With recent wins over the Rockets, Spurs, and Jazz, the Sacramento Kings have been slowly crawling their way back to NBA relevancy after a disappointing start to the 2024-25 season. Enter the 5-20, very-injured New Orleans Pelicans and an opportunity to get the organization back to .500 – this game felt pretty close to a must-win in the sense that if the Kings can’t beat the Pelicans at this stage of the season, my optimism that this group can actually turn things around drops considerably.
As Will outlined in his preview, the Pelicans are still dangerous enough to beat this team, but that says more about the Kings than the Pelicans. Despite the injuries, they’ve got Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum, Herb Jones, Trey Murphy III, and have defeated the Kings six games in a row. Sacramento needed this one more, and they ultimately got it with a 111-109 victory, but it was too close for my liking. Let’s dive in.
Sacramento’s poor 3-point shooting was an issue all night, and it started in the first quarter. As a team, the Kings shot 20% from three in Q1, but were bailed out by the efficient volume scoring of Domantas Sabonis. The Kings center scored 12 points on 4/5 shooting while the rest of the roster shot a combined 5-20 from the field, but it was good enough for the Kings to take a 2-point lead into the 2nd quarter. Sabonis would finish with 32 points and 20 rebounds on 11-15 shooting, and the Pelicans just didn’t have an answer for his size and strength all night.
The poor offense continued into the 2nd quarter where the Kings’ weak bench unit failed to provide the squad with anything of substance. Mike Brown was doing his typical searching, trying all of Colby Jones, Isaac Jones, Alex Len, Keon Ellis and Kevin Huerter, but couldn’t get a real spark out of any of them. CJ McCollum and Dejounte Murray started cooking for the Pelicans, and that was enough for New Orleans to take a 55-53 lead into the half. It was starting to feel like one of those nights where the Kings didn’t have the focus or execution to put away a weaker team.
Thankfully the 3rd quarter featured one of the best quarters of basketball in a Sacramento Kings uniform to date for DeMar DeRozan. DDR shot 3/3 from beyond the arc in the third, and finished the quarter with 16 points on 5/7 shooting. I wouldn’t call it pretty offense, but the team needed someone other than Domas to start hitting shots, and tonight it was DeMar.
It appeared as though the Kings were going to cruise to a relatively easy victory from here. They won the third quarter 38-28, and would build up a 13-point lead late into the 4th quarter. Hooray, I thought.
CJ McCollum had other plans, and the Kings were dangerously close to blowing this. Sacramento held a 104-94 lead with 4:29 remaining, and McCollum went on to hit three 3s and a tough and1 to evaporate the Kings lead and make it a two point game with 1:24 left. McCollum is a very capable shooter who caught fire in the fourth. It would have been nice if Sacramento’s defense could have locked him down better, but a good offensive NBA player made good plays. I can live with that.
My frustration about the partial collapse here had more to do with Sacramento’s offensive execution down the stretch than their inability to contain McCollum. A crucial Keegan Murray floater was the only points Sacramento scored in the final 3:00 of this game – an unacceptable result for an offense of supposedly clutch players against an inferior team. Those ugly final minutes included horrific shot selection, brutal turnovers, and a concerning lack of focus.
In the final :60, the Pelicans had the ball twice with the opportunity to tie the game and send it into overtime, but Sacramento’s defense held them off. First it was a good defensive possession by De’Aaron Fox on a McCollum drive, and the next play it was a clutch Malik Monk off ball block/steal on a Dejounte Murray jumper. Kings win on defense, 111-109.
When you consider who the Kings have been for most of the season, this was a pretty typical performance. Acceptable offensive production from the bulk of the starters. Absolutely nothing from the bench. Poor and nearly crippling three point shooting throughout. Lack of focus and execution in several key moments.
But it was good enough for a win tonight, and I’ll take that. The Kings improved to 13-13 on the season, and still have enough time to solve some of these recurring issues and make a dent in the Western Conference playoff race. Will they? To be determined, but it remains within reach.
Next up: Kings vs. Nuggets in Sacramento on Monday night.
DOMANTAS MF-ing SABONIS!
32 points, 20 rebounds.
Was disappointed he only had 12 in the 2nd half. I think a combo of them doubling him and us going away from the pick and roll
incredible game the same day a very profile piece dropped on espn.com – hopefully he’ll keep kicking ass all season
this would not be the game where I’d pick on the bench. I thought Keon’s contributions were significant. two consecutive games where he snagged an offensive rebound and slithered in for a bucket. last night he got fouled and hit two free throws, but same difference. I thought Alex Len was a presence out there. Colby played good D. Huerter needs to hit his shots, but so do Fox and Monk. those three players went 11 for 41 overall and 3 for 19 from three. not winning many games shooting like that.
