The Sacramento Kings started Monday’s game looking like the same old Kangz. The execution was sloppy, the shooting was bad, and the Kings trailed an injury-and-illness-depleted Dallas Mavericks team by as many as 18 points in the first half. The Kings finished the first quarter trailing 37-23, a score made better by a falling-sideways three pointer by Keon Ellis to beat the buzzer. The Mavericks were without Kyrie Irving, Luka Doncic, Klay Thompson, Naji Marshall, Derrick Lively, and Dante Exum, and yet it still looked like the Kings were going to get rolled once again. The Kings clawed back in the second quarter, closing the gap and trailing 60-56 at the half. But I’d seen this too many times before this season. A terrible first quarter, with a huge deficit, and then the Kings claw back to make it close at halftime, only to get blown out in the third quarter, come back again, and lose in the end. But not this game. The Kings did allow a Mavericks run in the third, with Dallas pushing their lead to 9 at one point, but from the halfway mark of the 3rd, it was like a whole different Kings team. The energy and the effort from the Kings finally looked like a team that was tired of losing. The Kings played hard, and the fans in Golden 1 Center responded as the Kings gave them something to cheer for. With a minute and a half left and a 14 point lead, Doug Christie got to send in the third string to close out his first win as head coach, and the Kings won 110-100.
The Good
The Coaching: I want to give Doug Christie his props. The rotations seemed a lot better tonight. Mike Brown was methodical with his substitution patterns, regardless of the flow of the game. It was noticeable when Doug allowed De’Aaron Fox to stay in the game past the 9 minute mark of the fourth quarter as the Kings were in the middle of a big run. DeMar DeRozan ended up sitting longer than usual due to the run, but it was the right coaching decision in the flow of the game. Doug also wasn’t afraid to go away from something that wasn’t working, quickly pulling Alex Len after two bad stints, and he pulled De’Aaron Fox from the game when it looked like Fox was actively trying to earn a second technical foul arguing with the refs. Fox was fired up, and Doug pulled him and physically held him and moved him to the bench. Sometimes it’s the little things that swing a game, like knowing when to protect your players, and when to give them a longer leash. I still have plenty of doubts about Doug’s ability to be the coach of the future for this team, but I’m rooting for him and he did a good job in this game.
De’Aaron Fox, mostly: Fox finished this game with 33 points, 6 assists, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, and just 1 turnover. He was 3-of-7 from beyond the arc, and 4-of-5 from the free throw line. He had a big, big game. But as I mentioned above, he nearly got himself tossed early. Fox (and most of the Kings players) were really unhappy with the officiating in this game. Fox was talking to the refs even more than usual, and was getting heated. After picking up a technical foul, Fox then picked up a stupid 4th foul playing overly physical defense and trying to prove a point. Angry Fox is usually the best Fox, but he was tipping over. I love seeing Fox care, and I hesitate to play armchair psychologist, but it seems like Fox has been taking a lot of public criticism the last several days and some of that may have been boiling over.
Domantas Sabonis: Domas had 17 points, 16 rebounds, 7 assists, and 1 steal. He also spent too much time arguing with refs about calls and no-calls, but he had a very good game overall.
Bench Production: Keon Ellis and Trey Lyles were both huge in this game. Keon played 20 minutes, and finished with 7 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals. Not a stat line that jumps off the page, but Ellis was a big part of the energy and effort in this game. Lyles had 14 points, 4 rebounds, an assist and a steal in 22 minutes. He also made 3-of-6 threes. It’s been a while since we’ve seen that version of Trey Lyles, reminiscent of 2022-23 Lyles. It was great to see.
The Bad
Keegan Murray: Keegan had another bad offensive outing. He played really good defense throughout the game, and had 6 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 steals, but he managed just 4 points on 8 shots, and went 0-for-3 from deep. It’s just not enough output in 36 minutes of playing time, especially for a player we know is capable of so much more.
