Kings 123, Hawks 115: Crisis Averted

Tell me if you’ve heard this story before: The Kings build up a huge lead, only for the other team to come roaring back down the stretch with a flurry of three pointers.  Last season, a game like tonight might have gone differently.  But thanks to the efforts of DeMar DeRozan and De’Aaron Fox, as well as some timely defensive plays, the Kings were able to maintain control and come out of Atlanta with their third straight win.

Make no mistake, this game should not have been as close as it was.  The Kings had built up a sizeable advantage and were in control for most of the game, building up an 18 point lead shortly into the third quarter.  Atlanta’s bench however had other ideas, and guys like Garrison Mathews and rookie Keaton Mitchell kept the Hawks in the game with their outside shooting.  Those two alone combined for 11-21 from distance.  The Kings as an entire team only shot 11-33 from three.  Mathews in particular was a flamethrower, making a game-high 7 triples on his way to 23 points.

But before everything nearly went wrong, so much was going right for the Kings.  Sacramento got off to a hot start in this one, building up a double digit lead early on in the first quarter.  Sacramento’s lead could have been even larger, but the Kings struggled to keep the Hawks out of the paint and in particular from getting easy lobs for dunks.  The Kings were also doing a particularly good job of containing Atlanta star Trae Young, who only scored 1 point in the entire first quarter and didn’t make a field goal until the second.  Sacramento also managed to outshoot the Hawks from distance in the first half, making 8 of 20 three pointers compared to just 6-22 for the Hawks despite some open looks.  The only real bright spot for the Hawks in the first half was the play of rookie Keaton Wallace, who scored 11 points off the bench to help keep the game close.  Clint Capela was also efficient offensively, scoring 10 points on 5-6 shooting, but the Kings were exploiting Capela’s lack of speed and Atlanta’s overall defensive ineptitude to get whatever they wanted, scoring an efficient 69 points on 51.1% from the field and going 15-17 from the line.

Hawks coach Quin Snyder made a change to the starting lineup in the second half, removing #1 pick Zaccharie Risacher, who had scored just 3 points on 1-7 shooting in the first half, with Garrison Matthews.  This likely had to do with Sacramento’s defensive strategy of throwing constant doubles at Trae Young to get the ball out of his hands that worked so well in the first half, particularly with his supporting cast missing so many open shots.  Mathews changed things for the Hawks, continually punishing the Kings for leaving him open or helping off of him. All 7 of his three pointers and all 23 of his points came in the second half.  Atlanta also didn’t play Larry Nance Jr. at all in the second half, matching Sacramento’s speed a bit better than they were in the first half.

One sequence midway through the third was a bit of a momentum changer.  With the Kings leading by 16 points, De’Aaron Fox came down the court and lost the ball on a bounce pass that looked like it was kicked, but no whistle was blown.  The Hawks got out on the fast break and immediately scored. Fox, still hot about the no-call, came barreling down the lane for a nice dunk, but a really weak offensive foul call was made on Domantas Sabonis, negating the basket.  On the other end, Sabonis got called for a foul contesting a layup by Jalen Johnson.  Johnson only made 1 of 2 free throws, but the Kings couldn’t capitalize on the other end.  The Hawks responded with a three to make it a 10 point game and the momentum squarely in their favor.

A few minutes later with it being a 9 point game, the calming effect of DeMar DeRozan took effect.  DeRozan became the Kings primary scorer with Fox and Sabonis out for a breather, and he had three straight possessions where he came down and hit his patented midrange jumper, giving the Kings some breathing room again.  Unfortunately for the Kings, Mathews and Wallace continued to strike from deep to keep the Hawks in range.

The end of the third quarter saw a strange sequence where Coach Mike Brown inserted Colby Jones for De’Aaron Fox with about 11 seconds left in order to prevent Fox from picking up his 4th foul.  Trae Young took advantage of that matchup and got an and-1 after beating Jones off the dribble and having his floater goaltended by Trey Lyles to cut it to a 12 point game coming into the 4th quarter. I understood the thinking from Brown to take Fox out of the game in that situation, but there was probably a better strategy than leaving Jones to guard one of the best scorers of the game.  It was only three points, but every possession matters, especially in a game that became as close as it was.

The 4th Quarter really showed how lucky the Kings are now to have two of the premier clutch players in the NBA in De’Aaron Fox and DeMar DeRozan.  Fox and DeRozan combined for 16 of Sacramento’s 21 points in the quarter, but the heroics were needed as the Hawks came roaring back.  After Fox hit a pullup jumper to give the King a 109-98 lead with 8:38 left, the Hawks went on an 11-0 run, capped off by a crazy Trae Young step back that was just barely not a three pointer that would have given Atlanta the lead but instead tied the game at 109 with 5:51 to go.  After that shot, Fox and DeRozan took turns coming down the floor and hitting clutch shot after clutch shot.  First it was Fox, then DeRozan and finally Fox again after Mathews and Wallace, who had hit so many three pointers, finally missed on consecutive possessions.

