We don’t have one megastar, but we have some really good players on our team and that’s how we’re going to be at our best.”

Along with all that, the Kings haven’t just been focused on point production. They have kept a close eye on all the little things that can make a big difference in the outcome. One example is free throws, and they went 24-of-25 from the line on Friday.

“It’s huge,” Haliburton said. “We hit a lot of big free throws down the stretch — Buddy and HB and Rich — and that helps us a lot. It’s going to be important as these games ramp up.

“The closer they are, a lot of times you look to things like rebounding and free throws and turnovers and stats like that are key indicators to winning and losing, so they’re very important.”

Want some better news? Well, the Kings’ next two games are also on the road — at the Mavericks (Sunday) and at the Jazz (Tuesday).

With the way things have gone early, that’s not as scary a proposition as normal. But win or lose those games, the Kings are showing they have reasons to believe in good things. For starters, that’s not so bad.