After their loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday, the Kings had a few days to rest before boarding a plane to their next game. Unfortunately for them, this plane landed in Phoenix instead of Vegas. Despite getting four days of rest, I’m sure the Kings would have much rather been competing for the In-Season championship in Sin City. But this league stops for no one and they had to return to regular season basketball. The Suns were in a similar situation, as they also got bounced from the IST with their loss to the Lakers. The best way for the Kings to get over their last loss was to get their next win. And with the Suns’ limited roster, missing Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, the Kings were given a good opportunity to get back on track. Let’s see how they did:
Quick Stats
Outcome: Kings win, 114-106
Sacramento Kings: 114 pts, 45.7% fg, 35.9% 3 pt, 80.0% ft, 25 ast, 50 reb, 13 to
Phoenix Suns: 106 pts, 48.2% fg, 34.4% 3 pt, 65.2% ft, 26 ast, 40 reb, 11 to
The In-Season Tournament was sooooo four days ago. Who needs it, anyways? The Kings re-entered regular season basketball with a big statement win on the road. Although Phoenix was missing two key pieces, Devin Booker (28 points & 7 assists) still exists in a Suns jersey and did his best to bury the Kings on his own. But the Kings deployed a sound defensive strategy that worked in their favor to gain control of this game and then let the Clutch Player of the Year lead them to the finish line. We are officially 20 games through the season and your Sacramento Kings are now 12-8.
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
The Good:
- Course Correcting: This game started out as many have so far this season. The Kings were getting a lot of 3s up, but very few were falling. Conversely, the Suns couldn’t miss and they jumped out to an early 15-6 lead. In past games, we have seen the Kings wait until the third, or sometimes fourth, quarter to find ways out of this shooting slump, and often it comes at the price of being too late. Tonight, the Kings were much quicker to course correct and find different ways to score before going back to their 3-point shooting. This effort was led by Domantas Sabonis, who was an absolute monster in the post. Sabonis battled against Jusuf Nurkić and Drew Eubanks all night long and earned every point he scored, finishing with 15 points and 17 rebounds. Letting Sabonis eat inside for a few possessions then opened shooters up later for him to find once the defense collapsed and suddenly the long ball started falling. After shooting just 2-12 from the 3-point line in the first quarter, the Kings then shot 12-27 for the remainder of the game.
- Pushing the Pace: It took about three quarters of play for the Kings to gain control of this game. Their best quarter was the third, where they outscored the Suns 33-12 to gain a 12-point lead heading into the fourth. It was during this stretch that we saw the Kings play their best brand of team basketball. It was fast, cohesive, and put the Suns on their heels. Malik Monk (13 points & 6 assists) and Domantas Sabonis often led the break out of defensive rebounds to get the Kings quickly down the floor. Off the bench, Sasha Vezenkov (14 points, 5-7 fg) fit right into this pace as he filled open lanes, ran the floor hard, and was rewarded for it.
- Booker Blitzes: Devin Booker got cooking early tonight as he scored 9 points a piece in the first two quarters. In response, the Kings deployed their defensive strategy of blitzing him to force the ball out of his hands. This led to him having 0 points on just 1 shot attempt in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Suns’ supporting cast began to hit open shots out of these double teams, and so the Kings had to go back to relying on single coverage of Booker. Keegan Murray valiantly used all six of his fouls to slow Booker down and despite Booker’s best efforts, the Kings were able to hold him off enough to secure the win.
The Bad:
- Fouls: The Kings sent the Suns to the line 23 times tonight as Keegan Murray fouled out and Domantas Sabonis, Kevin Huerter, and Keon Ellis all finishing with 3 or more fouls a piece. The Kings have been focusing on physicality, but too often we saw the Kings execute their defensive strategy tonight to only end the sequence with a foul that allowed the Suns to reset or shoot free throws. The Kings still need to learn how to be physical without fouling.
