Kings reconnect defensively in revitalizing road win over Jazz originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
There’s nothing like winning in basketball, especially when you have a great defensive player.
Despite victories and missing sound defense Two games into the season, the Kings proved they were back on track in both categories in their 113-96 victory over the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night at the Delta Center.
Much can be said about Domantas Sabonis 28 points, 11 rebounds and four assists and DeMar DeRozan’s 20 points, eight assists and four rebounds, but perhaps nothing stands out like Keon Ellis defensive change in Sacramento’s second straight victory.
In 17 minutes of play, the third-year guard demonstrated well-known defensive prowessrecording two steals and three blocks. Fittingly, Ellis was named defensive player of the game and received praise from DeRozan, a six-time NBA All-Star teammate.
“His activity,” DeRozan said when asked what problems Ellis poses defensively. “He is excellent at handling the ball. Anticipation, defensively, is through the roof (and) awareness. And when you have a player like that, it’s scary.
“You see it. He just knows where to be and when to be there. (He) has great hands, great anticipation. A guy like that, building on that, the more his confidence comes, the more he’s going to continue to become a better defensive player and make us better.
After back-to-back early-season losses, Sacramento’s defensive credibility took a hit, though it played a vital role in coach Mike Brown and Co.’s late run through the 2023 NBA season -24.
Less than a week later, Ellis’ impressive defensive basketball not only revived the two-way style the general manager had adopted. Steve McNair imagined for the Kings this season. It also earned assistant coach Luke Loucks recognition for his recent work as the team’s defensive coordinator.
“Oh, sure,” DeRozan told reporters about whether or not the Kings have improved defensively. “Of course, it’s a constant thing every day, day after day. If it’s cinema. If it’s practice.
“Before the match, the attention to detail he expresses really helps us. It’s been like this since training camp. He holds us all accountable and makes sure we hold each other accountable as well.
Utah shot 39.3 percent from the floor, 29.2 from beyond the arc, was overwhelmed 49-42 and gave up 17 turnovers, assuring Brown that his players were implementing Loucks’ particular system.
“Since the first day Jordi (Fernandez) has been here, we have been preaching activity. When we had a high number of deviations, we were pretty good record-wise. So it’s no different with Luke. Luke preached the same thing.
“But I think the biggest change or the biggest difference that Luke has made is that he’s really preaching our changes, that he’s moving in the right direction. He worked extremely hard with our guys on this, and it paid off.
“We can all feel it. We can all see it. We can see it on the field during our matches or when we watch film, but we can see it in the production when it comes to the box music.
Loucks, who coached Brown with the Golden State Warriors before joining him in Sacramento, moved to the bench after Fernandez left to become the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets.
In his short time at the helm of Sacramento’s defense, Loucks, a future head coach in Brown’s eyes, incorporated a new wrinkle to the team’s defensive setup that is now paying off.
“…We played in a different zone last year,” Brown concluded. “Luke changed our zone. He added some zone press, which is nice. Luke is a young, brilliant coach who will one day become an NBA head coach.
“He’s an outside-the-box thinker, so he has crazy ideas that would make my hair stand on end, if I had any. But he did a hell of a job in the short time he was defensive coordinator.
After an early scare, we can say that the Kings are regaining their defensive calm.
