Following another dramatic win over the Utah Jazz, and my subsequent request for prescription refills on all available blood pressure and heart medications, the Cardiac Kings returned to Sacramento for a nice five-game home stay. First up tonight was the Atlanta Hawks, who got the best of them back in November. The Kings have been flirting with being five games above .500 for what feels like an eternity, and tonight was another chance for them to finally seal the deal. Let’s see how they did:
Quick Stats
Outcome: Kings lose, 117-120
Sacramento Kings: 117 pts, 46.6% fg, 40.0% 3 pt, 92.6% ft, 26 ast, 42 reb, 11 to
Atlanta Hawks: 120 pts, 53.6% fg, 33.3% 3 pt, 90.0% ft, 21 ast, 44 reb, 16 to
I’m going to start a petition to cancel back to backs – who’s with me? The Kings had every chance to win this game, but overall had a disjointed night through all four quarters and ultimately ran out of steam in final possessions. Whether that was simply due to tired legs from grinding out a tough win in Utah last night, or for other reasons, a loss is a loss and the Kings go back to the drawing board on figuring out how to crack that five over .500 ceiling.
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
The Good
- Starter Production: The Kings had four starters finish with 20+ points. De’Aaron Fox led with 25 points (more on that later) and Kevin Huerter closely followed with 24 of his own with four made 3-pointers in what was supposed to be his revenge game against his former club. Harrison Barnes logged 22 points, going a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line. Last but not least, Domantas Sabonis notched 20 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists and tied DeMarcus Cousins for most consecutive double doubles in Kings’ history (15). The total combined 99 points from the Kings’ starting five carried the load for their offense tonight and kept them in a game that often felt devoid of any major offensive runs by the Kings.
- Free Throws: Up until two heartbreaking misses late in the 4th quarter from Domantas Sabonis, the Kings were shooting a perfect clip from the line. They ultimately finished 25-27, led by a perfect 7-7 performance by De’Aaron Fox. Although the two missed at the end really stung, the silver lining to be found is that the Kings were in a position to win because they had consistently taken care of business at the free throw line earlier on in the game.
The Bad
- Quiet Bench: The Kings got another quiet night offensively from their bench. Aside from Malik Monk, who contributed nine points, five assists, and a lot of contagious energy, the rest of the Kings’ bench only combined for nine extra points. While Davion Mitchell provides invaluable defense for this team night after night, and Trey Lyles always brings his hard hat to do the dirty work, the Kings needed just a bit more offensively from these two, who combined for 38 minutes, but just seven points.
- Fourth Quarter Fumble: Like so many recent Kings games, this one came down to the wire. After some entertaining heroics, the Kings found themselves with a 1-point lead with less than a minute remaining. Domantas Sabonis made it to the free throw line, and after a perfect night from the stripe, it felt like he was going to give the Kings a bigger lead to try to close out the game. Well, nothing really went right from there. Sabonis missed both free throws, leaving the Kings’ lead at just one point. Mike Brown then won a challenge on the other end after Trae Young went foul hunting and the refs once again fell for it. Dejounte Murray inbounded the ball for the Hawks from the sideline with eight seconds on the shot clock, and within three seconds made an immediate cut past Kevin Huerter to the basket to get fouled at the rim by Sabonis. Murray made both, giving the Hawks a 1-point lead with 16.1 seconds remaining. The Kings still had plenty of time to win this, but unfortunately, the next play out of the timeout resulted in a Dejounte Murray steal and layup, giving the Hawks a 3-point lead. De’Aaron Fox missed the floater, Sabonis missed the put back, and that was game.
The Ugly
- Tired Defense: Atlanta’s offense is incredibly boring to watch. In fact, it gives me haunting flashbacks to what we had to watch with this Kings team in the past 10 years or so. But even uglier than the Hawks’ offense was the Kings’ defense. While the Hawks relied mainly on transition scoring and isolation ball in the half court, the Kings failed to consistently stop them in either setting. Led by John Collins and De’Andre Hunter, each logging 22 points, the Hawks also had four starters finish with 20+ points. Trae Young and Dejaunte Murray followed them up with 21 points a piece. Off the bench, Bogdan Bogdanovic contributed 17 points, which was just one point less than the Kings’ entire bench combined.
