The Sacramento Kings dropped their third game in a row Monday night at home against the Boston Celtics. The loss drops the Kings to under .500 (35-36) and only a half game ahead of the 10th place Phoenix Suns.
Yes, the Kings are that close to falling out of the play-in.
The 113-95 loss quickly turned one-sided in the second half after a promising start.
With Domantas Sabonis surprisingly back early from his ankle injury and pushing the pace, the Kings started the game strong behind the hot hand and aggressiveness of Keegan Murray. The team jumped out to a 15-7 lead to start the game thanks to some hot shooting and defensive intensity. The Celtics would end the first quarter with a 30-29 lead though, leaning on Jayson Tatum’s scoring.
The second quarter was a relatively close contest. The Kings continued to play with physicality and outscoring the Celtics in the paint. Sabonis tallied a double double in the first half and Keon Ellis, DeMar DeRozan and Murray contributed with scoring. DeRozan also had 7 assists in the first half. The Celtics ability to hit threes canceled out much of the advantages the Kings were able to maintain, such as free throws and points in the paint.
The Celtics would take a 56-51 lead into the half.
The third quarter was a bit of a slugfest to start, with the Kings showing some fight, but that quickly gave way to the Celtics perimeter shooting and poise. By the 7:56 mark, the Boston was up 10. Tatum continued to carve up the Kings before a scary moment happened for him when he was fouled on a three by Domas and went down to the floor in pain. He was able to take his free throws, but exited and did not return. With Tatum out of the game, the Celtics didn’t skip a beat. Payton Pritchard and Kristaps Porzingis stepped up and Boston’s ball movement and defense prevented the Kings from much momentum from that point on. The Celtics took a 10-points lead into the fourth and it would grow to start the fourth quarter.
Aside from a brief scoring spurt from Zach LaVine in the fourth quarter that pulled the Kings back to within 10, the fourth was owned by Boston. Sacramento couldn’t hit their shots at the rim or from the perimeter while the Celtics scored at ease.
In the end, Boston scored 57 points on threes. The Kings scored 24 points on threes. This eliminated the advantage the Kings maintained in free throw percentage, fast break points, and points in the paint while matching the Celtics in field goal percentage and rebounding.
Sabonis finished with 16 points and 17 rebounds, and DeRozan finished with 20 points and 10 assists.
Next Up
The Kings welcome the first place Oklahoma City Thunder (59-12) into Golden 1 Center Tuesday at 7 p.m. Wheeeee
Go Portland!
That’s what I’ll be rooting for the rest of the season.
well, it was nice to see Domas, who transferred his ankle sprain to another team, back in the rotation and filling the stat sheet – except.. interestingly – just one assist. I would bet that is his season low and likely his Sacramento low.
Keegan looked good, Ellis looked good. Boston is just a better team and looked the part – though their 50 3PA vs Sac’s 24 is an eye opening stat given what we’ve heard as a Christie game/identity plan.
Domas playing another 6 games qualifies him for regular season honors. I suspect that despite the grit and determination that Sabonis always delivers, that this is a factor in his decision to get on the court, along with his wanting to will the team to some additional and much needed wins.
Domas is averaging over 2 less assists per game this season as compared to last. Who would have thought that would happen when you put him on the floor with 3 ball dominant ISO scorers?
Also, the team sucked at hitting 3s during most of the season, especially the first few months. I just don’t get the vision anymore. DeMar seems to be increasing his usage as the season has gone on. I don’t know what the heck LaVine is doing out there most of the time. Monk is looking for his shot much more.
Yeah, 3 ISO guys isn’t the best way to construct a roster around Domas.
Two years ago, we were called a young team with a huge ceiling and now…
The ceiling is still huge! It’s only much further up somehow.
And on fire…
I had forgotten Blake was doing this recap, so I’d already started formulating my thoughts and observations this morning. I’ll add them here:
It looks to me like DeMar is just trying to get his points and climb higher on the all-time scoring list. He is glad to take those shots, too. I think he has one foot out the door already, and doesn’t care about the season. I could be wrong, it’s just my opinion.
Only thing I could think of watching the game was 47.5 and 49.
Which is how many millions of dollars each year Zach Lavine will make over the next two years here. 96.5 million to play the most bankrupt version of basketball I’ve ever seen as a Kangz fan.
He is horrible.
