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Willie Green named Coach of the Year
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Willie Green named Coach of the Year

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Three Things To Know is NBC’s roundup of the night before in the NBA five days a week. Check back to NBCSports.com every weekday morning to catch up on what you missed the night before, plus the rumors, drama, and dunks that make the NBA a must-see.

1) Light the beam! The Kings are currently fourth in the West.

The Sacramento Kings are the Western 4 seed.

Let it sink in for a moment. If the playoffs start today, the Sacramento Kings will host his first-round series. A long-struggling franchise — do we need to remind everyone again that it missed the playoffs 16 years in a row? gathered around.

It all showed in Wednesday’s victory over the struggling Rockets (who are currently on an eight-game losing streak). Domantas Sabonis continued to look like an All-Star, tallying 25 points, 14 rebounds and 9 assists. De’Aaron Fox scored his 9th in his fourth, recording 24 points and 9 assists. Veteran Trey Lyles came off the bench to score 20 points.

The Kings played too long on the food and let Houston hang around but pulled away for a 135-115 win.

Mike Brown definitely has to be part of this season’s Coach of the Year conversation. It’s a very crowded debate, but the veteran coach has everyone on board, building a top-three offense around the inside/outside duo of Sabonis and Fox, and defending enough to get the win. Earned a few nights.

The Kings management was hit with the media, including myself, in a trade that sent Tyrese Halliburton out and brought Sabonis back from Indiana. My main criticism is still valid. Sacramento again traded from long to short. They gave up their best player in that trade three years from now and got a guy who can help them more today.

Give the Kings credit — it worked. Sabonis and his steady, professional nightly double-double today are better suited for what this team needed to make the playoffs. Fox needed more touch and space in the backcourt. The Kings weren’t looking to build the best team in four or five years.

They found the mix. The Kings aren’t his rock in the playoffs in a tight West. They are two games above the play-ins and exactly three games out of the playoffs. But they feel that way. This looks like a playoff team.

Just as importantly, this is a fun team. This is a team that Kings fans have long deserved and should savor.

2) Kyle Kuzma drains a winning 3 for the Wizards and Zach Lavigne lands a 2

The Wizards were short-handed — no Bradley Beal or Kristaps Porzingis — so when it came time for a game-winning shot, they got the ball into Kyle Kuzma’s hands.

The game against the Bulls was a 97-97 tie with 22.5 remaining. Washington handed the ball to Kuzma at the top, ran with some time to contemplate his final shot, waited for Taj Gibson to screen Alex Caruso, drove right along the three-point arc, and left the right. I lifted the jumper while fading to . . Splash.

That shot left a 5.7 for the Bulls to do something. With DeMar DeRozan out (quad), they turned to Zach LaVine, who had 38 that night. He got the ball, the defense swarmed and with no clean appearance on the 3, he drove up his 2 in midrange and let down an open Nikola Vucević.

Here’s how Lavigne described that shot, via NBC Sports Chicago’s KC Johnson.

“We were just trying to get three points. And I think Doron Wright fouled me when I tried to pull back. My instinct is to go up and try to get a three-point play. It was,” Lavigne said. “I was about to pull up when he fouled me. I shot it. They didn’t call it. And you’re right.”

Washington needs a win and is heading into the play-in-out East against the Bulls. Kuzma finished with 21 points and Monte Morris with 17 points.

3) Dedmon gets a one-game suspension for massage gun incident

The Miami Heat wanted the NBA League Office to step in and suspend Dwayne Dedmon.

The league didn’t, so the Heat did — Miami suspended Dedmon for one game for getting into an altercation with coach Eric Spoelstra. Dedmon was kicked out.

If the NBA League Office had suspended Dedmon, the Heat would have saved money on the salary cap/luxury tax (and the Heat are pushing up the tax bill). Heck, the Heat may have pressured the league to suspend him for a few games — Dedmon was out of the rotation anyway and the Heat would have saved more money.

The League didn’t, so the Heat did. The result is the same for Dedmon. He doesn’t participate in the game and loses some money. He’s a man to watch, and Miami will keep him around because he could potentially use his salary for trades by the deadline, but if he’s there after Feb. 9, Dedmon is a potential Buyout candidate. Especially after this.



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