The King of Kings
I cannot stress enough how fun it has been to watch De’Aaron Fox go to work in 4th quarters. Although he didn’t get the final possessions to go his way tonight, he had an amazing sequence to get his team to a winning point late in the 4th. Started by an absolutely disgusting poster that I will be thinking about for the next couple of days, Fox then followed this amazing offensive display with just as much effort on the defensive end when he poked the ball out of Trae Young’s hands to cause a turnover and foul on Young. This play then converted into a 3-pointer from Kevin Huerter that gave the Kings the lead. Fox finished this incredible sequence off by drilling a 14-foot fadeaway for an and one to nearly blow the roof off of Golden 1 Center.
DE'AARON FOX. pic.twitter.com/J6UPMLdUG2
— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) January 5, 2023
Operation: MCNAIR – Season 2 Watch
Tonight’s chosen charity is the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation. Donate if you can and be sure to notify Will via Twitter (@WillofThaPeople) or e-mail ([email protected]) so he can continue to track donation totals.
Up Next
Saturday, January 7th vs. Los Angeles Lakers – 7:00 P.M. (PT)
Coach Brown has shortened his rotations and relies heavily on Fox and the injured Sabonis.
No wonder that we can’t keep up in a Segababa.
And Bogi almost outperformed our whole bench by himself.
We only have short flurries of stout defense (usually when Davion is on the court), but our defense is mostly nonexistent. Perhaps not as bad as last year, but such awfulness was always going to be difficult to replicate.
But it’s more gratifying to focus on the refs who whistled 2 more fouls against the Hawks and gave us 5 more free throws, than dwell on our own issues, I guess.
No no no, Rik you know this….
The NBA is blatantly biased against Sacramento
lol
Here is my take on 5 reasons the Kings need to improve if they want to get the playoffs. 1 Can’t put teams away when leading. 2 They almost always play down to the competition. 3 Non scoring from the bench most of the time.4 Not enough touches for Murray. 5 And the most important of the 5 except for Mitchell and KZ don’t play defense. If they improve on all these which they should be able to do then I can see them in the playoffs. If not then bye bye.
To be fair, prior to this year there were no teams that they could have played down to.
4 games over .500 curse lives on
You had to use the word curse didn’t you
Haha, I was just about to say this as well.
I’ve been thinking it’s a curse* for weeks.
*I think the Kings break it over the next 4 games.
The Orlando game. That’s my bet.
I hope so.
Amongst all the fanfare. The Kings are 7-8 in their last 15 games.
3 home losses to sub .500 teams in that span too.
That is what stings.
were not even a top tier team though, lots of teams go through stretches of .500 basketball. At some point I’d like to be 5-10 games over .500 though, especially late in the season
The only disappointing losses in my mind are still the Charlotte and Washington games. You beat Atlanta last night, that erases one of those losses. SEGABABA’s even at home are never a guarantee of anything. Especialy if it’s a coin flip game.
Here’s the upcoming schedule for the Kings:
1/7 LA Lakers
1/9 Orlando
1/11 & 1/13 Houston
1/15 @San Antonio
1/18 @LA Lakers
1/20 Oklahoma City
1/21 Philadelphia (Home SEGABABA)
1/23 Memphis
1/26 Toronto
You need to go 8-2 in this stretch. Since the start of the previous homestand (12/19), the Kings are 4-5. That puts them at 12-7, or 28-21 on the season. That’s a 47 win pace. That’s not an improvement? Or is just not improvement enough?
Doom and gloom all you want, but if this team doesn’t make hay in this part of the schedule, there’s no point in dooming and glooming the future of this team. At that point, what you’re looking at is rebuilding through the draft again. In which case it’s fair to wonder whether or not this team has a future in Sacramento and can survive this much poor performance by an organization whose main feature is being incompetent.