Trae Young came down the other end and hooked De’Aaron Fox’s arm on a drive, earning a foul call, but Mike Brown and the Kings challenged it. I was skeptical that the call would be overturned, but not only was it, the officials ruled that Young had earned an offensive foul for the hook and the Kings got the ball.  While the Kings didn’t capitalize on the other end, it was still an excellent challenge as that could have been an important swing in the game.

The Hawks cut the game to three points after Garrison Mathews hit yet another three pointer with 3:44 left in the game, and the Hawks had another chance to tie the game after DeRozan missed a finger roll layup on the other end, but Jalen Johnson’s attempt rimmed out.  On the other end, the Kings swung it around and found De’Aaron Fox in the corner and he took the three with no hesitation and swished it in the biggest shot of the game.  Fox finished with a game and season-high 31 points, including 4-6 from three and 11-16 overall.

The Kings had a chance to extend the lead to 8 points a couple possessions later, but Domantas Sabonis got a little too aggressive in the post and earned his 6th foul on a push off of Clint Capela down low.  Sabonis exited the game with 15 points, 14 rebounds and 6 assists, but the Kings would be without their big man for those final two minutes, with Trey Lyles getting the call instead.

It was DeMar who then took his turn to ice the game, getting Jalen Johnson to bite and turning it into two free throws, which he knocked down.  On the other end, Keaton Wallace hit another three, but DeRozan came right back and got to the line once more, extending the lead.  The Hawks had a chance to keep the game in reach, but Trey Lyles got up for a block on Trae Young (that was incorrectly ruled a goaltend but then rightly overturned), and Keegan Murray blocked Clint Capela off the inbound play.  Atlanta was forced to foul, and while Malik Monk made just 1 of 2 from the line, Atlanta missed their next three pointer and allowed the Kings to dribble the clock out and walk away with the victory.

It wasn’t the prettiest of wins, but it’s still a win, and the Kings are now 3-2 with another game on the road tomorrow all the way in Toronto.  Hopefully they can take some lessons from tonight’s game and apply them so that in the future they close out games a little bit easier.

Random Observations:

• Keegan Murray continues to be a little boom or bust from distance, going just 1 for 6 from three this game, but he’s been absolutely excellent everywhere else.  Murray has expanded his offensive arsenal and is much more comfortable attacking the basket and posting up smaller players.  He’s also been crashing the glass very well to start this season, putting together another 10 rebound performance, including 3 on the offensive glass.  He really just needs his three point shot to become a bit more consistent again to become a truly special player.
• DeMar DeRozan just continues to be quietly excellent as a Sacramento King. Another efficient scoring night, finishing with a season-high 27 points (his 5th straight 20+ point game as a King) on 9-16 from the field and 8-10 from the line.  Moreover, his defense has also been better than advertised, particularly how good he has been at stealing the ball from opponents trying to drive by him.  There’s been at least one or two times a game where DeRozan has swooped in on a player driving into the lane and picked their pocket with ease.  He leads the Kings in deflections so far this season, and he finished tonight with 3 steals as well.
• Malik Monk had a bit of a round shooting night, going just 3-9 and 0-3 from deep, but he threw down the dunk of the season so far on a football pass from Sabonis.  How he hasn’t been invited to a dunk contest yet is beyond me.
• Keon Ellis was quiet in the second half but was excellent in his first half.  His usual active defense was there but he was also knocking down his shots and scored a season-high 12 points on 4-5 from the field and 2-3 from distance. I’d like to see him be a little less hesitant on some of the open looks he does get, as I think that’s all that’s really holding him back from truly earning that starting position.
• Speaking of the starter, Kevin Huerter fell back to earth a little bit, scoring just 10 points on 4-13 shooting, but I did like his ball movement, both with and without the ball. He also dished the ball 4 times which is nice.
• I’m really hoping Trey Lyles finds his shot soon.  He was 1-7 from the field and just 1-6 from distance. He’s now just 4-19 from three for the season.  Lyles is an excellent team defender, and the Kings play better with him on the floor than they do with the slower Alex Len, but the Kings need his outside shot to start falling. I understand he’s still working himself back into game shape, so hopefully this is just a momentary blip as he shakes off the rust.
• Zaccharie Risacher might be the most unheralded #1 pick of my lifetime, and that includes Kwame Brown, Anthony Bennett and Andrea Bargnani.  Ricacher opened up the games scoring with a corner 3 but that was about the only impact he had on the entire game.  He finished with 3 points on 1-9 shooting with 1 rebound, 1 turnover and 3 fouls.  He was a game worst -25 in just under 20 minutes of action.  I think Risacher has some potential, but man was this a rough draft to get lucky and get the #1 pick in.
• The Kings continue to be pretty excellent from the line this season, making 26 of their 30 attempts (86.7%) tonight.  DeMar’s a big part of that, but Sabonis and Fox (10-11) are hitting theirs as well. I think this team had a bit of a sour taste in their mouth from last year and all the easy games they dropped. This game felt like one of those they would have easily lost last year, but they managed to hold on and close it out at the stripe.