Update: 9:40
The Sacramento Kings put up a good fight, but ultimately won Tuesday night against the fellow tanking Indiana Pacers. Sacramento had a 10-point lead going into the fourth quarter. But then Devin Carter took over and the Pacers could do nothing. Carter finished with 24 points.
Maxime Raynaud finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Malik Monk left the game with an ankle injury.
The Pacers are on a 11-game losing streak and are now threatening the Kings crown as worst team in the league, the coveted spot that guarantees a top 5 draft pick.
50 Cent was court side enjoying the comeback, Oh, and in other news, Bam Adebayo scored 83 points tonight. Weird day.
From Earlier Preview:
Tonight’s game against the Indiana Pacers might just be the most important one of the season in the battle for the worst record in the league. The Kings are currently a half game up but the Pacers have lost nine in a row and don’t look like they’re going to stop anytime soon. What happens when a moveable object meets a stoppable force? We’ll find out tonight!
Who: Sacramento Kings (15-50) vs. Indiana Pacers 15-49)
Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA
When: 7:00 PM PT / 10:00 PM ET
Watch: NBCSCA / League Pass
The Pacers are in this predicament not due to hubris and mismanagement like the Kings but rather due to terrible injury luck as Tyrese Haliburton has missed the entire season with a torn Achilles. Pacers star Pascal Siakam will also be out tonight, as will Kings killer TJ McConnell. That leaves Aaron Nesmith and Jarace Walker as the only Pacers averaging double digits this season. Indiana has played a whopping 25 different players this season thanks to all their injuries.
The Kings have injury concerns of their own, but no new ones for tonight’s matchup. DeMar DeRozan missed the last game due to illness but it appears he’ll be back in the lineup tonight. The Kings are actually favored in this one, and honestly they should be. It would probably take a miracle of incompetence and bad shooting for the Kings to actually lose this matchup tonight, but thankfully that’s a Kings specialty. On the other hand, we can’t have nice things ever so Indiana’s tank will likely come out ahead here. Hopefully the lottery gods look more favorably on us when the time comes, we already gifted the Pacers their star, we don’t need to give them another.
Prediction: Kings 126, Pacers 104
The Pacers will get a top pick
And next year will turn around quick;
Unlike here in Sac,
‘Cause they’ll get Hali back.
Having Vivek will keep the Kings sick!
+1 Which tank will be rolling tonight?
Kings will win. Book it. sigh
Reverse Jinx fail! We’re such a stupid organization
Even though both teams have very questionable rosters, I’m sure there will still be many great plays worth telling stories over and ignoring.
After the Sabonis/Hali trade the Pacers have clearly beat us in terms of post-season success and are now doing a 180 trying to beat us in tanking. Can’t you let us have at least ONE thing dammit.
Pacers will come back next season with a deep squad with a healthy Hali, Pascal, Zubac, Walker, Nembhard, Nesmith, McConnell and a top 5 pick in a loaded draft. They will be right back in contention.
Meanwhile the Kings will be saving cash on their SMUD bill by not having to light the beam very often.
Oh, and the Pacers will have more cap space.
Agreed and it certainly doesn’t hurt them that they’re in the East either.
If it’s a 5 it goes to the Clippers.
Only one of these teams has a management team that knows what it’s doing. One will have a great position in the draft the other will have Doug, Perry, and Vivek.
How convenient Pascal is out for this game after missing just 9 games all this season and having a great game Sunday. Hmmmm, Nembhard is now doubtful too.
Meanwhile Russ and DDR are good to go for 30+ minutes tonight.
The Kangz can’ get out of their own way.
Cap’n Vivek and First Mate Matina captaining the tank – what could go wrong?
(Call Anh Phong?)
I am headed over to attend this one (got tickets in September)
How freakin’ crazy that Doug and Perry’ jobs aren’t in danger. No other team in the league would ever hire Doug as HC yet his job is safe here. No other team in the league would ever again hire Perry as GM yet his job is safe here. No other team in the league would ever hire Vivek as majority owner yet we’re screwed here.
Exactly. Kings should be in all out tank mode. Lame
Or as I like to refer to them: Dougie, Scooter and Hubris Maximus.
The Kings are definitely going to screw this up aren’t they… This team stays perpetually stupid.
Pacers. Kings.
Next.
Why cant i stop laughing at this?
NIL player can either be drafted by Kings or Pacers. What do you have your agent say to either team?
To the Pacers? With Hali coming back & Siakam under contract? I say, yes please.
Jones just called Bam’s record-setting performance tonight “ethereal.” Huh?
Not watching the game, but logged in to say… Bam with 83 points and 43 FTA while shooting less than 50% from the field????? 7-22 on 3PTA????