Forgive me for being tired of caring about the draft being the hope of this team. Forgive me for not caring whether or not the grass is greener on the other side. (Hint: It’s not.) This group plays entertaining, fun basketball. They had the lead with a minute left and couldn’t hold on. Other teams do this, too. It’s not unique to the Kings.
That isn’t fanfare. It’s just this team plays a fun, entertaining brand of basketball most of the time. They are even winning more than they are losing atm. God forbid fans enjoy that.
Agree 100%. This team is much improved and fun to watch with the exception of Broadcast talkfest . This team was predicted to be a 32-35 win team and seems on right track . I will fan and enjoy .
Totally winnable game. Couldn’t get stops when we needed them or make shots. As far as I can determine this was another low effort game by the Kings who didn’t take the win Atlanta was offering them. Coach Brown needs to get on them on D because they are lagging. Where was Ozapala when we needed him? Domas and Davion can’t do it by themselves.
It was great to see Fox come alive in the 4th quarter. I was entertained but it’s not enough. I knew we were screwed when Domas missed his last two free throws but as a fan there is not really anything more I can ask of him.
If this team wants to make the playoffs they are going to have to take their defense seriously or we won’t make it to the playoffs. They have never played great defense so far this season but they have improved a lot since last season. Defense needs to be played at the highest level they are capable of every night, consistently or the whole season really won’t matter, it will be on to 17 seasons without making the playoffs.
Love Domas and think he’s an All Star. But, let’s be real. He’s never been much of a defender. He’s average, of that . If you ask him to step out of the post, he’s pretty bad laterally and on switches.
Defense is not using our hands but your feet. Most of his fouls are reaching in fouls or not keeping his hands vertical. He needs to stay in the game.
Domas needs guards that will play defense at the perimeter to help him out.
Yeah where was KZ? He just got DPOG last night!
Weird choice to give him the award imo. He had 4 fouls in 7 minutes. TD is a better player imo
I can of like seeing TD losing is mojo. True he isn’t playing enough to make an impact on the game but unless he is great down the stretch he fouls to much to be there. And some of his decisions aren’t the right ones. Needs to work on this.
Keegan was called for a questionable blocking foul when he set up outside the restricted area just a microsecond late (said the refs). With time, he and others will better recognize the need to rotate and pick up those charges.
For the refs that’s a poor excuse. To me it was because he would never get the call because he isn’t Labron James.
He’s got right idea. Just improve the technique a little bit (see Davion Mitchell) and the refs will call a charge.
He got to the right spot and I think it’s objective if he was set or not. It was incredibly close and he got the rookie call.
FWIW, I think smaller players get the benefit of the doubt on charges. They also tend to move their feet faster.
Every time I convince myself this team has turned the corner and will consistently win these games at home against “bad” teams they turn around and kick me swiftly in the nuts
Disappointing and surprising loss. Not surprising because I think the Hawks are bad, but I felt like all the momentum went to the Kings during that 13-2 run. That should’ve sealed the game in my opinion. Just some terrible defensive mistakes in the last couple of minutes, things that simply can’t happen if you want to win games consistently.
Rec. I really thought they had them on Fox’s and 1.
I thought forsure that was game. But then out of the timeout Keegan gives up the and 1 to trae.
This is a slightly better than .500 team with a great (and new) system. They’ll need another star to make that leap, and I plan on having fun in the meantime. Last night doesn’t change any of that.
I don’t get all the gloom and doom. This team has their shit together and I’m here for it. There are no guarantees they find the final 1-3 pieces so enjoy it while you can.
Jees, the Sixers are PAINFUL to watch, so I’m down for these disappointing losses while being highly entertained.
I do think this is a 45 win team at least. If they can find a bench Mike Brown believes in, 50 wins.
That said, it is what it is. They are entertaining. And this is the best team since Kevin Martin and Ron Artest were teammates playing for Rick Adelman as head coach.
yep. And you know I never feel that they’re out of it, and they don’t do knucklehead stuff as a unit.
