The Kings continued their long road trip with a stop in Memphis tonight to face the heavily injured Grizzlies. Although they entered with the momentum of a three-game winning streak, the Kings have still been carrying the stained reputation of losing to shorthanded teams. And the Grizzlies are the shortest of hands, missing 11 players to various injuries. The trend has been that if a team is missing any number of key players, the Kings have a good chance of flopping, leaving fans and media confused about their identity. Tonight was an opportunity to prove that they can indeed be serious and beat a team that should have no business competing with them. Let’s see how they did:
Quick Stats
Outcome: Kings win, 103-94
Sacramento Kings: 103 pts, 51.2% fg, 28.9% 3 pt, 60.0% ft, 24 ast, 51 reb, 19 to
Memphis Grizzlies: 94 pts, 37.5% fg, 36.1% 3 pt, 75.0% ft, 22 ast, 37 reb, 14 to
Well, they beat tonight’s G-League Grizzlies squad, but I don’t think the Kings moved the needle at all in convincing anyone that they are indeed serious. It pains me to feel so sour after a win, and makes me feel self conscious about my fandom, as if I am taking success for granted and have already forgotten the dark trenches of the prior 16 years. But I reason that those dark, vivid memories that still haunt me are what make a performance like this so upsetting. Even in a win, the Sacramento Kings can still induce PTSD among this fanbase, and tonight was a perfect example.
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
The Good:
- More Huerter: Kevin Huerter had another productive night, finishing with 17 points on 3-8 from the 3-point line. He was solid on the defensive end, utilizing his length on the smaller Grizzlies’ guards, and grabbed four rebounds.
- Clutch Fox: De’Aaron Fox did what he does best by coming in clutch in final possessions to ice this game. When down by four points with 4:30 minutes left, Fox hit a classic midrange jumper. A minute later, he pulled up from 22 feet and drained a long 2-pointer to give the Kings a 3-point lead. His final nail in the coffin was a pretty spin move and full court finish:
It's Fox o'clock! 🦊⌚️ pic.twitter.com/4l60WS9SEz
— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) January 30, 2024
The Bad:
- Low IQ: The Grizzlies were playing from a position of desperation. With 11 players injured, the Grizzlies had just eight available players, two of which have played a majority of their professional careers in the G League so far. It was to be expected that Memphis would be playing purely on effort and grit. And it was almost enough to beat the Sacramento Kings. While Memphis played the whole game at one speed – as fast as they possibly could with their limited roster and familiarity with one another – they showed an expected level of recklessness with the ball, committing 14 turnovers and giving up 11 offensive boards to the Kings. A good team would take advantage of the Grizzlies’ lack of experience with one another. But, instead, the Kings decided to double down on the recklessness. The Kings matched their chaotic energy and bested Memphis by committing 19 turnovers of their own, most of which were errant passes to no one. The Kings showed a lack of recognition on how to beat a team who only had their hard work to rely on.
- Fouls: While Memphis just worked their butts off for every scrap they could get, the Kings failed to meet their level of effort and paid for it with the number of times they sent the Grizzlies to the line. In total, the Grizzlies shot 21-28 from the line. Jaren Jackson Jr. (22 points) shot 10-12 from the free throw line, while Scottie Pippen Jr. (12 points) shot 4-7.
The Ugly:
- The Challenge: Setting the tone early of not being serious, Coach Mike Brown used his coach’s challenge just 50 seconds into play on an out of bounds call where Kevin Huerter passed the ball out of the reach of De’Aaron Fox’s hands. Not only was it a confusing and arguably awful time to use a challenge, but it was also unsuccessful, leaving the Kings without a challenge for the remainder of the game.
The King of Kings
In a game like tonight, I thank the basketball gods twice that we have Domantas Sabonis on this team. Sabonis reached a new career-high of 26 rebounds paired with 20 points to log his 28th consecutive double-double. That sentence is insane. The 26 rebounds also ties the Sacramento-era record for rebounds by a Kings player. Chris Webber logged 26 rebounds in a game in 2001, but was a game that went to overtime
Up Next
Wednesday, January 31st @ Miami Heat – 4:30 P.M. (PT)
Is this most unsatisfying 4 game winning streak in the history of the team, because I think it might be.
