The replay Kings couldn’t quite match the success of the original Beam Team, but it was close! The Pacific Division champions finished at 47-35, one win shy of their real-life total of 48 wins.
I went into this project planning on using a mix of three game engines: Bank Shot Basketball, Hoops and Highlight Maker Hoops Prime Time. But I also wanted to use as-played lineups as much as possible, and that could really only be done consistently with Bank Shot Basketball (which cards everyone; the other two do not). So I stuck with BSB, especially during the second half of the season. That turned out to be fine, as I came away liking BSB the best of the three. The final tally was 65 games with Bank Shot Basketball (40-25), 10 with HMHPT (5-5) and seven with Hoops (2-5).
I also tried to use players for the approximate number of minutes they played in each game in real life, and did a pretty good job with that. For instance, De’Aaron Fox played 2,435 minutes in 2022-23, and 2,437 in the replay.
2022-23 Sacramento Kings Replay Home Page
Sacramento Kings Replay Final Stats
My replay Kings took a different route to their win total than the real-life Kings. There was a matching result in 43 of the 82 games (the Kings went 28-15 in those contests). They lost games they won 20 times, and won games they lost 19 times.
Some of the key stats, particularly for the individuals, came very close to matching reality. Here’s an overview of how it looked.
TEAM STATS
| KINGS | GP | PPG | FG% | 3FGM/ GM | 3FG% | FTM/ GM | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actual | 82 | 120.7 | .494 | 13.8 | .369 | 19.8 | .790 |
| Replay (Total) | 82 | 118.3 | .511 | 11.9 | .385 | 16.8 | .789 |
| BSB | 65 | 116.6 | .526 | 10.9 | .384 | 15.7 | .791 |
| HMHPT | 10 | 128.9 | .445 | 17.4 | .408 | 22.7 | .769 |
| Hoops | 7 | 119.1 | .482 | 13.3 | .351 | 18.4 | .811 |
| OPPONENT | GP | PPG | FG% | 3FGM/ GM | 3FG% | FTM/ GM | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actual | 82 | 118.1 | .492 | 12.5 | .373 | 18.1 | .787 |
| Replay (Total) | 82 | 114.0 | .489 | 11.1 | .373 | 15.7 | .767 |
| BSB | 65 | 111.4 | .499 | 10.5 | .378 | 14.1 | .759 |
| HMHPT | 10 | 125.6 | .418 | 16.1 | .365 | 21.9 | .779 |
| Hoops | 7 | 121.4 | .521 | 9.4 | .340 | 21.4 | .800 |
| KINGS | GP | ORB/ GM | RB/ GM | PF/ GM | A/ GM | TO/ GM | BLK/ GM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actual | 82 | 9.5 | 42.5 | 19.7 | 27.3 | 13.5 | 3.4 |
| Replay (Total) | 82 | 11.3 | 47.1 | 20.0 | 26.3 | 12.5 | 3.1 |
| BSB | 65 | 11.3 | 45.0 | 19.2 | 25.5 | 12.0 | 3.1 |
| HMHPT | 10 | 10.2 | 62.3 | 23.6 | 30.7 | 15.5 | 2.4 |
| Hoops | 7 | 12.6 | 45.0 | 22.7 | 26.7 | 12.0 | 3.9 |
| OPPONENT | GP | ORB/ GM | RB/ GM | PF/ GM | A/ GM | TO/ GM | BLK/ GM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actual | 82 | 9.7 | 42.2 | 20.9 | 26.7 | 14.2 | 4.2 |
| Replay (Total) | 82 | 12.4 | 46.6 | 20.4 | 23.9 | 12.6 | 3.9 |
| BSB | 65 | 12.3 | 43.8 | 19.8 | 23.0 | 12.3 | 4.0 |
| HMHPT | 10 | 12.3 | 61.5 | 24.4 | 28.9 | 14.5 | 2.9 |
| Hoops | 7 | 12.6 | 49.4 | 20.3 | 25.3 | 13.4 | 3.9 |
Overall, scoring was a little lower than real life, through the two-point shooting percentage was much better. Three-pointers and free throws were way down to balance things out.
Bank Shot Basketball obviously had the biggest influence on the overall numbers, having been used in 65 of the 82 games. The numbers were decent, a little low in some places, a little high in others (particularly field goal percentage).
Highlight Maker Hoops Prime Time had some crazy numbers for 10 games. High scoring, high three-pointers, high free throws, terrible overall shooting percentage, a crazy number of rebounds. I don’t think I was playing it wrong, but I’m not sure.
I can’t read too much into Hoops, having used it for only seven games, and the opponent won five of them so the numbers tilt in their favor. Though the overall numbers are for the most part not too bad.
For a more full stats comparison, please see the final stats PDF.
