The Sacramento Kings suffered a deflating loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves by a score of 117-115 in their home opener Thursday night.
Anthony Edwards’ 33 points and two late free throws along with Julis Randle’s 32 points helped seal the deal for Minnesota while the Kings tried their best to come away with the victory by committee.
The Kings finished the game with five players scoring at least 15 points and three players scoring at least 23, one of which being new addition DeMar DeRozan.
A 6-time All-Star, DeRozan finished with a team-high 26 points to go along with eight rebounds, showing the franchise he’s more than capable of scoring in bunches while surrounded by other offensive talents.
Sacramento’s versatile All-Star center Domantas Sabonis and sharp-shooting power forward Keegan Murray also come along for the ride, contributing 24 points and 23 points respectively.
Though the team fell short in the waning seconds of regulation, DeRozan stood behind his new team and their abilities in his post-game press conference, where he spoke to the media on how much he believes in the team.
“I got the utmost confidence in this group of guys,” DeRozan told media members Thursday night. “Once we get in a rhythm, I feel that we’re going to continue to get better every single day. This team is extremely dynamic with what we’re able to do on both ends. Like I said, once that rhythm comes it’s going to be scary.”
As one of the league’s best scorers of the past decade, and entering season No. 16, DeRozan had yet to play with a team that is stylistically similar to the 2024-25 Kings.
For the majority of his career, DeRozan was relied upon as the sole engine of his team’s offense, whether it was as a member of the Toronto Raptors or as the main offensive weapon of the Chicago Bulls for the last three seasons.
Now, DeRozan has the luxury of letting others like Sabonis, star point guard De’Aaron Fox or 2023-24 Sixth Man of the Year finalist Malik Monk take the brunt of the scoring load on any given night.
DeRozan has a reason to believe that he can be a part of competing for a championship with Sacramento, and it’s because they have been one of the most high-powered offenses in league history over the past two seasons.
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