Key Highlights
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- Keegan Murray scored a game-high 32 factors, together with eight threes, within the Sacramento Kings‘ 118-94 rout of the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday
- He additionally helped comprise sharpshooters Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, and Sacramento posted a 97.8 defensive ranking within the win, its fifth-lowest mark of the season
- Murray was 2 of seven contained in the arc, periodically showcasing how he’s grown and the methods he can proceed creating as a scorer
Solely twice in Keegan Murray’s NBA tenure — one briefer than two years lengthy, but already full of 165 appearances — has he scored greater than his 32-point explosion Tuesday.
Alongside the best way, Murray drilled eight triples and stored the Sacramento Kings’ season alive for no less than three extra days, powering his membership to a 118-94 rout of the Golden State Warriors. Sacramento will face the New Orleans Pelicans Friday evening to battle for the West’s No. 8 seed and a first-round date with the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder.
Given the circumstances, dealing with elimination towards a dissipating dynasty and tasked with hounding the icons of Golden State’s lengthy vary trailblazing, Tuesday most likely served as Murray’s best profession efficiency.
He routinely sprung free off the ball for open threes — exposing the Warriors’ shoddy, lackluster perimeter defenders — wiggled inside for the occasional bucket and tethered himself to Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson all through his arduous 39 minutes of motion.
All of it was an encapsulation as to why the Kings invested the fourth total decide in him 22 months in the past, why they’ve by no means been shy about bestowing lofty expectations and tasks onto his shoulders, and why the franchise is so steadfastly decided to actualize the promising ceiling he repeatedly shows.
Murray performed 33 minutes in his NBA debut. He’s began 163 of 165 profession video games. He’s ducked under 20 minutes simply seven occasions and by no means logged fewer than 12. He entered the league primed to contribute. The Kings have by no means downplayed that actuality. They’re fostering an setting for him to grow to be the wing defender and platonic secondary scorer this core requires. Murray’s already rewarding their religion.
How Has Keegan Murray Developed As A Defender?
After a rookie marketing campaign partially outlined by staccato display navigation and clunky lateral mobility, Murray’s returned as Sacramento’s designated stopper. It’s a task borne considerably by way of necessity of a roster missing such an archetype, however one he’s additionally earned. Mike Brown tossed him into the fireplace this yr, and he’s responded by changing into one of many NBA’s higher wing defenders. A yr in the past, his minus-1.0 Defensive Estimated Plus-Minus (D-EPM) ranked 332nd league-wide. This yr, his plus-1.6 D-EPM ranks 52nd.
He’s vigorous on the ball, attentive off the ball, shimmies over screens and sturdily applies his 6-foot-8 body as a hindrance. Drive shouldn’t be a preeminent function of his sport, however he’s studying to steadily incorporate it. Upon its full-fledged arrival, he and the Kings will likely be grand benefactors.
All evening, he shadowed Curry and Thompson, intruding on their airspace, denying them touches and limiting their quantity. They averaged a mixed 40.4 pictures and free throws in 62.4 minutes per sport this season. They logged 68 minutes Tuesday. Murray and Keon Ellis held them to 26 pictures and three free throws in a do-or-die situation for a Warriors group watching their mortality, desperately craving extra scoring pop.
The place Has He Grown Offensively?
Murray’s method to development — embracing discomfort and ambiguity for the sake of growth — has seeped into the offensive facet of the ball, too. As a rookie, 62 p.c of his subject objectives had been from deep, he ventured into the midrange for 15 p.c of his makes an attempt, and pull-up jumpers comprised 10.7 p.c of his shot profile. This yr, 50 p.c of his pictures are past the arc, 29 p.c of his seems to be come from midrange and his pull-up frequency has spiked to 24.9 p.c.
He’s vastly extra keen to check the waters off the dribble. He’s gone from capturing 63 to 71 p.c across the rim, 37 to 46 p.c within the midrange and and 53 to 56 p.c total on two-pointers. There’s newfound experimental aggression he sometimes and understandably prevented in his inaugural season, now wielding the arrogance and encouragement to cozy up with the unknown. The Kings might have slide from third to ninth and 48 to 46 wins, but Murray’s blossoming has helped keep a rosy future.
Tuesday marked his fourth profession outing of 20-plus pictures. He didn’t fade into the background after a red-hot begin, a reasonably frequent occurring for him these previous two years. Sacramento doesn’t want 32 factors on 73.5 p.c true capturing each sport, nevertheless it actually wouldn’t thoughts if he dialed up the shot-hunting from 12-13 to 15-18 an evening.
Regardless of a 2-of-7 displaying contained in the arc, the flashes had been evident. When threes weren’t out there — by advantage of defensive precedence shifting or execution sharpening — Murray surveyed his choices, patiently snaked into the lane, discovered house and delivered.
Whereas situations like these might have seen the ball swing elsewhere in 2022-23, Murray’s refined his off-the-bounce bag. Per 100 possessions, he tried 3.1 extra two-pointers this yr than final, whereas his three-point quantity declined from 7.6 to 7.1. He’s taking extra pictures due to his personal enlargement, each tangibly and intangibly.
His exterior capturing (8-of-13 on threes) stays a trademark. Time after time, he winded by way of Sacramento’s maze of off-ball screens — tightly curling round picks to separate from his man — and floated into smooth spots when the protection tilted elsewhere. His measurement, instincts and motion allow him to generate loads of three-point alternatives.
Versatile scoring quantity is a talent, and Murray touts it. The Warriors’ felt its deadly impression. His closing bucket, an extended ball drifting up from proper the nook, penned the final phrases of their tumultuously disappointing 2023-24 story.
The following step for Murray is popping aggression and pressure into synonyms of his scoring model. Too typically, his poise — a willingness to not rush ill-fated pursuits — betrays him. It devolves into cumbersome hesitancy: mild-mannered drives during which he seems to be much less like a 6-foot-8, 215-pound ahead with rugged intentions and extra like a 6-foot-3 guard with fingers-crossed, wide-eyed hopes of scoring. His profession .117 free-throw charge is a mirrored image of that.
That is the repercussion of his composed off-the-bounce boogies. As he more and more distances himself from any pigeonholing of a capturing specialist, he should higher toggle between light-footed endurance and mean-spirited, hard-charging forays contained in the arc. That body should be a continuing weapon quite than primarily relegated to quantity and flexibility past the arc.
He can attain that time. The strides he’s achieved this season might not scream off any Basketball-Reference web page, however they actually do on movie and will portend effectively for his continued growth. Tuesday was an embodiment of how far he’s are available Yr 2, exhibited his path forward, and punctuated the significance of his maturation for this period of Kings basketball.