The last 3 wins have come against sub-par teams or teams missing multiple key players. Games the Kings absolutely need to win.
I think the Kings have been playing better as of late, but the competition has been bad, so it is hard to gauge that. When put together several good games against opponents with better records than them, then we will see if they have what it takes.
That being said, Domas was a freaking beast!!! They went away from him late in the game in favor of ISO ball and bad shots. They need to fix that.
Also, the Smoothie King center looked at half capacity, or less, most of the game. The first quarter almost felt like a game played in the bubble a few years back. I was checking to see if those were actual fans or just cardboard cutouts with fan noise being blown through the speakers.
We’ll see how this team fares with Denver and the Lakers coming up. Even though record-wise they aren’t the best in the West, still will be a test for us to see where this team is.
100%
A win is a win.
Considering NOP’s record, missing players and the Kings coming off 3 days rest it was not very good.
My hope is NOP is just a bad matchup and the Kings will never look great against them.
The Kings are so erratic, even quarter to quarter, I don’t have much faith in them.
This is a problem that will continue to rear its ugly head. I mentioned in the pregame thread that the Pels have no one to stop Sabonis and therefore the Kings should maximize that advantage by giving Sabonis a minimum of 20 shots. He ended up with just 15. Worse yet, he took just two shots in the 4th quarter compared to 5 by DeRozan and 6 by Fox.
The Kings (Coach Brown) needs to play to their strengths, but instead revert to hero ISO ball in the 4th. It may work some of the time, but it’s not a good way to close out games. If they can’t recognize the hot hand and incredible mismatches they may have, I worry how this season will end up.
I thought that inability to realize Domas was a good, if not great, option in the last few minutes of the Memphis game was a pretty crucial mistake as well, since I thought for the most part they outplayed Memphis and should have won that game.
Last night, Domas was the Smooth
ieKing.Mike Jones said attendance was around 3000.
Like fish grease.
I think the West is going to do a lot of beating itself up this season and it will definitely impact the win/loss column. The top seed in the conference might only get about 50 wins this year the way things are going. As bad as we like to think the Kings are doing, there’s a 3 game separation between the 5th seed and us at the 12th seed. Could have been an opportunity for us, maybe, but I think that’s just the way its going to be this season for the Western Conference.
Heh.
Crowder went from starting his very first game, to playing off the bench for 4 games, to 3 consecutive DNP-CD (two were blowouts)…
I’m hoping he accepts his role. Didn’t he have issues with this on the Bucks?
He did. He wanted a bigger role in Milwaukee.
not sure why. I think he might be for certain matchups. He was effective against a bigger 4 like Julius Randle. The Pels this year without Valanciunas and with Zion injured are more long and skinny, and quick.
another reason it was ridiculous to start him immediately over people that have been on the team
IMO that’s where he should be. I would play Issac Jones over him. Jones has been given a chance in more than 2 or 3 minutes at a stretch and has made the most of it. Could be a good rotational player with more experience on the court.
Browns substitution rotations seem random. We need solid defense for 48 minutes. Crowder brings that to the 4.
Can we take a moment to truly appreciate the non-stop evolution of Sabonis’ game? The All-NBA player that never stops working on his game. What an honor and pleasure to watch.
Here’s a fun one – After last night, Sabonis is 33rd in the league in scoring. But he is 79th in FGA (and 3rd on his team). Only Sabonis and Giannis are 20+ppg and 60%+ FG%. The efficiency of Domas’ game is top of the charts.
And the list of players averaging 20+ / 10+ for the season? Jokic (averaging a triple/double – what an animal), Towns, Sabonis, Giannis, AD, Wemby, Trae Young (points and assists).
His effort is non-stop. Not even broken thumbs take the guy out. No King dishes out or takes more punishment on a night in, night out basis. He is a rare and special player.
Completely agree. His superpower is his motor, toughness and fitness, there is not another frontcourt player in the league who matches him in this regard.
And he improved his FT and 3pt shooting this year. I would actually prefer him taking a few more 3s per game and Fox taking a few less.
True joy to watch . Great skill , total unselfishness and competitive spirit at the very top of the NBA .
A good post for promoting this article:
NBA All-Star Domantas Sabonis, his legendary father Arvydas — and the enormous weight of legacy – ESPN
Thank you for sharing! Highly recommend!