A game we (The Kings) should have won. If they want the playoffs they need this type of game. Still plenty of time to get over the hump, though. This game wasn’t on the refs, at least. But it still bugs me to see players try to get fouled instead of try to score during play. Trae did that a couple times, and someone else on the Hawks as well. I understand it, but I just don’t like it and I am so happy that no Kings player that I have seen try’s to draw the foul.
Anyway, we need to start winning these games.
The team have to win this game, especially when Young played average………
The team just fouled way too much……….especially for Keegan Murray….last game he fouled Lauri…this game he fouled D. Murray for that and-1…………
p.s. Just lucky that other Western conference teams lost……….like the Warriors and Suns..
I personally would not single out one player who I believe is improving on defense as much as any King. My problem is we don’t include him more in our offense. During last nght’s game went we were up by 4 Fox had an opportunity to hit him twice in the corner but referred to another player. Let’s say he hit a three we are now up by 7 win the game but more importantly gives Murray a lot of confidence knowing now he is part of the team and can contribute when called upon. I remember Metu’s shot last year when Fox got the asset.
Sorry about spelling.
I do love how much Fox has improved but felt like he was forcing it too much last game. He was a bit tired and off. in the 4th I thought could have dished it more, rather than just looking for his.
But I kinda thought there was a bit less ball movement overall with the team.
So, yes, I’d like Fox to kick to Murray more and run the O until/unless he needs to take over, which he can do.
The potency of the kings offenses is born out of ball movement and so many shooters. People need to touch the ball.
Keegan did not foul Lauri on that three-pointer. watch the replay. the only contact was when Lauri kicking his leg out to the side.
How the Kings respond to this adversity will be a real test. Sabonis got kneed in the nuts by Onyeka Okongwu, then got popped in the mouth, and then he missed two free throws that would have extended the lead. Huerter got burned off the inbounds by his replacement in Atlanta for the go ahead bucket. Then Fox got picked clean by Dejounte Murray who elbowed him in the gut before hitting his layup to go up by three. Kings lose at home. No beam. that’s brutal.
The Kings were up by 4 points with a little over a minute to go in the game. I thought for sure that Coach Brown would sub in KZ (maybe for Huerter or Keegan) at that point to join Davion so that we’d have our best defensive team out there. As others have noted, this team is painfully soft defensively…and with Murray and Huerter out there instead of, say, KZ and Lyles, it was just too easy for the Hawks to make up those 4 points and grab the win.
I’m not sure why you are blaming Murray and Huerter for blowing the lead when it was Sabonis who made the last shooting foul and gave up two points, he himself missed 2 free throws, and Fox who turned the ball over that gave the Hawks their final 4 points.
That’s a 6 point swing on Fox and Sabonis alone in the last minute of the game.
Your stars giveth and your stars taketh away.
In short, the Kings got punked. The Lakers will attempt to do the same on Saturday night. (see Weynan Gabriel’s flagrant foul on Sabonis)
You are right on. Huerter plays good defense and Murray is improving as much as anyone else. Also go back and look at how many layups Sabonis missed during the game. I can think of 2 or 3 reasons they lost the game instead of Huerter or Murray.
I definitely didn’t write anything about “Murray and Huerter blowing the lead.” They are both wonderful offensive players, and I agree that Huerter does his best on defense, too. All I commented on was how I feel like Okpala is our most effective defender “with size,” and, in that situation–up by 4 with just a minute + remaining–we just needed a stop. We never did get a stop from that point onward.
True, you didn’t say that. I guess I just interpreted as such. I do agree that KZ could have been utilized down the stretch, especially on the likes of Hunter and Collins who were going off.
Sabonis hit 40 minutes again last night. That is the 4th time in the last 10 games. He had not hit 40 minutes once in the first 27 games. He is now playing hurt and getting mauled in the post nightly. This is not sustainable. Monte needs to make a move before the Kings ride Sabonis into the gutter.
yeah, opponent’s trying to take Sabonis out of the game by either (1) drawing fouls, or (2) sending rotational bigs out there like hit men. Backup center is extremely important. I’m not saying the Kings should stoop to their level with cheap shots. But that guy must do things that are expected from centers and have an impact on the game.