Context: A win is a win, and I don’t want to be a downer, but context matters in this one. The Kings had to play hard, come back from a deficit, and really dig deep to beat this Mavericks team. Dallas has build a respectably deep roster, but not deep enough for Dallas to push the Kings as hard as they did. I’m happy the Kings won, I liked seeing the fire in the players, I liked seeing them look like they cared and desperately wanted to win this game, but if this team is pursuing anything more than silver linings there is more improvement needed.
The Ugly
Three point shooting: The Kings as a team went 10-for-32 (31.3%) from three in this game, but that number is higher than it had been for most of the game. Most of the game the team was in the in the 20% range. Kevin Huerter was 1-for-4 from deep (1-for-5 overall, 3 points in 20 minutes). Malik a good game overall (14 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal) but was 1-for-6 from 3. I already mentioned Keegan’s 0-3. This team is still unable to consistently convert their threes.
Three point defense: Although the Mavericks cooled off and finished the game at just 38.7% (still a good number), the Mavs were shooting higher than 40% for much of the game.
Early Malaise: I don’t know what it will take for this team to come out with effort from the starting tip. Doug has to figure something out.
***
This game will end up a Rorschach test for Kings fans. Those seeking hope and optimism will see it as a stepping stone to get back on track. Those hoping for a blow-up will see this as a meaningless win over a depleted team. We don’t know which camp will be right in the end. I suspect that, barring additional changes to the roster, a few rotation tweaks will not be enough to get this season back on track. But I also still think this team is capable of being better than what is has been so far this season. The truth is likely somewhere between the extremes. Change is still needed, but we can enjoy the we closed out 2024 with a win.
We at the Kings Herald thank you for all your support in 2024, and we wish everyone a safe and happy New Year. Please don’t drink and drive, we want you all here with us in 2025.
Up Next
The Kings will host the Philadelphia 76ers on New Years Day, at 7:00 PM PT.
A win is a win and better than losing 6 in a row but it was a struggle against a depleted opponent. Bright side, we have seen them lose games like this….often.
The Beam was lit and it worked . That’s about it .
This. The simple fact is the beat a team missing their top 3 scorers, their starting center, and their 6th man. This game really shouldn’t have been close let alone a claw back win. The Kings were out shot from everywhere on the floor and gave up 29 free throws IMO, the only thing they can hang their hat on is that they rebounded well and got the win. That would have been a loss to nearly every other healthy team in the league.
I will say, it was noticeable when DeRozan sat that the Kings seemed to get their shit together.
Yes, so glad Coach DC went with the defense-creates-offense group in 3rd quarter. With Derozan offense grinds to a halt, if he makes his iso jumper all is good. If he misses we are running back with non-existent team defense. Sitting him longer is probably good as well to rest those old-man legs for the 4th?
I hope Doug would know that defense leads to offense. That is how he was as a player, especially with Kings. He and Bobby Jackson would come in and play some good defense, then they got out and ran in transition. It is a simple concept.
You might for example start Keon and let Derozan come off the bench. It’s not his decision it’s Dougs.
Jack ! we agree!!!!
Think I heard Brown suggested coming off bench -which DDR didn’t like?
He should come off the bench with monk huerter and len, three scorers and a defensive ish big.
As I said before Derozan is a terrible defender. I like the guy a lot but what Doug did last night was the right decision.
DDR to the bench in a 6th man role?
The DDR acquisition smacks of Vivek. He’s not a good fit- never was.
But this is all almost useless discussing/hoping because Vivek obviously hasn’t backed off.
Unless he does/or sells/there is little long term (or short term) hope.
gotta get lucky at this point
Happy New Year, TKH staff and commenters!
Waiting for next year!!!
Cheers Rik!
Put this on the previous thread but am curious what people think:
I had a thought watching last night. The Kings have a lot of small guards and their lack of size/length is an issue especially when it becomes a halfcourt game.
