SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Even the Kings fans had to shake the rust off.
It had been 195 days since the Sacramento locals chanted “Light the Beam!” at the Golden 1 Center, dating back to an April 16 win over Golden State in a Play-In game that would prove anticlimactic. Between the season-ending Play-In game that followed against New Orleans, the 0-5 preseason six months later and the 0-2 start to this regular season, there was a nine-game streak of unwelcome darkness above the arena that was recently voted by ESPN as the league’s best.
But when Sacramento was closing in on its 111-98 win over Portland on Monday night, the familiar edict — much like the Kings themselves — returned in flawed fashion. There were two chants, really, layered atop one another as if one section of loyalists in their beloved building were interrupting the other.
“Light the …”
“Light the …”
“Beam …”
“Beam …”
Regardless, the Kings finally found the win column and thus became the last NBA team of any consequence to get off the proverbial schneid (with all due respect to the Jazz and Pistons). The caliber of the opponent didn’t matter, especially considering how these lottery-bound Trail Blazers had walloped the Pelicans the night before. The Kings avoided a serious uptick in pressure by getting this job done, with newcomer DeMar DeRozan (23 points; 7-of-14 shooting) earning the right to do the beam honors for the first time.
the first of 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 deebo beams 🟣🔦 pic.twitter.com/dJa8lRrgzn
— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) October 29, 2024
De’Aaron Fox even made his latest mark on the Kings’ record books, scoring 24 points and thus becoming just the fifth player in the franchise’s history (circa 1948) to surpass the 10,000-point threshold (joining Oscar Robertson, Jack Twyman, Mitch Richmond and Tiny Archibald). After the Kings’ tight losses to Minnesota and the Lakers, and with a four-game road trip starting in Utah on Tuesday night, it was a sorely needed pivot for a team playing with serious stakes this season.
“We had to play desperate,” Fox said. “You don’t want to start a season 0-3, (and) obviously with two of them being at home (it was important). So we couldn’t let a younger team come in and outwork us. They’re on a back-to-back, but we have one tomorrow, and you never want that to be an excuse. If the ball doesn’t go in, then the ball doesn’t go in. But being outworked is something that you can’t just come in and let somebody do.”
There’s this positive trend for the Kings, too: They’re actually hitting free throws this time around. So far, anyway.
After hitting 23 of 25 against Portland, this Sacramento team that was last in the league in free-throw percentage last season (74.5 percent) now finds itself ranked No. 1 (85.9). This is small sample-size theater, to be sure, but it’s also what happens when you add an elite player like DeRozan who has always taken advantage of the charity stripe (84.1 percent for his career on an average of 6.6 attempts). He had nine of 10 against the Trail Blazers. For third-year Kings coach Mike Brown, who has often lamented the part that missed free throws played in his team barely missing the playoffs last season, this is as encouraging a sign as any in the early goings here.
The Good Vibes Club(s)
Suns-Lakers
There had to be a loser in Monday night’s Lakers-Suns affair, but both squads should still feel very good about their respective starts.
For the Lakers, who dropped their first game in four tries (109-105) under first-year coach JJ Redick, the continued dominance of Anthony Davis (29 points, 15 rebounds, three assists, three blocks, a steal and a plus-14 mark) is the kind of game-changing development that could make them title contenders again if it continues. LeBron James was the Lakers’ outlier against Phoenix, as he missed 11 of 14 shots and was a minus-17 overall.
As the Feb. 8 trade deadline nears, and the internal conversation continues regarding whether or not this core is good enough to contend, the need to surround their dynamic duo with the strongest supporting cast possible will be heightened if Davis and James are going to be truly dynamic consistently. And James, for what it’s worth, had been excellent in the Lakers’ first three games.
The 3-1 Suns, meanwhile, look like a team that should benefit from having an entire season (sort of) together with their star trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. As was the case with Minnesota after the Rudy Gobert trade, and with Dallas after the Kyrie Irving deal, Year No. 2 tends to be better for these teams that didn’t initially live up to “on paper” projections. And these Suns, lest anyone forgets, were a very respectable 26-15 last season when their big three shared the floor last season (they finished 49-33 and were swept by Minnesota in the first round).