The dude had 43 FGA and 43 FTA??? WTF is that?
Did someone make a shit ton of money on betting those lines?
Just checked the halftime score. Kangz down 17! Don’t lose this (opportunity), Kangz!
Holy fark, full Kangz move to trounce the Pacers in the 4th. I’m guessing DDR and Westbrook are leading this bullshit.
Devin Carter revenge game.
Devin Carter read this article and was like oh hell no I’m going off tonight lol
Nope—zero 4th qtr minutes for DDR, Westbrook and Achiuwa. Comeback led by Devin Carter!
Carter…..From the worst hair in the league comes—Worst time ever to decide to shoot well and ball.
Exactly, Pacers were probably begging him to score too, he took the bait, and screwed us. This is actually worse than him playing well, an after thought player ruining our future. I dislike him even more now.
Devin knows the fans are not fond of him. He knows that every win screws the team’s chances in the draft. He knows that his NBA future is not with the Kings.
This was his way of saying F you to the fans and management.
Maybe Devin thought he could change all the negative comments about him by beating up on a team tanking hard?
Stupid win. But still plenty of time to secure a good draft pick.
Yes but they are just too stupid to flat out tank. I hate this owner-Matina and the rest of this dreck
To mismanage spectacularly.
I like how the “Kangz” graphic showed up instead of the beam.
Terrible win
I guess all of you guys above haven’t listened to Doug on trying to win a game. As a coach for 48 years I guess I am old fashioned. I never played or coached a game to lose. I thought Doug and I had something in common. We do. IMO the draft will take care of itself. GO KINGS.
41 YEARS.
For 41 years I’ve watched this sad-sack, clown show, trainwreck of an organization find ways to avoid winning like it’s the Black Death.
I’m beyond sick of it.
Jack, you’re a coach. You play to win the game that’s in front of you. It’s in your blood.
I get it. I do.
But for so many of us, it isn’t about just THIS season. Or THIS particular team.
It’s about 4 friggin’ decades of ineptitude.(And that’s just in Sacramento.)
Some of us would like to see an actual winning organization before we die.
For some of us, time is running out.
It doesn’t get talked about enough, but here are the longest droughts in the three major sports for teams not even making an APPEARANCE in their respective finals/championship:
Right now, both Detroit and Seattle have teams that can compete for championships (both have come within a single game of reaching the Super Bowl/World Series over the past couple of seasons).
As for us?
Nothing.
No hope. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero.
The longest drought of any of the three major sports, and no hope of it ever ending.
Many of us are just at our breaking point with all of this, and we’re lashing out.
It’s never personal.
It’s just hopelessness.
I’m 43 and I don’t think I will ever see the Kings get to the Finals. My kids are 9 and 5, and I doubt they live long enough to see the Kings make the Finals. This team has by far the worst outlook of any team in the NBA. No leadership, no young player to get excited about leading the franchise, bad coaching, etc.
Did you coach in a league where the draft played such an important role?
Every word that comes out of Doug’s mouth makes me respect him less. And the bar started out pretty low, I can tell you.
No I never coached where there was a draft. I love the game of basketball as a player and a coach. I personally feel for Doug and admire the way he coaches as well as how he handles himself and his players. He has a rough time coaching with what he has to work with. I understand it. I have had rough seasons as well as championships. Some of the players I had during the rough times are some of my favorites. I’ve watched them be very successful in their careers and they have said if it wasn’t how they played those games then it is how they become successful later. They played just as hard as those who won championships. Their was no difference
As a coach I have enjoyed watching the young players for the Kings. Watching them improve brings joy to my heart. The Kings might not win a championship in my time but watching some of the best basketball players in the world really has meaning to me. I am a King’s fan and always will be. Sure beats being a Lakers fan. GO KINGS
Does it really matter where this team picks in the draft? History has shown that they tend to draft the wrong player (too many to list), or don’t develop that player (Davion, etc.), and eventually trade away the young player drafted (Fox and Haliburton mainly).
1st, 4th, 5th…whatever. I have no faith that they will make a good decision.
It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if they fall to a point in the the draft that they trade said pick for a couple of later picks or eventually future pick because it may be a way for them to add bodies to a roster and stay below the tax.
The truth is, if they land in the top 3ish, that rookie contract very likely puts them into the tax. Would it surprise anyone if Vivek intervenes? I mean, why would you want to be a tax paying team with one of the shittiest rosters in the league?
I could totally see the Kangz trading the #2 pick and LaVine for Morant, #8, and #17. It saves the Kings millions next season and Vivek gets a new flawed toy in Morant. Grizz get out of Morant’s deal, eat LaVine’s expiring and their next franchise cornerstone at #2.
