So much for tanking. Verily.
Yes, I realize the Nuggets were missing Jamal Murray. Yes, I realize that the Nuggets have been the worst non-Rockets defensive team in the league to start the season. BUT the Kings have bean a Western Conference Finalist twice in the first week of the season, which is 110% not how I saw the Kings' year going.
Are the Kings good? It's still far too early to tell. Are they as dreadful as I thought they could be this year? Most likely not. And so, we're 3-1.
And now, grades!
Harrison Barnes (B) - 33 min, 13 pts (5-16 fg, 3-6 3p), 6 rbs, 8 asts, 2 tov, 0 pf
If there's one thing we've learned about Michael Porter Jr. in these first two games, it's that (a) he is a scorer, (b) he certainly cannot defend Harrison Barnes. With the Nuggets coming out of the gates hot, Barnes settled down the Kings early by absolutely mauling MPJ facing up or working the post from the corner, dropping five dimes by the end of the quarter. Was hitting his threes tonight but missed a bunch of chippies and midrange jumpers that are normally his bread and butter and ultimately sort of faded out of the spotlight as the fourth quarter became the Tyrese Haliburton coming out party (more on that in a bit). All in all though, aside from the shooting, this was another solidly good night from the vet.
Marvin Bagley (B) - 23 min, 18 pts (6-12 fg, 2-5 3p!, 4-6 ft), 2 rbs, 1 ast, 1 stl, 0 tov, 1 pf
This was a tale of two halves for Marvin and not particularly through any fault of his own. Let's be frank: the second quarter was the best span of basketball we've seen Marvin Bagley play possibly throughout his entire NBA career. Scoring in a variety of ways, those minutes were the biggest exhibition of MBIII's capabilities as a modern NBA scoring big man. He even showed off from beyond the arc, dropping in two good looking threes and a couple of not horrible misses. On defense, he still spent a long stint getting manhandled by Jokic but played well enough within the team concepts to not be unplayable out there. Sorta struggled in the third as the Nuggets packed the paint then got benched in the 4th as the Nuggets literally could not defend Richaun Holmes doing basic pick and roll actions.
Richaun Holmes (B+) - 32 min, 20 pts (10-13 fg, 0-1 ft), 5 rbs, 3 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk, 1 tov, 2 pf
Buddy Hield (C+) - 35 min, 12 pts (4-10 fg, 3-7 fg, 1-1 ft), 8 rbs, 3 ast, 2 tov, 2 pf
De'Aaron Fox (A) - 35 min, 24 pts (8-15 fg, 2-4 3p, 6-7 ft), 3 rbs, 9 ast, 2 stls, 1 blk, 2 tov, 2 pf
Down 8 with one minute left in the third and all the momentum on the Kings side, things were not looking great for the Kings. Then De'Aaron went into beast mode, scoring five points in the span of less than a minute to close the quarter and then finishing the comeback to start the 4th, getting inside on the Nuggets seemingly at will and having another nastily dominant defensive game and yet another one of his patented out-of-nowhere blocks. After the horrible start to the preseason, De'Aaron has actually shown an improved outside shot. In the fourth, De'Aaron had a sequence that went fadeaway three, crafty steal where he threw the ball off of a Nugget as he was falling out of bounds, missed layup which he grabbed the offensive rebound of, hockey assist for a Tyrese three because half the Nuggets defensive shifted towards him to prevent him driving despite him holding the ball above his head, timeout, tight defense on MPJ that forced a Joker TO, power drive for the score to take the lead and a block on Morris where he lulled the guy into taking a lazy layup and then used his elite closing speed to crush his shot, all in a row. On both ends of the court, De'Aaron was simply dominant and everything you'd want from a max contract guy.
***
Tyrese Haliburton (A) - 25 min, 13 pts (5-7 fg, 3-4 3p), 3 rb, 6 ast, 3 stls, 2 tov, 1 pf
On the downside, Tyrese had two turnovers. On the positive side, pretty much everything else. It's not often hat you can trust your rookie to play all the way from midway through the third to the end of the game in his fourth game in the league and yet here we are. The stats look nice enough but they don't really paint a picture of just how good the kid was.
Cory Joseph (C) -
Nemanja Bjelica (B-) -
Hassan Whiteside (C) -
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