I think in part because more questions keep cropping up.
Like- what’s up w Fox? He’s beat up and looks exhausted and made remarks about needing time off maybe….. Hopefully this is all just injury related and he can heal up.
And Brown doesn’t run sets-rather free flow figure it out O. I think that might work when Fox is 100% but I don’t love The way it looks moving towards playoffs. It’s part of the problem for Keegan. Run a few sets for him. Maybe every coach does this but I find this to be a flaw in what Brown does.
I think the free flow O has been a big contributor to the chaos, especially with Brown’s “shoot the three whenever you feel like it” directive.
I do wonder.
Free flow O is great for before end of games and in the regular season otherwise.
But I’d imagine having sets/running an O in 1/2 court is paramount to success in the playoffs/end of games.
I think Jerry said something similar on a recent TKH podcast.
Sweet. I love being in agreement with Jerry.
I hope Brown adjusts.
He did, and it was spot on, per usual. Brown seems slow to adjust, which is concerning. The game thread comments notice the issues and its not for many possessions later that changes are made, if they even happen at all.
Yeah the ratio of free-flow to set plays just seems off.
And I am happy/good that they did win. But this is all about the future and seeing what flaws are holding this team back.
And Sabonis has really made strides …if that’s even possible for all stars.
Sure doesn’t feel like a win streak. Feels more like a string of barely-wins.
4 Bins in a row
I almost forgot they won after that write up…lol
I don’t take the individual mistakes overly serious; it’s basketball and they happen. I do take trends seriously, tho, and this team definitely has a trend of playing to the level of their competition. It can be just as positive as it can be negative. And on those nights where its more a negative, you get this. At least they got the win.
Everybody dance, right?
The Memphis Grizzlies starting five tonight:
Scotty Pippen Jr.
David Roddy
Santi Aldama
Jaren Jackson Jr.
Xavier Tillman
aka:
His kid?
huh?
who?
I heard of him
uh, ok
After a joyful last season, who knew that being a fan of a winning team would be so hard?
13-10 on the road
(14-8 at home)
on pace for 49 wins at an even .600
and a /hat tip to Taylor Jenkins for having his Pros make it a hard fought game
It was a gritty road win against an undermanned team that had been playing competitive in previous games. The kings won, beat the spread, and Domas went 20-25-5. The Grizz seek to make games ugly and the Kings were able to win an ugly one on the road, beat the spread, and move on to more challenging opponents. They’ve won 4 straight, with three of those on the road against playoff contending teams. I’m stoked on the “W”. I’ll take this over the moral victories against the Suns and Bucks any day.
They definitely didn’t beat the spread. They were 11.5 point favorites.
My bad. I thought it was 7.5
Still 3-0 on a seven game road trip. If they win just one more they’ve secured a winning record on a tough road trip. If they split, they will have completed a 5-2 road trip. That’s impressive, regardless of the competition.
Question:
Is there any coach in the league worse than Mike Brown at managing Coaches Challenges?
Pretty sure he leads the league in that category.
Thankfully, we hitched our cart to Ox tonight!
The Griz team had hardly ever played together. They junked up the game and the Kings fell into it. The foul shot discrepancy was terrible – with a disorganized team playing frenetic you ought to be able to collect fouls but no.
Keegan and Monk might as well have been on the injured list.
Was there something up with Keegan? He only played 25 min and was barely on the court in the 4th.
who knows? I love the guy but sometimes he frustrates me. Had an over match post up that he blew and just looked lost in the frenzy out there.
Rough win but glad to get another one on the road.
Domas is so dope. LTB!
Spot on about Brown and that ridiculous challenge. It makes it hard for me to shake the feeling that he is in large part responsible for the team not taking opponents serious.
In general, I have seen little to be impressed with Brown, this season. I’ll credit him for part of the development of Keegan, but not much beyond that.
Somewhat related, I wonder how Sasha is feeling. Leaving a starring role on a Euro contender to ride the pine and string together DNP-CD’s in the NBA must hurt. It feels like he never got a real chance to get in his flow and show his stuff.
