Sacramento Kings Playoff Push X-Factor

Sitting at 28-27 and ninth in the Western Conference standings, the Sacramento Kings face an uphill battle to get into the playoffs.

With a new-look roster, more time together could be enough for them to gel as a team and climb the standings, but one player, or even one skillset of one player, remains the ultimate X-factor for Sacramento's success; Keegan Murray's three-point shooting.

In his third season, Keegan Murray has shown tremendous growth in his overall game. He's one of the team's best defenders, is averaging a career-high 7.1 rebounds, and has continued to show flashes of off the dribble scoring, but there's a big part of his game that has been missing in his third year with the Kings.

Murray is shooting 32.2% from beyond the arc on 5.6 attempts per contest this year. That's by far a career-low in his early NBA career, as he shot 41.1% in his rookie setting season and 35.8% last.

One of the areas that stands out as the simplest way for the third-year wing to improve his shot is knocking down his Wide-Open looks, which NBA.com defines as a three-point attempt with 6+ feet between the shooter and defender.

In his rookie season, Murray shot 46.9% on these attempts. That dropped to 40.1% last season, and 38.5% this year. With so many scorers and creators on the Kings, these are the looks that Murray should feast on.

While he hasn't hit his threes at the same rate this season, Murray has been an extremely productive player for the Kings. It's what makes his three-point shooting the ultimate X-factor. He's been a good player while shooting 32.2% from deep, but he can take a leap if he starts knocking down his shots at a higher clip.

Sacramento is 8-5 (.615) when Murray shoots over 40% from beyond the arc. While that doesn't jump out as a great record, the Houston Rockets currently sit fourth in the Western Conference with a .618 winning percentage, and the Los Angeles Lakers fifth at .615.

It's no coincidence that the arguably best stretch of the season involved Murray getting hot from three. During the Kings six-game winning streak following the coaching change, he missed the first two games but shot 15-of-30, 50%, in the four wins after returning from injury, one of which was the impressive win over the Boston Celtics.

The good news for the Kings is that Murray shot his best after that short break, and will now be coming off of the longer All-Star break.

Murray is asked to do a lot on the court. He consistently takes the most challenging defensive assignment and is the team's only semblance of a help-side defender.