3 takeaways from Sacramento’s 133-100 win over Memphis

Jan 24, 2023 - 7:18 PM

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The Sacramento Kings completely dismantled the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday, winning 133-100.

Although the Grizzlies played without Ja Morant and Steven Adams, it was still an imposing victory for Sacramento. Sacramento took complete control in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Grizzlies 33-10.

Here are three takeaways from Sacramento’s victory:

The Kings are nearly impossible to beat when they have it cooking from deep

The beginning of Monday’s win looked like Sacramento turned the shooting difficulty all the way down in NBA 2K. Sacramento made 12 of its first 13 three-pointers, with several of the heat check variety.

Kings GM Monte McNair did really well this past offseason in surrounding star pillars Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox with shooting. So far, that has looked like a brilliant way to construct a roster. With Harrison Barnes’ recent hot streak from deep, Sacramento has three players shooting at least 39% from beyond the arc on a high volume.

Sure, when the threes aren’t falling, Sacramento can lose to anyone, but with the quality of shooters on this roster, it’s pretty rare that the team will go completely ice-cold from distance.

Harrison Barnes is playing some of the best basketball of his Kings career

After a rough start to the season from a shooting perspective, Barnes has been on such a heater recently that he’s returned to his career shooting norms in a matter of weeks.

He was terrific on Monday, especially early on, shooting with confidence every time he touched the ball.

At this point, it is tough to argue Sacramento should move Barnes at the NBA trade deadline. He’s just too valuable to this team.

Barnes was the leading man in Sacramento’s first-quarter three-point barrage, as he made five of Sacramento’s 12 3-pointers.

Trey Lyles has been Sacramento’s most consistent bench player recently

Lyles once was great on both sides of the ball coming off the Sacramento bench on Monday. He finished with a season-high 24 points and played strong defense in his time on the court.

Especially given Malik Monk’s shooting woes over the last month, it feels like Lyles has become the most consistent player from game-to-game off Sacramento’s bench.

At this point, Lyles should have a cemented spot as Sacramento’s backup center.