Finally, sorry for the All-Caps: DOMAS IS AWESOME!
First ever comment here to say…..Sasha is hurt. Bad ankle. Probably out until the week-end.
Oh really? Thanks.
Doesn’t change my point much, though.
Is odd how Vez has been handled. A number of odd/off things with the Kings right now.
A weird undercurrent. Not great vibes.
I haven’t liked Brown’s rotations and sporadic use of the bench guys all season. Just nothing consistent.
Love Domas and don’t like it, but I wonder about Brown.
Saha hurt left ankle then right ankle next game. Bad wheels right now
Here’s one thing as a fan and not a basketball mind that I may never get.
I assume Coach Brown (smart man, been around a bit, seen some success) comes into games with a game plan. I also think he sometimes experiments more in games that may ultimately be easier to win. We ramp up the defensive effort that goes poorly in the beginning but in the end we hold (even a depleted team) under 95 points. And we’re unhappy about this?
You saw OKC lost by double digits to the pistons this week and Minny had a bad loss recently as well, right? We’re riding a 4 game win streak and while I would love more closing out, late game execution, romantic wire to wire, I’ll take a W. After our four game losing streak, show me the bets placed on this team winning the first three of the road trip. Anyone?
Going 5-2 on this trip would be fantastic and we’re most of the way there, get into the all star break and see what happens after. Dings get mended, yips get settled and you gear up to go. We keep acting like being less than the #1 seed thing into the playoffs is doom and failure. Let the season play out and maybe enjoy a few ugly beams along the way?
Clink clink.
This is simply not true. The majority of commenters acknowledge the win percentage while also pointing out specific matters, such as the bad point differential and the bad defense etc.
It’s not the amount of winning, it’s how we’re winning and losing and what it pertains cone play-off time.
* “portends come play-off time”?
I wanted to write “what it pertains to come play-off time” but your version is even better.
I must have written ‘cone’ while thinking about the Kings D.
good news— the League team that we played in Memphis got less than 100.
Agree with most of what you said, but if the team is clearly underperforming I think we as fans have the right to gripe.
I’m interested in hearing how being the 5th seed in the West is “clearly underperforming.”
I’ll sit with Scotty taking the “forest” view for now, no point in barking at the trees while there’s so much season left. Not to say your argument doesn’t have merit, Rik and RPO, just that nit picking everything they do wrong each and every game and bemoaning their shortcomings ad nauseum has far outweighed the feel good vibe of last year and I frankly don’t get it. They had flaws last year much the same and didn’t make any major moves over the off season. This is about what should’ve been expected; a mid level playoff team that should be able to stay out of the play-in. I guess you don’t have to accept it, but it makes it much easier to enjoy the ride.
I don’t think the flaws were as apparent last year, nor were the blowout losses and ugly wins.
The biggest thing for me is Sabonis, Fox, Keegan, and even Monk are having career years, but the team is no better. There is something a bit rotten in the state of Denmark right now. There should be no way that your 4 best players are having the best year of their career, but the team as a whole just isn’t clicking like last year.
I’m in the mindset that if Monte doesn’t shuffle the deck a bit, he could be wasting the best years of Fox and Sabonis. To be clear, I don’t think a major move needs to be made necessarily, but the ancillary pieces need adjusting.
The bench has been mostly underwhelming this season. Monk was pretty good and then got in this funk that is lasting much longer that I had hoped.
Lyles and Mitchell have not been great, Sasha rarely plays, Javale and Len are just okay, Duarte is worse than TD was last season, and Ellis had his good run for a 5-8 games and is now glued to the bench.
I really thought Lyles was going to expand his game and provide that consistent production off the bench, and it just has not happened yet.
Monte has his work cut out to upgrade those players/positions above.
It’s not just the bench. The Kings hav e lost considerable production from Barnes and Huerter as well.
Basically, 4 Kings have improved, but EVERYONE else has regressed.
