NBA Power Rankings: The Grizzlies are in trouble

27. Sacramento Kings

There were some positives for the Kings in the last week. In a win against the Lakers, big nights from Willie Cauley-Stein – who scored a career-high 26 points and looks like someone the Kings need to keep as part of their future core – and Zach Randolph became the first two Kings to made at least 10 shots in a game this season. In the same game, De’Aaron Fox played pretty well against Lonzo ball despite airballing his first two shots.

”That’s one of the more complete games we’ve played, from start to finish,” Sacramento coach Dave Joerger said after the Lakers win, per Fox Sports. ”We withstood their runs, we got some loose balls and we kept them off the glass pretty effectively.”

Buddy Hield had his own learning experience last week, too. Against the Clippers, Hield had a 16 point fourth quarter to keep the game close, but took a bad shot late when he was going for the win at the end of the game. Had he made it, he would have undone a Blake Griffin make from seconds earlier.

“I couldn’t get to my right hand and my shot, I feel like if I got to my right hand, (Jordan) would’ve blocked it,” Hield said, per the Sacramento Bee. “I knew I had to get the shot up so I tried pushing my left hand but, like I said, those situations (I’m) learning, so now I know what to do in situations. Maybe (I’ve) got to do a crossover, step back, something to get the shot off, but I’ll learn.”