SACRAMENTO -- Coming out of a busy summer of additions, the Sacramento Kings looked like one of the deeper teams in the Western Conference. 13 games into the 2019-20 season, that depth is paying dividends and the Kings are scrambling back towards the .500 mark.
In their 120-116 win over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday evening, head coach Luke Walton's crew almost blew a 26 point lead, but they somehow managed to pull together and win as a team in the final minute.
"That's what Luke says – a lot of teams, they lose these games and then maybe they learn," Bogdan Bogdanovic said. "We are lucky enough to learn and smart enough to learn from this game and get a win."
Players stepping up is a trend in Sacramento and it's a big reason the team has bounced back after a brutal 0-5 start.
When Marvin Bagley broke his right thumb on opening night, Nemanja Bjelica stepped back into a starting role and has flourished. When Dewayne Dedmon struggled with his shot, Richaun Holmes took over the starting center job and is making a huge difference for the Kings. And when De'Aaron Fox severely sprained his ankle, Cory Joseph has come to the rescue.
Balancing out the roster once everyone is healthy and playing to their potential won't be easy for Luke Walton, but on Tuesday night at Golden 1 Center his team picked up their sixth win in eight games and they did it with a rotation that is constantly in flux.
With Buddy Hield under the weather and missing his 3-point attempts, Bogdanovic was the star of the evening. The reserve shooting guard posting a career-high 31 points on 7-of-9 shooting from long range to lead all scorers.
Sports
The seven makes from distance was also a career-high for Bogdanovic, but he wasn't the only difference maker for the Kings.
"Bogi is crazy, he's good," Hield said of Bogdanovic. "You never know who's going to go on a run. It could be Bjeli, it could be me, it could be Bogi. Those are guys that can hurt you at any second."
Joseph hasn't looked for his shot since taking over for Fox at the point, but he's played spectacular defense and against Phoenix, he managed the game like a pro.
In his ninth NBA season and first in Sacramento, the veteran guard set a new personal best with 14 assists to go with six points, five rebounds in just two turnovers in 39 minutes of action.
"Obviously we have a couple of guys down, which is unfortunate," Joseph said. "It's the next man up mentality. Everybody that stepped up played good."
After playing with the Suns a season ago, Holmes looked like a man possessed. He attacked a depleted Phoenix front line, scoring 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting to go with a career-high 15 rebounds.
"Every time I've coached against him, he's killed us." Walton said of his experience with Holmes before this season. "But he's never really played major minutes, at least from what I've seen. We were excited to get him. He's been as solid and steady as anyone that we've had on our team."
Bjelica continued his strong play for the Kings as well. The 31-year-old veteran finished with 17 points, eight rebounds, a block and a steal. His 28-foot 3-pointer with 1:42 remaining in the fourth helped stem the tide momentarily and put the Kings back up by 12.
"He's able to stretch the floor so we've got more of a lane when I'm going down the lane on the rolls," Holmes said. "He can pass the ball, he can playmake, he can just do so many different things. He's very important to this team."
Sacramento is still developing an identity, but they were solid on defense again and there is always someone new stepping up to help carry the load.
"That's what's so fun about us - we enjoy everybody's success and we love that about everybody," Hield added. "We love to share the ball, we love to play together. That's great for us and that's going to help us keep growing and help us win ball games down the stretch."
The Kings fly out to New York on Wednesday afternoon in preparation for their Friday matchup with the Brooklyn Nets. They'll play a tough four-game schedule on the road leading up to Thanksgiving, after a rough start to the season, they seem to be back on the right track.
Injury Note
After posting a career night Bogdanovic was forced to leave the game with 1:22 remaining. Following the game, Bogdanovic said he had a cramp in his left hamstring and thought that he would be okay for Friday's game against the Nets. We will have an update on his hamstring as more information becomes available.
