Week one of the 2024-25 NBA season is complete, with all three Hawkeyes in similar roles as last season.
Keegan Murray remains as the starting four for the Sacramento Kings despite the addition of all-star forward DeMar DeRozan.
The Kings opened their season with a 117-115 home loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday. The forward began his third season with a double-double of 23 points and 11 rebounds along with two assists on 8-of-17 shooting on a team-high 43 minutes.
Saturday’s road contest against the Los Angeles Lakers saw Murray log 40 minutes and put up 14 points, four rebounds, one assist, two steals, and two blocks in the 131-127 crunchtime loss.
After suffering two losses to start the season, Sacramento took the 111-98 win over the Portland Trail Blazers for their first victory of the season. In 33 minutes, Murray had a subpar scoring night of six points on 2-of-9 shooting, but collected eight rebounds and two assists to round out a solid outing.
Kris Murray
Kris Murray averaged a little over 15 minutes through the first four games of the Portland Trail Blazers’ 1-3 start to the season.
In the Blazers’ 140-104 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday, Kris scored one point, one rebound, and one assist on one-of-four made free throws and two missed field goals in 10 minutes off the bench.
Portland suffered a 105-103 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday on the front-end of a back-to-back. In 15 minutes played, Kris furnished an effective statline of seven points, three rebounds, and two assists on 3-of-5 shooting.
Kris’ contributions of five points, one rebound, and one assist on 2-of-3 shooting in his second-straight 15-minute outing helped the Blazers respond by taking the 125-103 victory over the Pelicans on Sunday.
Portland’s loss to the Kings, and the first matchup between the Murray twins this season, saw Kris log seven points and two rebounds on 2-of-6 shooting in a season-high 25 minutes thus far.
Luka Garza
Despite the Minnesota Timberwolves trading away all-star center Karl-Anthony Towns in the offseason, center Luka Garza didn’t see any action through the team’s first three games.
It was expected that Towns’ exit opened the door to an expanded role for Garza, but that has not been the case thus far. The fourth-year big signed a two-year contract extension with the ball club over the summer.
The Timberwolves have won two of their first three games to open the season.