The Kings returned to the playoffs as the best offensive team in league history to that point. Defense wasn’t the team’s strong suit, as it simply wasn’t built around defensive-minded players.
Nonetheless, Mike Brown arrived at training camp with a vision of his team playing physical defense and competing on every possession. This vision has finally become reality.
The Kings defense seems to have improved a lot this month. So, let’s look at four Kings lineups that have been successful defensively of late. Spoiler: Keon Ellis is involved in all of them.
Over the last 12 games, this now new iteration of the Kings’ starting lineup has posted a defensive rating of 103.4. With the trio of De’Aaron Fox, Keon Ellis and Keegan Murray all playing at the same time, the Kings have three good perimeter defenders.
This makes Domantas Sabonis’ life much easier than before. He’s not a rim protector, and the last thing a big who isn’t a shot blocker wants to see is crafty guards continually rushing at him. Better perimeter defense solves this problem.
Ellis is a huge defensive upgrade over Kevin Huerter, who will unfortunately miss some time due to a shoulder injury, but his presence also helps offensively. Having one less offensive player in the starting lineup means more shots for everyone and fewer mouths to feed.
Additionally, better defense leads to quicker break opportunities and easier points. Fox and Ellis average 2.4 and 2.1 steals per game, respectively, in March, which ranks first and third in the NBA over that span.
They simply disturb the opposing guards, and that has redefined the identity of kings at this end of the floor. This team is not to be outdone offensively either with an offensive rating of 111.3.