The question now, of course, is whether the Suns can be healthy enough to benefit from the presence of Mike Budenholzer. The first-year Suns coach was renowned for building elite defenses in his Milwaukee Bucks days, though that prospect is always easier when you have the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez in your employ.
Still, these Suns (sixth-best defensive rating so far) are off to a good start on that end. Offensively, the Tyus Jones addition (on a minimum deal, no less) has paid immediate and predictable dividends. He’s leading the team in assists (six per game) while also averaging 32.2 minutes and 10 points). The Suns downed the Clippers, Mavericks and Lakers, while also falling to the Lakers 123-116 on Friday.
And more …
• Cleveland hasn’t started a season 4-0 since the 2016-17 campaign, when the LeBron-led Cavs got off to a 6-0 start (en route to losing to the Warriors in the Finals). Coincidentally, this Donovan Mitchell-led group hosts James’ Lakers on Wednesday. And while they could be accused of having a soft schedule in the first three games — with wins registered against Toronto, Detroit and Washington — the Monday night win over the Knicks (110-104) was an early statement of the most impressive kind.
• Here’s to hoping that Paolo Banchero’s 50-point outing in Orlando’s win against Indiana on Monday night isn’t the new norm (again). As our John Hollinger detailed on Monday, the early officiating is strangely reminiscent of the offense-heavy trend that appeared to be bucked last season, with free throws galore and scorers unleashed at the line (Banchero hit 15 of 22 free throws). Nonetheless, this Magic team (3-1) that took the Cavs to seven games in the first round last postseason looks dangerous so far (wins against Miami, Brooklyn and the Pacers and a loss to Memphis).
• I waxed poetic about the Thunder (3-0) late last week in this piece, as did our Anthony Slater here. But OKC is as deserving of a mention here as anyone, as the Thunder downed Denver, Chicago and Atlanta convincingly while posting an absurd defensive rating along the way (a league-best 90.5 points allowed per 100 possessions, with the Warriors in second place at 95.9). Next up, the latest showdown between the Thunder’s Chet Holmgren and the Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama on Wednesday night in San Antonio. Yes, please …
A well-deserved word about Jayson Tatum
So … apparently Jayson Tatum’s confidence is back.
When the Boston Celtics star had his uncomfortable summer with Team USA during the Olympics, averaging just 17.7 minutes while enduring two DNP-CDs in the Americans’ six-game gold-medal run under coach Steve Kerr, there was an overlooked element that played a part in the controversial decision to push Tatum to the back of the rotation. From Team USA’s training camp in Las Vegas to the group play in Lille to the medal rounds in Paris, Tatum seemed to struggle not only with his shot but with his swagger, if you will, in practice.
When it comes to the public (and media) forming opinions about how certain players are used, it’s that last part — the behind-the-scenes stuff — that isn’t typically factored in the commentary. And Tatum, by all accounts, was struggling mightily to find his rhythm during that time. Both in public settings and in private.
Maybe it was residue from his shooting woes during the Celtics’ title run, or the reality that the Team USA experience always requires major role changes for most players because of the sheer talent on hand, but sources said he never seemed to look like himself. Tatum was a veteran on the national team, having been second on the team in scoring (behind Durant) during the Tokyo gold-medal run in 2021, but he had never been on an all-time sort of team like this.
Yet once he got back to Boston, where Tatum’s Celtics lifted the organization’s 18th banner in June and he celebrated by getting a massive back tattoo of himself kissing the Larry O’Brien trophy, he spent most of the first four games (all wins) looking like peak Tatum again.
After Boston’s wins against the Knicks, Wizards, Pistons and Bucks, Tatum is averaging 28.5 points while shooting 51.3 percent overall and 41.9 percent from 3 (on 10.8 attempts per). And those are the figures, mind you, after he missed 10 of 16 shots and 7 of 8 3s in a 119-108 home win over Milwaukee on Monday night. Before that game, he had hit 17 of 35 3s.
Tatum is also averaging 6.8 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.8 blocks.
It’s early, to be sure, but the Celtics are surely thrilled to see this version of Tatum at the start.
(Top photo of De’Aaron Fox: Sergio Estrada / Imagn Images)