Less blowout losses, but this team played to the level of their opponents last year just the same, let other teams get hot from 3 just the same, struggled to stop physical bigs in the paint just the same and didn’t deal well with long, athletic wing defenders much better at all.
You can bring in players, but if that was the cure all I would expect Phoenix and the Clippers to be sitting at the 1 seed and 2 seed, respectively.
Imagine buying an all star / HOFer and not being really any better for it? This fan base would shit bricks, Monte would wake up in the middle of the season to a thousand pitchforks and torches on his lawn. His car would be turned over and burned while his wife and children cry, the whole family chased out of town on foot all the way to the airport. A mean ass bunch, we are…lol
Brown changed- tweaked offense- to get Keegan more involved. Changed the dynamic a bit. Last couple of games reverted back and Kings had success. In Memphis , went back to 2013.
B. Simmonds had good game in Brooklyn – maybe Royce O’Neil or Dorian Finney Smith are more available.
Yeah, it’s strange. It feels like we’re underperforming. But, the West is better this year and we’re on pace to finish with the same number of wins.
So it seems that we’ve improved.
Didn’t we kind of put it all together last season around this time and start cruising?
We’re 3 games in the loss column out of 2nd in the west. We go on an extended win streak we’ll be right there.
Yes, this is the time things started to gel last season Kfan, the team was supposed to be worried about the post-ASB schedule, and then went on a good run.
I hope MM can make a move to clean up the empty minutes they have received from Davion, Duarte, etc, and likewise have HB contribute more consistently. I do not think the team is far off from performing better or even quite a bit better.
I do hope MB is done experimenting, and settles into a more defined rotation. I think Sasha has to be a part of it. His size, his shooting, fair rebounder, and while not a great defender he does have great hands and good instincts to contribute on that end.
I think they were in 3rd or 4th place around Christmas last season, and they carried that to the All-Star break. No moves were made (outside of adding Kessler Edwards) and the thinking from the basketball world was that the Kings were going to tumble back to Earth and end up in the Play-In. Well, they put their foot on the gas and really took off, making more separation from the the lower seeded teams in the West.
This season is sort of similar. They are 5th and don’t seem to be playing as well as last season, so hopefully they can get to the break, get some rest, and pedal to the metal to finish in the top 4.
I’ll just keep reiterating that this team’s metrics are still that of a very mediocre team. As soon as that starts to change I’ll change my tune. I’m not very moved by the record because I don’t think this team as constructed has much chance to make it out of the first round. Would love that to change!
Miami has lost 7 straight, which makes me nervous about the next game. Our recent play doesn’t suggest we can take advantage of other teams’ struggles. We end up struggling against struggling teams. Will be satisfied, though, if we can just eke out a win.
Not as down on the Kings. A low energy off night against an opponent they should have blown off the court. OK. A win is still a win. I’ve seen this game too many times when the Kings sucked and the shoe was on the other foot. Kings hang around against a sleepy quality opponent, then the other team grabs victory late in the 4th quarter. Nice to see the Kings win this kind of game.
That’s a good perspective. We definitely saw that a lot over the years.
Agree. Recent losses are Kings beating themselves, not opponents beating them. FTs seems fixed. Huerter’s better help on defense. Careless TOs – oof this is a weird lingering issue, but fixable. Take care of the mf ball.
The Kings reminded me of my playing days, when we would play after a night out. Just a lot of inexplicable passes and drives to the basket with zero player awareness (mostly Murray).
But, Kings win. Yay?
Yeah, sounds like you’d fit right in. Are you by any chance a long, athletic wing?
Can you play SF?
I know you !!- Cash Considerations
Honestly one of the worst games I’ve ever seen. Just exceptionally poor play from all involved. My brother in law texted me he’d seen better in high school and it’s hard to disagree. The Kings shot 38 threes and I think 35 of them were wide open. Just gross. All that I’ll take the W.
Someone other than Mike Brown needs to be calling the challenges. A routine turnover before 60 seconds are played? No JV high school coach would do that. I’ll always take a shitty win over a heroic loss, but jeepers creepers on this one.
The Kings spent their challenge 49 seconds in on an out-of-bounds call. And lost. So there´s that.