My updated idea:
Hornets are cooked with Oubre out long term. They now have the worst record in the league. They are not going to want to take on salary (sorry, they aren’t going to want Holmes) so offer them expiring deals, a little cash savings, and draft compensation.
Terrance Davis, Alex Len, and Indy’s 2023 2nd round pick for Mason Plumlee.
The Kings have six 2nd round picks over the next 3 years. This is a good use of one of them. If The Hornets want more, call up good old Cash Considerations from Stockton and send him as well.
not bad
Love it just hope Kings and Hornets do !
I don’t think McNair does that Adam. He has a history of buying low. That doesn’t fit the bill.
John Collins for Richaun Holmes, Terence Davis and Alex Len with an unprotected 1st in 2023 (moving up the 2024 pick to 2023 basically). Before you say ATL doesn’t do that, remember they owe him 78.5M over the next 3 years. (Collins does have a Player Option for 25-26.)
I could understand Holmes for Plumlee. That gives a potential PnR partner for LaMelo Ball that they don’t have. And a potential interim solution at the 5 spot next year. Without a real long commitment. If you get a 2nd rd pick or two, that makes it almost the best trade on the table for Charlotte. Mason Plumlee isn’t worth much more than that.
I’m not saying what will happen, or that scenario will happen. I just don’t see why the Kings have to meet the Hornets demands for a 32YO role playing big who is on an expiring deal. That seems like a panic overpayment for a player who isn’t a guarantee of anything for you. Like Dante DiVicenzo IMO. And, whom the Kings moved on from four understandable reason. Don’t tell me the Kings let DDV walk for nothing. What you have is likely a repeat of a Holmes situation only DDV wasn’t even a starter and wasn’t all that great for you either. Unlike Holmes who was both when he resigned.
That said, we shall see. But I maintain what I’ve said for awhile now: There is no such thing as an untradeable contract. And depending on the circumstances, that’s certainly true of Richaun Holmes.
I’d do that Collins trade in a nano-second, but like you said I’d say, ATL says no.
That basically boils down to the 2023 pick (likely non-lottery after the trade), Holmes, and filler for Huerter and Collins. The pitchforks would be out in ATL for that one. Too boot, I just don’t see why ATL would want Holmes when they have Capela and Okongwu there.
You may have something in the Hornets, but I’m thinking they are looking to clear the books and not add long term salary. I also think they are content to roll with Mark Williams going forward as Ball’s future center. He’s now getting minutes with the parent club.
As you said, we shall see.
Here’s the thing. Collins makes nearly 80M over the next 3 years his PO included. DeAndre Hunter signed an extension at 4/90. Bogdan Bogsanovich is on the books at 18M, but I feel like he’s easy enough to move if they want with only a year left on that deal.
I’ve seen discussion of a Duncan Robinson for Collins swap. That’s…… not something I’d do were I Atlanta. Although the logic that Robinson could be unlocked playing with Trae Young is a fair point.
The Hawks have 160.626M in committed salary next season and the projected tax line is 162M. Okowongu is potentially due up for an extension. This type of frees up money for that if the Hawks FO chooses.
I can see why teams are looking at Collins. There’s alot to like. But there’s also risk for a guy who is shooting sub 25% from 3 where that’s one of the main features that JC brings on offense. He doesn’t fit in every system, but I feel his best years were under Lloyd Pierce in a faster up tempo system. That’s why teams might balk at JC. Not everyone wants to play at the tempo the Kings do.