IMO Arvydas when he was young and pre-injuries could have been an all time great. Like on par with any HOF center you can name, he was that good.
Basically, he was Joker but 7′-3″ and as athletic as Hakeem, Shaq or David Robinson in their primes.
Oh yes. In the start of this clip you can see him destroying David Robinson.
I actually think that Jokic’s passing and court vision is still one step higher. But young Arvydas was indeed faster and more athletic than Jokic.
Yes! And in the ’88 Olympics vs Robinson he was already post Achilles tears.
Also, Arvydas indirectly created the whole Dream Team concept. Him destroying Robinson and the 88 USA team is why the original Dream Team was formed.
There is not a lot of decent footage of him younger and injury free but I have seen some of it and he was incredible.
IMO passing and court vision wise he was right with Joker. A big thing that changes the view of this is today’s style of play vs back in the day, the spacing is a lot better now so the passing lanes are more open. But with that said they are both amazing.
Great find Rik, thanks for posting that.
Fantastic post, even with this rabid fan site with very good writers and interesting commenters, Domas still could use more recognition.
I liked how you pointed out how much damage he inflicts as well. I feel like he is going to break someone’s sternum at some point when he pivots right elbow first into his defender to go left. I think it is one of the reasons he has to absorb more fouls than one would think of a player of his stature, as he is a wrecking ball underneath, and probably commits a dozen fouls a game fighting for position. I think because his motor is turned up to eleven, he has the respect of refs and they let it go, since he is working harder than almost anyone on the court. I can see why opposing fans get so worked up about him. I love when he just slams his hips backwards into the defender to create a little space (Vlade was excellent at this as well), he has moved Brook Lopez, AD, & Rudy back about three feet then makes his move with the left handed hook. Old school basketball, some serious Artis Gilmore stuff.
Unleashing Sabonis on the NBA is some form of malpractice on the Kings part.
I honestly have to say, Sabonis might just be my favorite King of the last 20 years. He plays hard, is a great teammate, is a solid human being on and off the court, makes those around him better, and is just flat out an amazing basketball player that few can replicate.
I can also say with damn near 100% certainty, that without him the Kings playoff drought would still be in effect.
I had to laugh when the Pelicans thought they had clearly fouled Domas, then walked away only to realize several seconds later that a foul hadn’t been called. By that time, Domas had passed it.
Don’t they realize that not even chipped tooth contact gets called against Domas?
Really good recap, not biased either way. Happy they won to get back to .500 but not exactly jumping for joy as it seemed like a mediocre performance considering Pels were missing some key guys.
Kings get to play the Pelicans 3 times right after the trade deadline. Wonder what it’ll be like then.
You can say this for every team, every game I suppose, but it might fit this team especially well at this time:
Good enough to win, is a good win.
For a team that is underwinning, style points are irrelevant.
Again, not missing a free throw in the second half and only two all game, going 27/29 (93.1%) carried the win to overcome poor shooting and lousy late game decision making (Sac had a 13 point lead with something like 3:44 remaining)
Next.
Excellent analysis and summary.
I truly wonder if the coaching staff sees it that way.
Pelicans looked much stronger than their record indicates. That exposed the many weaknesses of this Kings team in spite of our strengths.
But yes, a win is a win and if 2 if 3 wins are like this, I’ll take it!
#freeCrowder
No offense to Jae Crowder, but where’s the folks that were trying to tell me Crowder was the breath of fresh air this team needed and blah blah?
Uh huh.
Glad we didn’t trade Keegan like they’d have us believe we needed to do.
This team still needs to play better but nice job putting this team in a hole. Now we just gotta keep throwing dirt on them like its just business as usual. Ugly as it was, way to keep the win streak going, Kings. Keep shoveling…!
OT: The fires are starting to light for trade season:
It appears trade season is already off to a hot start.
You think a bigger Piston contract is going to be shipped out, or are they making space to be buyers?
No clue what Detroit is doing. I’d think they are still going through a rebuild, but maybe they intend to sell off some of their young assets for big name? I do know that Tobais Harris can be traded starting tomorrow. That signing always felt like a place holder for something else, kind of like Jerami Grant in PDX.
Wasn’t the StR crowd relatively hot on Paul Reed a year or two ago? What happened to him?
A win is a win. But something was lacking.
In a sense, this was a pivot game- blow them out, keep the same roster.
Lose and trade
I would take the 2 point margin as a signal for a trade- Kings need the same thig s as before length, athleticism on the wing.
duds got Shroeder for zero. Nets must not have valued him too much.
Kings need to get something.
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