The Ugly:
- Eric Gordon Speed: Here’s a fun fact: Eric Gordon is 34 years old. It’s fun because you never would have guessed it when watching him against the Kings tonight. It seemed like every time Gordon had the ball, he was the fastest man alive. He blew by almost every Kings guard at some point tonight for 19 points on 7-13 from the field.
The King of Kings
All hail, the King of the Fourth, De’Aaron Fox. After struggling in the first 3 quarters with just 11 points on 5-15 from the field, the fourth quarter began and it was officially De’Aaron Dagger Time. Fox scored 23 points in the final period and did it from every level. At the rim, in the paint, at the free throw line, and from behind the 3-point line, Fox was unstoppable. Anytime the Suns got close, Fox responded. We are so lucky to witness and reap the rewards of having the most clutch player in the league on this team.
Up Next
Monday, December 11th vs. Brooklyn Nets – 7:00 P.M. (PT)
4th quarter Fox….that is all.
He carried the Kings to a win.
Third quarter: Kings 33 – Suns 12. Total eclipse of the Suns!
Here is a Houston Gif
we’ve got a Keegan Murray problem
offense has tanked his second season and isnt on the “3rd star” trajectory his sophomore season
Thank God the Fox problem got fixed
Disagree. The dude is 15 games into his sophomore season and has been the team’s best defender. There is no problem.
His O is looking more independent and aggressive. He is showing some nice mid-range.
And hey – what a nice game from #7 Sasha Vezenkov. Looking more and more comfortable. Domas rockin’ the 15/17/5 game
No JeVale tonight which I found interesting.
No need for McGee. Suns ran small most of the night aside from Nurkic
Also no Huerter.
Yeah, I’ll take this version of Keegan over last year’s. If he finds his shot again, even better (and what a weird game to complain about that)
its not reflecting in the impact stats though… and are you relying on him being a stopper to make an impact? And who is he competing with on that end?
What Kings player do you think is playing better defense than Keegs?
Here we go.
yeah, I went down a YouTube rabbit hole and found a Shane Battier interview where he was saying how valuable it was to have to guard the opponent’s best player every game early in his career. guys like Kobe. Said how it made him a much better defender throughout his career.
You are such an amazing evaluator of basketball.. I think Coach Brown should call you because I’m sure he is overwhelmed with concern that Keegan’s defense and expanded offensive repertoire is not making an imprint. I mean it’s not like we don’t want to change up our offense so it can get stymied like last year. I bet the whole organization is panicking over this huge Keegan Murray problem. I’m so glad that you see something that nobody else does, maybe the bat line should come directly to your house
Agree 100 % . Keegan stats are every bit as good as Pega or Hali in 15 games of 2nd season and much more productive than Fox was at same period . Murray will be a top player by end of 3rd season . Getting better in every phase except his proven strength ( 3 pt shooting ) which is likely to come around .
But constructive criticisms seldom make as much of an imprint!
Is this a ShaVez break out game?
The Christmas party I went to was more interesting. Suns missing 3 starters. So it was Book. Who took only 14 shots. But shot 70 percent. 34 yr old Gordon and The Suns G league squad. A win is a win. But gloating over this? If Kings won and Beal, and Durant were on the floor. Now that would be something.
Beal on the floor ? He has seldom been for past 3 seasons and unproductive when he was . 5 seasons ago he was a major star .
What’s it like being such an elite fan calling out all these gloaters of mediocrity?
I’m glad that your Xmas party was so interesting. Kings won a road game, getting back to .600. Me happy.
Lemme put on my purple tinted glasses for a minute, but I am excited by this win. The team is 12-8, a 49 win pace, with MB juggling a bunch of players to try and find his rotation, key players missing significant time, Three-gan Murray struggling from deep, and a slew of road games.
I feel like Sasha is on the brink of a crazy 17 point quarter to win a game, Keegan will course correct, and the rotation will solidify ahead of the trade deadline with Monte picking up value.
I still feel this is a 50 win team, it still hasn’t had a stretch where it is fully locked in. Fox is making a case for being one of the fifteen best players in the league. 2024 is going to be f-u-n.