John Collins is an interesting player and he’s only 25. But…. to what end is he worth staking your job on? I don’t think the risk is that steep for McNair relative to other GMs. But…. that’s just how I see it. And I know plenty of teams probably aren’t willing to give up as much as ATL fans expect. Those pitchforks are probably coming out regardless, and whoever is running the Hawks, be it Travis Schlenk or Landry Fields or whomever, doesn’t work for ATL fans. He works for Tony Ressler and part of the job is dealing with the PR hit of moving a guy like Collins. Fans understandably don’t care about luxury tax implications. But it’s a problem regardless.
Nobody here thought the Kings could trade a protected 1st, Mo Harkless and Justin Holiday for Kevin Huerter. The reality is Adam, IMO, the Hawks are looking at a 30 cents on the dollar trade for a guy like Collins. It’s just a matter of which 30 cents deal on the table they like best. Maybe it’s the Kings, maybe it’s someone else. They might not deal with the Kings just on the basis of how the Huerter deal looks for them. The reality is that they weren’t getting deals for Collins they liked last summer, and they are certainly getting offered less now. At some point you just have to accept reality and move on. The Hawks are going to have to move on from JC IMO. He’s not what they were ultimately hoping for.
I can see a 3 way deal where Miami could get involved here and takes on Holmes. Atl gets Duncan Robinson, Miami gets Holmes and Davis/Len and the Kings get Collins.
My point here is that I think McNair isn’t going to move expiring for expiring to fill a hole unless he has no choice. IMO, he’ll shake the money tree before he resorts to that.
We’ll see. We always do.
Depends on what Atlanta wants to do. If they plan to move Tray, as well.
if they are planning to run with this lineup, Brooklyn makes a ton of sense. Hawks need spacing and shooting. Joe Harris to Atlanta. Collins makes the Nets a contender.
Utah also makes sense. Tons of first rounders and a lot of young players and expiring contracts on the roster.
Either way, I don’t think the Kings have the assets to get a player like Collins.
if Atlanta was to rebuild. They would be looking for picks and assets
if Atlanta were looking to add. It would be for wings(Kings don’t have) and another big. Doubtful Kings would be interested in the rest of Holmes Albatross.
And Really, I don’t think any team is going to be interested in Holmes at all. You can get bigs off the waiver wire at half the cost.
Since Holmes has been glued to the bench almost half the season. His value is extremely low.
I’m curious, but why exactly would Utah want Collins when they have Markannen?
Of course Atlanta wants younger players and picks for Collins. There’s just one problem: John Collins ain’t Giannis Antetokounmpo. John Collins isn’t worth that type of return. The return he’ll get is much closer to Kevin Huerter than what I think a lot of fans are expecting.
Plumlee is a perfect fit, even though he might be a jerk
100%. A backup big is sooooo needed.
Love this Kings team this year but the depth is pretty thin, any injuries (which are bound to be coming) could really expose the lack of depth and talent. I don’t think the defense is fixable and the offense is going to have ups and downs even though it’s good. This team should still be around .500 though, hopefully 5 or 10 games over rather than under or no playoffs.
Def not thinking much about the refereeing, these games could easily be fixed but I’m not going to let it stop me from enjoying the game. The better team usually wins an bad calls are pretty common both ways.
OT: WTF is the purpose of this?
https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1611076180878188545
Take on extra money for the Spurs to get them closer to the 90% minimum salary threshold. Maybe the cash is to help basketball operations as well.
Just seems like standard bookkeeping to me.
I just read that Vonleh’s deal became fully guaranteed tomorrow, so it saves Boston some tax dollars and it opens up a roster spot. They are probably getting some kind of super minor asset from the Spurs, like a heavily protected 2nd or old Euro stash, in return.
Yup, just bookkeeping.
Dieng and Vonleh are gonna be available soon. Don’t watch enough of them to offer any insight but those are two available bigs that won’t cost much and could provide some depth.
What about the Raptors Christian Koloko?
I’d imagine the Raps are likely to just sit on Koloko and hope for slow big man development, much like the Kings are with Queta. If anything, they may prefer to move those ahead of Koloko in the rotation.
Meh, they offer nothing that the current backup bigs on the Kings don’t already bring to the table.
I don’t see them going after those guys either.
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