So avoid the halfcourt game and play more 3/4 or full court press. They have the amount of guards to keep them fresh.
I have thought for a while the Kings do better when the game becomes frenetic and chaotic, like the end of the 3rd and beginning of the 4th last night. So why not lean into that?
Keon is a guy that can do that. He plays like 20 minutes, so a few minutes of his time on the court can be pressing ball handlers more. When Carter comes in, he should be able to do the same.
The defense is bad, and they need to try something to disrupt the opposing offense. Just letting the opponent come down and get in their offensive set with 18 seconds on the clock puts the bad defense in a worse situation.
Fox and Monk could do it as well, also Jmac. It would mean no pacing yourself like Fox likes to do. Basically run harder for shorter bursts.
PROs:
Not many teams press at all so most opponents don’t see it a lot. I see it as a way they could get some more wins with what they have. Domas is made for this style, he is more fit than most centers.
CONs:
It would be gimmicky and definitely would not work well against everyone.
But what is working so well now? Why not try it?
One thing might help is not having Sabonis bringing the ball up the court all the time. Let the guards do that. They are faster and better playmakers at the start of the break. Sabonis can do it sometimes but not all the time. Go down and post up before the defense gets set. Might help.
It won’t work against every team, but a small-ball lineup should definitely be in the toolkit and used more often. It seems like other teams scout and game plan the Kings’ weaknesses but we don’t do the same against them.
With their roster they are playing small-ball most of the time, they don’t have a choice.
The more I have seen I think a big issue is Vivek (NO CLASS NO BALLS) and MB were too caught up in trying to be Warriors north.
Cheers to the win, the Kings Herald loyal readers, and another year of growth and top notch content from the excellent Kings Herald staff and contributors.
And as always,
Let’s Go Kings…!!!
One of the main issues I see with Keegan and his shooting is that he has a decreased amount of open shots. His rookie year, 37% of his shots from 3 were wide open (defender 6+ feet away), that went down to 31% in his 2nd season, and 30% this season.
Rookie year, he shot 24% of 3s while open (defender 4-6 feet away), that went down to 17% last season, and up to 18% this season.
My takeaway is that the league learned to respect his shot after his rookie season and started playing him more tightly. Also, the offense has not been spaced enough to give him open looks, partly because of the scheme, and partly because of personnel this season (mainly DeRozan being added).
He still needs to hit those open shots, which he has not done much at all this season or last. I also wonder if there is a mechanical issue going on. Maybe poor pre-shot setup, improper balance, rushing the shot, or finishing the shot more out than up with his hand. There is also probably a mental aspect affecting him that needs to be addressed.
I don’t think he forgot how to make shots, as he has been reported to be making an extremely high percentage of his shots in practices. He just looks like a player hoping that the shot falls, instead of having the confidence that he knows it will go in.
Proper spacing will go a long way, along with a defined role and working through any mechanical issues that may be there. He needs the game to be more simple for him to have a chance at succeeding.
Emotionless robot. Is there any other players like that? really strange. I think I would rather have him dribble to the bucket, unless he has a few seconds to shoot the 3.
Kawhi Leonard?
Yeah Adamsite. You tell him.
Ok emotionless facial expression. But Duncan and Kawhi at least talk to the refs? If he gets traded today, he’ll probably say “It’s ok, I don’t mind it at all” 😀 Just to be clear I’m still high on Keegs 🙂 Happy New Year TKHers!
Tim Duncan. They even look like they could be related
Another good one.
Slim Duncan was one early moniker, as is Spock.
LOL Slim Duncan! Never heard that one
He definitely is not a robot and different players have different emotions. He is not a Malik Monk. He is not a Raymond Green(heaven forbid) but maybe could be more like a Kevin Huerter but I don’t think so. As a player he is beginning to get more confidence in other areas of offense. Don’t throw in the towel yet.