I wonder if the Kings can entice another team to take LaVine by adding picks. What a poor use of assets. Send out DeMar too. Just not the type of players that this team needs to be effective with Domas as the center piece.
The Kings aren’t going anywhere so I’d rather they just keep him next year. After next season when Lavine is expiring he’ll value as an expiring contract. Even more so in this new CBA environment.
I don’t think he is horrible. Overpaid? Sure.
The Kings are just awful right now and maximizing their roster’s different talents. So much DDR/Monk/LaVine ISO ball does that. There is just too much redundancy between Monk/LaVine/DDR.
Take DDR off the team, move Ellis to the starting line up, run more offense through Sabonis, etc and I think you would see LaVine’s offensive numbers improve on this team.
How is it that everyone on this site sees the redundancy problem, but the Kings’ “brain trust” does not? Or do they just not care?
Vivek trying out the 2k model.
He should try the stay-away model instead.
He is misused and a poorly constructed roster far more than he is horrible.
My nickname for Zach is Stafilo (Stat-Filling Loser). Sorry, I know that’s harsh, but so is paying $47 million for this guy.
I’m silently hoping for the locker room to implode, Domas publicly asking a trade to whatever team that isn’t Sacramento and finally Vivek stepping down in shame, ceding place to his daughter.
In the meantime, I will use my guile, wit and natural charm to seduce Anjali so she will let me be the shadow GM and guide this team to new successes.
I talked with my wife about it and she gave me the thumb-up with a real sense of Kings-history by quoting a famous Chris Webber quote; “Good luck!” Isn’t she great?
P.S. Anjali likes cynical, overweight middle-aged men, right? Right?
Rik one part of the dream is almost reality. While not publicly I’m almost 95% sure privately Sabonis has asked already. Just waiting for his house in Napa to list and then I’m 100%
I believe in you Rik!!! Shoot for the tree tops and the ceiling is the roof!
Right?!
I thought I’d start with sending her a cryptic message, like: “Once you go Dutch, you score in the clutch!”
That will peak her interest for sure.
LOL
As much as the Kings are a mess, I love this place.
Thanks.
Please help me out.
What does: “New phone, who dis?” mean?
She will just start dating Ron Holland instead.
I think it means you’re on the right track but I’m old now so I might not understand the lingo of today’s youth.
Tell her you’re on 4 on 5 player.
For the sake of Domas’s career, I almost want him to ask out and get to a better team that will utilize him correctly. He deserves much better than what the Kings are doing this season.
Don’t worry Rik! We’ll chip in for a dating coach to help you woo Anjali.
Mr and Mrs Smits
There’s a good chance the Kings miss the play-in entirely. So that would make it 17 out of 18 years that the Kings miss the playoffs. Is that really any better than if it had been 18 straight years? Was the one year of playoffs worth it to trade away an all-star caliber PG on a rookie contract?
I guess things might have been different if this front office had gotten the players they needed around Fox and Sabonis but looking at where this franchise is now, what exactly is there to be excited about?
Sadly, there isn’t. My hope is almost solely lottery ball based at this point.
I don’t even want high level picks on this team. It would be a disservice to the game to have them stuck in basketball hell. No way the league let’s Cooper Flagg end up in Sacramento. Bad for business.
I am still convinced that this happened in the 2018 draft and his agent, the very respected Bill Duffy, told Vlade and Vivek – NFW. If you draft Luka and don’t trade him, he’ll stay in Europe.
Sounds reasonable.
So who told Vlade and Vivek NFW regarding:
SGA, Trae Young, Brunson, Bridges, JJJ, Mitchell Robinson, DiVencenzo, Robert Williams, Michael Proter Jr., Grayson Allen, Wendell Carter Jr. Huerter, Mo Wagner, Mo Bamba, Anfernee Simons, Collin Sexton and Bruce Brown so we had to take MBIII?
Or geez, just trade the pick down to 4, get something for it, and draft JJJ. It wasn’t like there was a lot of tripping over each other to draft MB. We forget that Ayton and essentially Trae Young were drafted over Luka, too. So who knows what was said by his agent or, perhaps more to the point, what was said by his family, particularly to Vlade.
With this iteration of the team, we just need to start celebrating breaking even! Win some, loss just as many!
Don’t you mean Breaking Bad?
&ct=g
Sadly, didn’t break even in Fox trade . Actually, seems Bulls made out the best . Got Huerter/Jones lost Lavine and are now much improved with a better cap hit . Oh well
Someday, I’d love to see an article about our broadcast team talking over live possessions—because last night’s third quarter was rough.