INDIVIDUAL STATS
| De’AARON FOX | |
|---|---|
| Actual | 25.0 PPG, 51.2% FG, 119 3FGM, 6.1 APG, 4.2 RPG |
| Replay | 25.7 PPG, 53.8% FG, 131 3FGM, 6.1 APG, 3.6 RPG |
Fox, the inaugural winner of the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year award in 2022-23 and an All-NBA third team selection, did nothing to change that here. His offensive numbers were slightly better in the replay. His best game of the season by far was a 49-point, 15-assist explosion against Utah.
| DOMANTAS SABONIS | |
|---|---|
| Actual | 19.1 PPG, 61.5% FG, 12.3 RPG, 7.3 APG |
| Replay | 20.2 PPG, 54.7% FG, 12.2 RPG, 5.6 APG |
Sabonis, an All-NBA third team pick, posted numbers in line with his 2022-23 season — with the exception of assists. I kind of felt the assist mechanisms of the various games didn’t necessarily lend themselves to high-assist big men. Sabonis had 14 triple-doubles in 2022-23 but only five on the tabletop. He scored in double-figures in 77 of his 79 games.
| HARRISON BARNES | |
|---|---|
| Actual | 15.0 PPG, 47.3% FG, 132 FGM, 4.5 RPG, 1.6 APG |
| Replay | 15.2 PPG, 49.8% FG, 125 3FGM, 5.1 RPG, 1.7 APG |
Barnes was right on the money for several categories.
| KEEGAN MURRAY | |
|---|---|
| Actual | 12.2 PPG, 45.3% FG, 206 3FGM, 4.6 RPG, 1.2 APG |
| Replay | 12.6 PPG, 52.3% FG, 171 3FGM, 5.7 RPG, 1.5 APG |
Murray, an All-Rookie first team selection, played even better on the tabletop than he did in real life. But, he couldn’t come close to matching his NBA rookie record of 206 three-pointers in the replay.
| KEVIN HUERTER | |
|---|---|
| Actual | 15.2 PPG, 48.5% FG, 205 3FGM, 3.3 RPG, 2.9 APG |
| Replay | 12.4 PPG, 46.5% FG, 174 3FGM, 2.6 RPG, 3.2 APG |
Huerter had the biggest offensive dropoff of any of the Kings. Like Murray, he didn’t hit enough three-pointers to match his real-life numbers.
| MALIK MONK | |
|---|---|
| Actual | 13.5 PPG, 44.8% FG, 143 3FGM, 2.6 RPG, 3.9 APG |
| Replay | 12.2 PPG, 47.5% FG, 118 3FGM, 2.6 RPG, 3.0 APG |
Monk, fifth in the Sixth Man of the Year voting, gave almost as good a performance off the bench, though his offensive numbers were a little behind real life.
| OTHER KEY PLAYERS | Actual | Replay |
|---|---|---|
| Trey Lyles | 7.6 PPG, 4.1 RPG | 7.3 PPG, 4.0 RPG |
| Davion Mitchell | 5.6 PPG, 2.3 APG | 6.0 PPG, 3.0 APG |
| Terence Davis | 6.7 PPG, 2.2 RPG | 5.9 PPG, 2.5 RPG |
| Chimezie Metu | 4.9 PPG, 3.0 RPG | 4.7 PPG, 3.5 RPG |
| Kessler Edwards | 3.9 PPG, 2.1 RPG | 3.7 PPG, 2.0 RPG |
| Richaun Holmes | 3.1 PPG, 1.9 RPG | 2.5 PPG, 2.3 RPG |
MISCELLANEOUS STATS
Number of times led the Kings in points: Fox 46, Sabonis 19, Barnes 10, Murray 5, Monk 4, Huerter 3, Lyles 1.
Number of times led the Kings in rebounds: Sabonis 71, Murray 11, Barnes 4, Fox 1, Holmes 1, Len 1, Lyles 1, Metu 1.
Number of times led the Kings in assists: Fox 34, Sabonis 32, Mitchell 10, Huerter 6, Monk 4, Barnes 1, Davis 1, Dozier 1, Murray 1.
Triple-Doubles: Sabonis 5, Fox 1.
Double-Doubles: Sabonis 54, Barnes 7, Murray 7, Fox 6, Huerter 1, Lyles 1, Metu 1.
40-Point Games: Fox 3.
30-Point Games: Fox 21, Sabonis 5, Barnes 2, Monk 2.
20-Point Games: Fox 59, Sabonis 40, Barnes 20, Huerter 13, Murray 10, Monk 8, Lyles 1.
10-Point Games: Sabonis 77, Fox 71, Barnes 64, Murray 57, Huerter 50, Monk 48, Lyles 21, Davis 13, Mitchell 10, Metu 6, Okpala 3, Holmes 2, Dozier 1, Edwards 1.
20-Rebound Games: Sabonis 3.
10-Rebound Games: Sabonis 56, Barnes 8, Murray 8, Fox 1, Lyles 1, Metu 1.
10-Assist Games: Fox 7, Sabonis 6, Huerter 1, Mitchell 1.