Sometimes the “A” game isn’t there, or the “B” game. The “C-” game shows up and you gotta compete. They had to grind this one out, and luckily they found a way to win.
Hopefully there is a lesson to be learned and the team will remember the crappy performance.
Monk needs to take a chill pill. He makes some of the wildest, most unnecessary passes. He hasn’t helped the team win on this streak, only inhibited them. Hope he figures it out soon.
Here’s my old man “get off my grass” opinion: there doesn’t seem to be one player who has that fire in the belly to ignite some toughness during certain situations in the game. coach brown doesn’t seem to have it either. But there typically is somebody who can get some high energy going when needed. Better when cooler heads prevail obviously, but they need some grit/ruggedness, some dog in him. Outspoken loud leadership also.
I doubt I’m the first to say something about this?
Have you not noticed the 6’11” walking triple-double that never takes a play off?
Totally agree, but the point is that we also want Domas at one point during a time-out or in the locker room ask/yell:
“Why the hell am I busting my ass every damn play, taking and dissing more physical punishment then everyone else, while many others here are just f-ing around and give half-assed effort?! Get with the program or get out!” (or something of the kind)
Maybe he did, but in that case, he’s being ignored, which would be even more concerning.
But just leading by example doesn’t seem enough, sadly.
He might be doing that in the locker room, we don’t know. But either way, the team does need some more fire when players are being lazy like last night.
The amount of bad and careless passes was abundant all night. One handed passes, cross court, where the player was not expecting the ball that went out of bounds…just terrible fundamentals.
He speaks multiple languages, maybe his yelling has been in Lithuanian and the team thinks he’s just reciting a halftime mantra?..
yes he’s awesome, I agree, offensively. Need that toughness defensively specifically, I know he can’t do everything. He leads by example with his offense for sure. I just don’t see him or Fox as that loud in your face leader. I get it, there are different ways to lead. But sometimes somebody needs to get in some “you know what”.
DS is always into it.
Kudos to anyone who had Matt Hurt scoring in double digits in his first NBA game.
Actually, kudos to anyone who had ever heard of Matt Hurt before yesterday…
The one consistent with the Kings is their ability to let G-Leage level talent shine.
I would’ve been butt hurt over Matt Hurt if we had lost this game!
Their Hurt is not as good as ours. Ours is Huerter
I love this team, but they are as Jekyll and Hyde as I have ever seen. And I cannot take a team serious as a contender or even more than a first round playoff team that is last or close to last in FT% and turns the ball over the way we do. The talent is there, the coaching is there, but they underperform and feel like they have regressed as a team and in some cases as players and even coaching.
Sabonis needs to be more clutch in the 4th. Fox needs to be more balanced and not fall in love with the 3PT shot (he’s shooting it great, but at times abandons his strength of dribble penetration and just becomes a chucker), Monk gets sloppy with the ball and is streaky, Huerter is streaky AF (I do like his effort). I am impressed with Keegan’s improvement.
And coaching. I love MB…but he needs to make adjustments, run more sets, and for the love of God, please adjust your switching defense on the perimeter. We are last or close to last on perimeter defense two years in a row. Terrible 3 pt shooting teams have field days with us. Every team destroys our perimeter defense. This isn’t a trend; it is an identify and we need to fix it if we ever hope to compete in the playoffs.
I would push on the talent and coaching being there when the team underperforms as often as they do. Coaching is about putting your players in the best position possible to succeed. I often don’t think Brown does that. The talent is, overall, sub par too. They do need some upgrades, and that may come from more consistent players.
How many times are we going to see Fox trying to get buckets in ISO plays at the end of games while the other four just stand around? Maybe it’s scheme, maybe it’s Fox doing it all himself, idk. But the player and ball movement just stops late in the 4th, allowing teams to go on runs, or preventing the Kings from making some of these games closer.
on Fox, that’s genuinely what clutch, superstars do. They go get you a win. Dame, Embiid, Lebron, Luka…when you have a player like Fox, he’s gonna be the guy that does ISO and scores at the end of a game. And teams know that, and they collapse on him and still can’t usually stop him…but if they do, those 4 guys standing around have open shots. They just need to make them.