Kwai Leonard, Tim Duncan , Klay Thompson, Anthony Davis and all time greats like Jabbar, Russell, Havlicek . Just played with almost never showing emotion and chest pounding . A lot of non players constantly playing to the crowd .
You could be onto something. He may need other shooters on the floor with him to create more space. It worked well his 1st year because he had Barnes and “good” Huerter where out there with him pulling their own gravity. Barnes shot 37% from deep that year and Huerter was god for 40%. Keegan is now sharing the court with sub par three point shooters (Sabonis’ is the only outlier). I’d imagine other teams are gluing to Keegan at the cost of leaving Fox, Monk, and DDR open for three, which isn’t a bad strategy.
Should Keegan have one or two other very good three point shooters on floor with him spreading the defense, he might get more quality open looks. That’s an argument there for the addition of a guy like Cam Johnson or John Collins in place of DDR.
I think that the addition of DDR has come at the cost of Sabonis facilitating the offense, and this had the biggest impact on Murray, then Monk.
Agreed. In many ways it’s been subtraction by addition. It’s no knock on DeMar, it’s just the sum of the mismatched parts.
It may sound off, but moving DeMar may be a bigger priority for Monte than finding 3 and D big.
Move Demar AND find a 3 and D big at the same time. Jackpot.
LOL, ideally yes.
DeMar for John Collins works straight up…just saying.
So many teams clamoring for a 36 yr old with a 20
mil
contract.
Who by the way has the worst plus/minus in playoff History.
It only takes one.
Signing Demar. Bad Decsion.
Unloading him a bigger problem. He’s a notorious ball stopper. Who is also the worst playoff performer in history.
DeMar DeRozan has the lowest career plus/minus in the playoffs when playing 30+ minutes, at -373.
So you’re saying he gets to the playoffs.
Good good analogy.
Another reason my thoughts of starting fox keon murray lyles and sabonis sounds good
IMO the reason he doesn’t get enough touches has nothing to do with the opposing defense. It has to do with Keegan not getting enough touches. The Kings as a team do not set enough screens for him. And also the teams isn’t looking to pass to him. I have seen him multiple times standing alone and doesn’t get passed to and he isn’t the kind of player that yells for the ball or goes over at time outs and says something about it. The team as a whole needs to realize this and do something about it or sure he will lose his confidence. And that’s where the leader as well as the coach comes in. Especially the leader of the team. If we don’t have that leader Keegan will be doing the same thing all year. Find a leader positive not negative.
I was referencing the types of shots he was getting, not the amount. He is getting the ball with less space to shoot, which makes them more challenging, and for Keegan to be more likely to pass up the shot.
I don’t think he does a good job of getting ready to receive a pass for a shot attempt. His feet are often moving when the pass is coming, and he does a lot of foot movement, either “left, right”, or “right, left” when getting in to his shot. I think that gives the defender a little more time to close out, and makes Keegan rush the shot, often leading to misses. I would love to see him set and pre-load his lower half while the ball is coming to him, then just up and out with the ball.
He’s a spot shooter nothing more. Has poor ball handling skills,
poor motor, and very indecisive, has good strength. But easily gets taken to school by physical players.
And too think some people thought he was the next Kawhi a couple of years ago Hilarious.
Never going to happen.
Yeah, so play to his strengths and put him in a position to be more successful. The organization wanted him to develop in to this ball handling, dribble driver, offensive swiss army knife, and he just isn’t that guy.
Play defense, rebound, hit the 3 ball. Keep it simple.
That’s fine but if that’s his role that’s middling return for a #4 pick in a topheavy draft.
Let’s say he turns out to be a 40% 3pt shooter and borderline all-defensive player.
Elite 3 and d is not middling
Well, it depends on what your definition of elite is. But outside of some deluded Kings fans, i’m pretty sure no-one will name him among the top 25 defensive players right now. And I would be surprised if any team would amend their game plan to account for him.
And I really don’t see which physical and mental attribute he has to propel him into that conversation. I’d love to be proven wrong. I like the kid.