I won’t hold my breath, but man, there are some serious issues.
Sounds like you can write an article for the site! Just keep writing, and writing, and writing, and writing…
I think making a compilation video would be effective.
I’m tired of the non-stop excuses. Point out the things they are doing wrong and provide suggestions for how they can fix them.
Don’t need to hear why it’s secretly okay
You don’t want to see that article. Next game, you’d still hear the fingernails on the blackboard.
Neither does Kayte!
Hmm, looks like there are rumors about Wes Wilcox taking another job.
One less cook in the kitchen.
Jumping a sinking ship? Jordi, Loucks, and now Wilcox?
I understand Jordi leaving. Only 30 head coaching positions in the league, and one was offered to him.
The org wanted to have Brown fire either Triano or Loucks before the season. Brown was fired, and the writing was on the wall for Luke, so he chose to coach at his alma mater. Makes sense why he would leave.
I think Wes might have just gotten in the way more than anything else.
To make room for Doug Christie?
Wilcox is just taking it on the Lamb!
Hope this happens
Since the Kings are so close to falling out of the play-in, I think it’s worth while to discuss just how valuable this year’s lottery pick may be for the team.
Assuming the Kings retain Keon and Isaac Jones, the Kings will be at 9 rostered players next season, but already $10M over he salary cap at around $165M. As Greg pointed out yesterday, it may behoove the Kings to turn down the team option of Keon and let him RFA in order to match him on any other offer, instead of letting him UFA in 2027. That means they may be paying Keon more this summer which puts the team even more over the cap. For reference, the tax line is scheduled to be around $188M and the first apron around $195M. This means should Keon get a well deserved pay raise, the Kings will be approaching the tax threshold.
Since they will already be over the cap, they tools are their disposal to spend will be the Bi-annual and mid-level exceptions and/or any vet minimum deals. They cannot sign players into trade exceptions. They will need to have 14 rostered players by the start of the season. That’s 5 more players needed with, at most, $23M below the tax line.
I think we all can agree that with the current shit show state of affairs, no quality free agents are signing up to come to Sac. The team may have to overpay, using the MLE, to get some semi-quality role players, but more likely it’s going to be a handful of vet minimum deals. In other words, more guys like Crowder, McDermott, Len, etc. to round out the roster
Now to this year’s pick, should the Kings keep it. As it stands today, a player selected around #11 or #12 will make around a guaranteed $4.7M and will be a controlled asset for years to come. That’s cheap bi-annual level of pay, folks. I’d also wager, with the belief that his draft is very deep, that whoever the Kings might select would be a better contributor than anyone they may get in free agency.
Basically, excluding any massive trades, this year’s draft is there best option to add cheap talent this summer. Small markets build through the draft, not free agency, and not trades. The path to relevancy for the Kings is through the draft.
I’ve heard this year’s draft is supposed to be good as well. Whether we draft a good player…I guess we shall see (and if Monte is still the GM that will be making that pick).
100% agreed
A few weeks ago I was thinking I want them to either keep winning and make a push to end up with a playoff series or bomb out and keep their pick.
My worst case scenario was they would end up 9 or 10, lose the play-in and lose their pick.
It’s looking like bomb out and keep the pick and maybe get lucky.
There are seriously just 2 slots out of 30 (#13 and #14) they could fall in that would hurt them while also not making the playoffs, and it looks like they are destined for them.
So very Kangz.
The DeRozan signing was a mistake, total fail for me. Vivek and Monte loved the sexiness of a big name coming to Sac but the fit has been horrible. DDR just doesn’t fit in the modern NBA for me, unless you get him to be a guy who can score here and there as a sparkplug type guy, but only 20-25 min per game. Just one thought I’ve had recently, this team has way more problems than just DeRozan but sometimes a big name free agent just isn’t worth it. I honestly think the Kings would’ve been better off if they never signed him.
I think the reported (?) John Collins trade that didn’t happen in the offseason would have made the team much better because of fit.
It was so clear from the start. And then the national press was criticizing it and many here went apeshit angry at the national press for their lazy LOL Kangz takes.
If I just would have been there to whisper in Anjali’s ear when they considered that deal…
… she’d have kneed you in the tulips.
My wilting flowers?
Leave my bulbs alone!
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