My biggest issue is, we tend to turn away from our DHO offense we are so good at for 3 quarters and teams sag off Sabonis and take away cutters. Domas needs to be a threat from the elbow or occasionally the 3 pt line in the 4th quarter.
The great superstars tend to know when to use their other players in those moments too. Jordan used Paxton and Kerr, Lebron used Korver at times too. I just would like Fox to find those guys more to keep the defense honest so he can then exploit the defense more when they don’t double or triple him.
If that is not practiced now, then come playoff time it will be new to the other players who won’t have that experience.
Make up for it with a strong, convincing win against Miami and all will be forgiven. Including turnovers, missed free throws, and poor 3-point shooting.
That game was incredibly dull. I was questioning why after almost 40 years watching this team I am struggling to be interested. I realized I wasn’t even watching the last few minutes when I looked up and they won. And it’s not like I was doing something else. 😵💫
Uninspiring for sure.
Poor performance, but a road win is a road win. Happy Birthday yesterday Jerry!
Not much mention of Monk’s game, but a person I’d have thought unshakeable is clearly shook.
He was a bit less tentative against Memphis, but he is thinking about his shots instead of just taking them, and it shows in his percentages from the field, and the line. He’s making a lot of stupid passes, and without adding much in the way of scoring, he’s a liability. If Sabonis didn’t have such great hands, Monk would be averaging fiver turnovers per game.
I don’t know if he could use a few days away from the team, but he is fumbling his offseason bag, and if this continues, the question won’t be how much to pay him this summer, but whether to pay him at all.
His month of January, sans one or two games, has been pretty bad. He’s shot 31% from three and 41% from the field. Compare that to December where he shot 42% from 3 and 49% from the field.
Something seems off. Maybe a lingering injury or just mid-season fatigue? All-star break is about 2 weeks away and I bet a few Kings would like the rest.
I have wondered about the fatigue thing especially pertaining to Fox. I wonder if the push the pace/play fast scheme is sustainable over an NBA season. Is it reasonable to expect the players to always have the foot on the gas and have good energy on defense? For a single game or a series, yes, but over an entire season?
I think it could explain a lot of the issues we are seeing; Fox and Monks’ recent slumps, Keegan not being as efficient (due to defending the opponent’s best player), Barnes and Huerters’ inconsistencies, etc.
Only one who seems unaffected in this way is Sabonis.
I’ve thought that too, and it worries me when I think about playoff time. If they’re already worn out with half a season to go, playoffs will be rough.
Kings in Miami have not gone well for the Win column over the years…
Here’s hoping the players get some rest instead of getting some..thing else.
In some alternate universe where Monte might consider trading Sabonis, this is something that I would at least give a bit of attention.
Before folks go crazy on this most remote of ideas. Jonas is still a top 15 center, Dyson Daniels is going to be good (IMO), and draft capital? What if draft capital was swapped for another player?
In a complete hypothetical throwing shit at the wall for shits and giggles discussion sake:
Sabonis, Edwards, Duarte for Jonas, Herb Jones, and Daniels works in the trade machine.
I’ll welcome him just as soon as Chimezie Metu breaks that motherfucker’s wrist.
LOL!
Keegan was named to the Rising Stars game for All Star weekend.
It’s an effective way to show one’s fan bias.
I look at that list of Sophs and the only trade I would consider for Keegan is Banchero.
I imagine that fans of other teams might feel the same way about their second year Rising Star.
(and they’d be wrong!)
Am I the only one who can’t read any of the comments in pink boxes? What is this Barbie bro? Lose the pink boxes, thanks
Fox Top 15
Y’all are overthinking… the kings were lethargic because of all the great Memphis BbQ and tonight will be tired because of the amazing strip clubs of south beach!
Wins are wins, they’ve lost some games they should’ve won and won some they should’ve lost.
The Kings have a better record than they did last year and they are on pace for 49-50 wins in an even tougher Western Conf.
I can’t believe so many people are complaining about the WAY that the Kings are winning 3 out of every 5 games.
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