No Luka? No Kyrie? No Klay? No Derek? No Naji? No problem…eventually!
LOL
No class? No balls?
no shirt, no shoes, no dice
No cover, no minimum.
You’re lucky he didn’t say no pants
Me with no pants is the quintessential no cover, no minimum!
No length, no size.
My genitals would be on Monte’s draft list. His short list, one could say.
2024, what a year!*
The Kings went 42-44. From January 1 to December 26 under Mike Brown, 27-24 in the regular season, 1-1 for the Play-In and then 13-18 for 41-43, and 1-1 in the Doug Christie era.
Sigh.
2023 saw them at 51-35 as they were 29-19 to begin that year (and finish the 2023 regular season), 3-4 in the playoffs, and start the next season to finish the year 19-12 at the end of December 2023. The best calendar year of the Sacramento era, by far, without Rick Adelman as the Head Coach. The beam was beamin’ bright.
I have one eye closed looking forward to 2025. Thank you The Kings Herald for always being there to join and support us fans of this rollercoaster Sacramento Kings franchise.
(*please feel free to check my math)
Do you guys know why Carter wasn’t available for last night’s game? I saw a little news piece about him being questionable due to a shoulder injury but there weren’t any details.
I heard it was a conditioning issue. Still getting in game shape.
Unfortunately that whole different Kings team won’t show up for the start of the next game. The Kings team that showed up in the first quarter will almost certainly be the team that shows up for the first quarter of the next game. This team just doesn’t have that play-hard-always attitude.
Malik Monk gave my favorite sports interview of 2024 post win against the Mavs.
If we ever wonder if players read TKH and other sports sites where the discussion, debate, outrage and hot takes is about how they played, or didn’t, wonder no more.
Malik was asked in a post game interview to weigh in on how important Trey Lyles play was in the last few games and was he returning to his 2023 form?
Malik, knowing what he was going to say it would get back to Trey and his teammates, said, (paraphrasing here, listen to the interview it’s fabulous), “Oh he was critical, he is getting back to it. He was just a little Fat. Needed to lose a few lb’s. He just needed to lose a little weight, you know, get rid of some pounds, he is back to it now.” Then Malik chuckled, he couldn’t keep it in any longer.
Malik knows the team needs someone among them to keep them loose so he provided the Easter Egg for the Kings players to ask Trey if he had read what Malik said in his interview knowing they would be laughing their asses off at what Malik said.
Teammates.
Priceless.
Happy New Year everyone!
Just discovered a cool feature in Basketball Reference. You can click on Monte as GM in the year-by-year Kings section, and it takes you to a list of every one of his transactions. Wow. Check it out. Here are the main moves:
Nov 2020 pick Haliburton
Jul 2021 pick Davion M
Feb 2022 trade Hali, Buddy for Sabonis
Feb 2022 trade Bagley for Lyles, Donte Di Vincenzo
Jun 2022 pick Murray
Jul 2022 trade Mo Harkless for Huerter
Jul 2022 sign Monk
Jul 2023 sign Vezenkov
Jul 2023 dump R Holmes
Jun 2024 pick Carter
Jun 2024 dump Davion, Vezenkov
Jul 2024 trade Barnes for DeRozan
Remarkable. Building around point guard Fox, three out of four first rounders are point guards plus the only good free agent. Trade for a playoff caliber 3 and D guy (Donte) but can’t sign him. Trade for a less athletic pure shooter 2, then draft a less athletic pure shooter 3. Then, since the Monk signing? For a team that needs both rim and perimeter defense? DeMar! Really, what has he done since the second week of February 2022? It’s coming up on three years since that one eventful week. Honestly, I’d rather watch Sabonis, Lyles, Jalen Williams (picked 12th to Murray’s 4th) Donte and Fox, with Huerter and Barnes off the bench. And maybe some decent second round picks! Interested to know what others think after surveying Monte’s ‘achievements’.
