Defense on Donovan Mitchell shows why Keegan Murray could be ‘huge’ for Sacramento Kings

Kings forward Keegan Murray has already drawn some tough defensive assignments early in his second NBA season. He can expect more of the same after receiving rave reviews for his work against Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell on Monday night.

Murray had 25 points and eight rebounds to help the Kings wrap up a three-game homestand with a 132-120 victory over the Cavaliers before a sellout crowd of 17,829 at Golden 1 Center. He also served as the primary defender on Mitchell, who was held to 22 points on 7-of-21 shooting

“You’re not stopping a guy like Donovan Mitchell,” Kings coach Mike Brown said. “Donovan Mitchell is a really, really, really, really good basketball player, as you guys know. That’s an All-Star and you just want to hope to try to make him work, and Keegan had him most of the night. (Chris) Duarte had him some, too. Keon (Ellis) had him some.

“And, you know, 7 of 21 from the field, that’s almost impossible to do, and I’m sure (Mitchell) felt he missed a couple shots, but I’ve got to take my hat off to our guys. They tried as best they can to make him work and you couldn’t ask for anything more than what they gave us tonight, especially guarding him.”

Mitchell isn’t the only NBA All-Star Murray has been asked to defend this season. Brown tasked him with guarding Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry on Nov. 1, five days after Curry torched the Kings for 41 points on 14-of-19 shooting with seven 3-pointers.

Murray held his own against the two-time MVP. Curry made 7 of 15 from the field and 4 of 10 from 3-point range, but he only scored 21 points, his lowest point total of the season.

“I love it,” Murray said. “When I was in college and even last year, I really wasn’t known as a defender and I just tried to figure it out on my own, and obviously ask the coaches and the coaches helped me, too. But it’s just a lot of figuring out what guys do and their tendencies, just trying to be the aggressor on defense because, I mean, I feel like over the offseason, I kind of got more athletic and stronger, and that’s helped a lot.”

Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox, who returned from a five-game injury absence to score a game-high 28 points, was asked about Murray’s defense against Mitchell after the game.

“He was great, trying to be disruptive,” Fox said. “I think he’s moving so much better than when he got in the league and I think he can be an outstanding defender. He’s 6-8. He’s long. He can already shoot the ball. He can already do things offensively, so for us, if he can be that type of guy defensively, that’s huge for us. Holding a guy like (Mitchell) to 7 of 21 from the field, you have to tip your hat off to what Keegan did tonight. It’s still a team effort. You can’t stop Donovan with one guy, but I think he did a hell of a job tonight.”

Brown said Murray benefited from the time he spent with Fox over the summer.

“The two of those guys played a lot of one-on-one this offseason, and that’s a testament to Fox’s leadership, taking Keegan under his wing and telling him, ‘Hey, I’m about to work out, young fella. Come work out. Let’s play one-on-one because you’re going to have to get used to guarding guys who are quick like me and guarding guys in pick-and-roll situations and stuff like that,’ so I think that’s helped a lot.”

Brown also credited Murray for his strength and conditioning program.

“Keegan’s been in the weight room, working on his body, so he’s able to move his feet, especially against quicker guys, and as he’s step-sliding, take that hit in the chest and not fold, keep his balance and continue to guard the ball,” Brown said. “He has a better feel for how to navigate screens, especially off the ball, and all of it is starting to come together for him because we expect him to be, if not the most versatile defender on our team, at least one of them, and we shouldn’t have a problem at all putting him on a guy like Steph, a guy like Donovan Mitchell, or even a bigger guy like LeBron (James) or Kawhi (Leonard).”