Sacramento Kings Pushing the Pace Under Doug Christie

The Sacramento Kings are making an effort to push the pace the last four games, and it appears to be working.

Feb 11, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Malik Monk (0) runs down the court against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

The Sacramento Kings are on a three-game winning streak, and the vibes in Sacramento are back up. After losing six straight, all hope seemed lost in Sacramento. Mike Brown had been fired and the first game under interim head coach Doug Christie was lost, but things started to shift into gear with a convincing win over the Dallas Mavericks.

Over the last four games, the Kings have looked like they are making a concerted effort to push the pace, and the numbers show they've done just that.

In the first 31 games, they had a pace of 99.43, which would rank 17th in the league rankings. In the four games since Doug Christie took over as head coach, the number has risen to 101.88, which would rank seventh.

It's not just the advanced number that shows the Kings are pushing the tempo. Looking at their shot distribution by time left on the shot clock shows a similar trend.

In the first 31 games, Sacramento attempted 2.5 field goals with 24-22 seconds left on the shot clock, and 12.8 with 22-18 remaining.

Over the last four games, both of those numbers have increased to 3.5 and 14.5. The Kings are really taking advantage of the 22-18 second range, shooting 58.6% from the field on the attemps, compared to 52.3% under Mike Brown.

What stands out when looking at the Kings pace numbers is that they have a record of 1-5 in their six fastest games, with the one win coming last night against the Memphis Grizzlies.

The encouraging part of watching the Kings play with this new simplified style is that they aren't just relying on getting out in transition. If they don't have an opportunity to get an early bucket, they aren't forcing the issue, but instead settling into their half-court offense.

Dating back to his days on the radio and broadcast, Doug Christie used to talk about how the Kings needed to learn how to have pace in the half-court offense as well, not just on the fastbreak. Move, cut, set screens, etc.

Looking once again at the shot clock shooting splits, the Kings have drastically improved their field goal percentage late in the shot clock.

In the first 31 games, they shot 35.8% with 7-4 seconds left, and 30.9% with 0-4. Recently, those shooting clips have jumped to 44.1% and 55.6%.

Between De'Aaron Fox, DeMar DeRozan, Malik Monk, and Domantas Sabonis, the Kings have no shortage of ways to get a good look out of the half-court offense, and the numbers show they've done just that to get back in the win column.

While running fast and scoring fastbreak points is great, maybe there's a sweet spot that the Kings have been searching for and found. If the opportunity to get out in transition is there, great, take it, but if not, it's not the end of the world.

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