Darius Acuff Jr. Has Taken 93 Shots in Four Games: What the Kings Rookie’s Volume Actually Means
Darius Acuff Jr. is 19 years old, four games into his NBA career, and he has already taken more shots than most starters take in a week.
The Sacramento Kings rookie attempted 24 field goals in his debut against the Clippers, then 26 against Portland, then 23 against Memphis, then 20 at San Antonio. That is 93 attempts in four games, an average of better than 23 a night. Sacramento lost all four.
The Wilt Chamberlain Line Needs an Asterisk
The number going around is that only Wilt Chamberlain has opened a career with four straight 20-attempt games. That claim comes from a single ClutchPoints post, which lists Chamberlain at 19 consecutive such games in 1959 and Acuff at four. We have not been able to confirm it against a box-score database, so treat it as reported rather than established.
What is not in dispute is the volume itself, or the company it puts him in. After three games Acuff had 73 attempts, which outpaced the 64 Kevin Durant took to start his rookie year, and he trailed only Anthony Edwards among all NBA players in shots per game over the opening week.
The Efficiency Is the Problem
Acuff has made 32 of those 93 shots. That is 34.4 percent. From three he is 7-of-34, which is 20.6 percent. He is averaging 21.5 points, and he has gotten there by firing until something goes in.
There was one night that looked like the point of all this. Against Portland he scored 33 on 10-of-26 shooting and went 11-of-12 from the line. The other three games produced 12, 22 and 19 points on a combined 22-of-67.
He is also not a black hole. He had four assists against Portland, seven against Memphis and five at San Antonio, with one turnover in the Memphis game. The passing is real. The shot selection is a 19-year-old figuring out which of his looks are actually good ones.
Why Sacramento Is Letting Him Do It
The Kings took Acuff seventh overall in June out of Arkansas, where he averaged 23.5 points and 6.4 assists in his one season under John Calipari. He is a 6-2 point guard, listed at 190 pounds, and he turns 20 next month.
Doug Christie has handed him the ball and the minutes, 33 to 36 a night, next to Zach LaVine in the starting backcourt. Sacramento is also short on options. Ben Simmons tore his Achilles in practice before the season and is out for the year.
Christie has been talking about this balance since before the opener. “One of the biggest things is when to shoot and when to pass, and he can do both,” he told Sactown 1140 in early October. He also said Acuff is “first one in, last one out” and called him “a machine.” After the rough debut, Christie’s line was simple. “He’s one I don’t worry about.”
What It Actually Means
A team with real playoff ambitions does not let a teenager shoot 34 percent on 23 attempts a night. A 0-4 team with a thin backcourt and a top-10 pick absolutely should, and Sacramento has decided the reps are worth more than the box scores right now.
NBC Sports California analyst Deuce Mason framed it the right way. “The other thing I love is that the missed shots don’t shake his confidence,” he said, adding that “this is likely the least polished version of Acuff that we will see.” He pointed out Acuff has been guarded by Toumani Camara, Jrue Holiday, Kris Dunn and Derrick Jones Jr. in four games, which is a brutal opening draw for any rookie guard.
The volume is the story this week. Whether it becomes a career depends entirely on the percentage, and nobody is going to know that answer in October.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