I think his achievements are weak. Some hits- like DS. Keegan was a hit, now looking like a miss. Lyles minor hit- a bunt. KH looked like a hit but now not so much.
and he wastes the second round- trades picks or wastes them. These have become valuable- Nets insisted on 3 in the DFS trade and turned down a single #1 from Memphis for DFS. Monte gives them out like party favors.
The overemphasis on undersized guards. A little disconcerting.
Hali and Fox could have worked. Fox off ball Hali running the offense.
Lyles has been either inconsistent or injured constantly. What did you expect to get back for Bagley?
Murray seemed like a home run after the first year. He’s declined significantly since. Where he’s no more than a starter that should be a role player. No motor at all, ball handling skills are poor. A decent defender. Not as great as some Kings fandom prop him up to be. Physical 4s take him to school. I would say he’s a spot shooter. But he really can’t do that anymore either.
Harkless for Huerter seemed great at the time.
It was for a year.
Monk turned out great.
Vez was a reach from day 1
Dumping Holmes and getting NAda? Not real smart.
Trading Barnes probably had to happen. But spending 20 mil on a 35 year old ball stopper was not it.
Drafting yet another smallish guard in Carter. I don’t care about this wing span thing. If the guard is 6’6. That 6’6 guard is still going to shoot over him.
Especially when you already have a crowded backcourt.
Monte…Certainly not 100 to blame
Not terrible. But not great either.
MM has assembled a flawed roster, the roster construction has been horrendous from the start. MM takes most the blame.
Remove the LTB season and it’s all a miss…including the Hali/Domas trade. MM is a trash GM.
Hali has been a big disappointment to Pacers . Check Pacer fan site .
This time last year he was a top ten player. Not sure if he’s banged up or what. But he’s younger than Domas and has a game that fits today’s NBA and has already had more playoff success. I would redo that trade in a heartbeat today.
And I guarantee you the Pacers would not.
Happy New Year to all!
And looks like we catch another break tomorrow:
I like what one of the replies to that post says:
I’m figuring that’s what the Sixers’ coaching staff is also thinking in holding Embiid out.
Embiid doesn’t seem to care about playing against the Kings. He’s only played in eight games in eight seasons. Of course, I don’t know how many times he missed games because of injury or “rest”.
I just looked up the only other Sac vs Phi game scheduled for this season. For the Sixers it will be a SEGABABA after playing the L****s the night before, so he’ll likely choose to sit out the Kings game again.
I am the Anti Charles Dickens. Not Great Expectations but No Expectations. It helps my soul to just not expect anything. I do have some “hopes” though and they are contradictory. Either win often enough to move into the Play-in or more or lose enough to keep the Huerter pick. Standing alone, outside the post season and outside of #12 is the worst outcome.
Last night. A win but the Mavs were missing 5 key guys. FIVE
There were parts of the game where I said to myself- they look good but really??
No expecations. Just get back to watch the sport I love
But, I have an NBA disclaimer. I will wish, hope, root with all my heart for the duds to lose.
This pretty much sums up my thoughts, too. Except for the fact that I had high expectations prior to the season.
It was not the worst of times and not the best of times
-Chuck Dickens
Great No ExpectationsHappy new year to all! Hoping 2025 turns out to be surprisingly pleasant!
Happy New Year! My resolution is to comment when the FO does something, not when they do nothing. I wore myself out with the Monte Timeline… Something did seem to be happening when we said hello Domas and bye bye Bagley. And it did, for one season. We know Monte failed to add size and defense, but Mike’s not blameless; why have Huerter and Murray regressed? Where is the player development? Get Ellis a 3 point shot! The (second) worst part is how vague and aloof the FO is. Mike’s ‘underachieving’. Yup, that’s the only problem…
Good points . A lot of underachieving going on and Brown may have been the least of it. Vivek and Monte says hold my beer .
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