If they got the #2 pick and simply waived DeRozan and only had the guaranteed $10.5m on the books for next season (and factoring in Keegan’s extension starting), would they be below the tax?
I doubt they do that, or make any decent moves to shed the salary of LaVine/DDR/Sabonis.
I crunched the numbers the other day, and I think it puts them right at the tax, but they’d still need to add 4-5 more players to get to 14 rostered. I think them going into the tax is inevitable, which makes the Hunter trade all the more stupid. A real reality is them breaching the 1st apron.
They may be forced to move Keegan for smaller pieces just to fill out the roster. I joked a week or two ago about trading Keegan to Dallas for Klay, AJ Johnson, and the #30 just so they could break up his contract into 3 live bodies. I wouldn’t put it past Vivek to do some stupid shit like that, especially if it brings Klay to Sac.
Domas for 3 Raptors players is what I am expecting. And then minimum salary guys to fill out the roster.
Trading for Hunter was a bad move at the time, and probably looks worse next year.
If the Kings drop to say fifth I would draft Kingston as our future point guard. IMO a point guard is just as important as a big man. We still have 2 seconds one being a top second which I could see the Kings getting a good pick and if not maybe bundle both seconds and move up a notch or two. Also might be able to add a player like Sabonis or Monk and pick up another good player or two. Got to look to the future as the bottle half full.
Just looking in left field but maybe the Raptors are still looking at Sabonis. Probably would have to include Barrett but I also like Collin Murray Boles
Another idea might be Sabonis to the Nets for Micheal Porter Jr.nd say One of their young bigs. I might be wrong but understand that the Nets want to trade Porter Jr. Could trades made during the draft where Sabonis and Porter Jr. are included in maybe a swap in the draft positions.
I still like Tari Eason.
No argument there at all. I do think they’ll move one of Keegan/Domas to get off the contract and bring in multiple live bodies.
It just won’t move the needle much, I’m afraid. And it’s infuriating to think that we need a PG again as long as Fox and Haliburton continue to star for other teams.
If they can’t trade him early next offseason, can’t the Kings waive LaVine and stretch his cap hit over three seasons? That would give them lots of room under the cap next season, then both DDR and Hunter come off the books for the 2027-28 season. They currently have very little in commitments for the 2028-29 season and beyond.
I know for sure they can do that in the NFL. But I can’t recall seeing it much (if at all) in the NBA.
I defer to the resident capologists on that one.
Happy for the young guys on this one especially Carter. We really need to lose those two games against the Nets tho.
So does Carter return to DNP/CD or get minutes now? He pretty much won the game on his own it seems. So does Doug play him to try and win more, or do we return to the regularly scheduled rotation for the tank?
It’s a Kangzundrum.
I don’t think the management/coaches have a frickin’ clue what they are doing. The randomness of when guys play is ridiculous. The minutes distribution seems like a roll of the dice each game.
Yup, classic throw shit at the wall to see what sticks.
The role of Keon Ellis will be played by Devin Carter.
Devin came in and despite silly mistakes (some errant passes and a missed breakaway dunk) he looked determined and made his shots. His teammates looked for him and he responded by scoring from outside and inside. He entered the game at the 3:14 mark of the 3rd Quarter.
Is he any good, was this just a fluke? Is the kid a gamer?
How can you tell? They don’t play the guy. They do play their TWC and 10 Day players. You would think this guy could find a way to contribute given the glimpses we’ve seen. And this last 40 games should be glimpse city for guys like Devin Carter.
I was surprised Russ didn’t return for the 4thQ as he was on his way to another Triple Double.
If you eliminate the Devin Carter performance, the Kings lose by 15 (at least). So yes, I think he was happy to get his minutes and if that meant slowing the tank, all the better.
I expect Devin Carter on another team by as early as July and I expect him to add value, because, well, Kangz. He may not be Keon Ellis value, but more than 15th guy on a 15 man roster (Dougie McBuckets and Drew Eubanks went in before him, Plowden and Killian Hayes as well).
Where this team winds up in the draft really means little as long as 50 Senseless own the team.
I heard that dude lit the beam last night. 50 Cent one night and Kelsey Grammer the next. Vivek’s “friends” are about as relevant his his roster.
Seriously, what kind of Venn diagram of celebrity crushes does Vivek have?
He has the same requirements as the old Hollywood Squares. Next up, Paul Lynde and Charlie Weaver!*
(*Google them, kids.)
Joey Fatone sat on Vivek’s left, Curtis James Jackson III (50 ¢) on his right. Joey Fatone did the halftime show but I wish Ranadive would go bye, bye, bye.
Convince me that the Maloofs and the Ranadives are not related. (different circumstances, same need to be a poseur)
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