I respectfully disagree. Kings beat a g league team tonite. Also wins against Minny no Daniel’s, Denver no Murray. Are Asterisks. This is still a very flawed team. Fox has to play balls out every night for this team to win. And tonite was another example of that .against a very short handed Suns team. Sure this team is a lock for the playoffs But a lineup that has Barnes and Huerter as starters
scares very few playoff bound teams. Keegan is still shooting below average. Why? Teams have him figured out. Not a creator. Can’t really put the ball on the floor. So he’s a spot shooter right now and really as of right now. A weak starter on a playoff team. Sabonis for all his regular season accolades and performances. Will be exposed again in the playoffs. His lack of floor spacing, shooting at distance will be apparent. Again.’Reference also his playoff appearances with the Pacers. He will get neutralized by full strength teams. Fox is Amazing. But 50’wins means little in the grand scheme. Playoff basketball is a completely different beast. You don’t need to look any further than the Lakers. A play in last year that went to the WCF.
The Lakers crushing the Pels by 40. The Kings are really 2 good solid starters from really scaring championship contenders.
The Kings are not just a role player or 2 away from scaring the Celtics or Bucks
Respectfully, there are two columns: Wins and Losses, there are no asterisks.
The internets need to quanitfy and add context to every game is a fit of silliness mostly. The Kings won, and that is literally the only context to the game. The rest is equivalent to navel gazing.
No one has figured out Keegan, he hasn’t even played a hundred games in the NBA. The playoff performance of Domas with Indy play PF has little to do with his role with the Kings.
You are missing the forest for the trees. Zoom out and this first twenty games look different, I think.
I like rockets
I think the Kings can be a fun team that wins close to 50 games and also not be a top championship contender right now. I don’t want the Kings to have a championship or bust mentality especially after nearly two decades of complete bust. Calling that Suns roster a G League team is disrespectful. Booker is a top 20 player and there are several quality vets that played tonight. What type of asterisk do you place on games played this year without Fox?
If De’Aaron isn’t in the MVP discussion after that one the voters can go to hell
Watching the thingy and Ellis was not bad.
If Ellis keeps up this like last night IMO Mitchell is on the trade block. So is Duarte, I really like Ellis. He has to be a hard worker waiting for his chance.Wasn’t even drafted. Could be our back up point guard. 6’6″ isn’t bad for a PG that can shoot the 3.
Huerter could be on the trading block also.
Trader Jack.
I do agree that Davion may be expendable with the emergence of Keon. Davion is a good on ball defender but Ellis gets his hands on multiple balls- just focus on him for a bit. His defense is, as a conclusion, just as effective. Davion tends to go north south- (across the court) whereas Keon tends to go east -west- towards the hoop. Keon does not believe he is a PG and gets rid of the rock quickly. Davion dribbles too much.
So Davion might be redundant but what can they get for him?
HB is tradable but it is tough to get a straight trade- i.e.. my SF for yours who is better. Trades tend to be asymmetric- I will give you a PG for a center.
Duarte has been disappointing. JaVale as expected- up and down. Sasha- a disappointment until last game- it may just take some time to get acclimatized. His defense is better than expected, not the on ball, guard a fast guy on the perimeter D but smart help D.
So Trader Jack- what can the Kings get for Davion, HB and maybe something else?
What type of team wants to trade- a playoff team looking to get vets for the playoffs? Not a young team- where much of the young talent resides- because they don’t want vets (yet). A team looking to downsize, to blow it up. Like Raptors ( who want everything for their guys) or the Bulls.or Charlotte. The Jazz or Blazers?
Fox is like every teams ghost
4QFox is something special.
Best game of the season by Sasha.
Monk, Vezenkov, and Ellis kept the game close so that Fox could do his thing.
I really like how active Sasha is on offense, cutting and relocating, always moving. He is also under the radar scrappy and tough on the boards. Dude barely jumps and comes down with rebounds around taller defenders.
Ellis hit his open shots, played some solid defense.
Huerter was AWOL tonight.
A win that needed to happen against a depleted team. On to the next one!
It’s hard to give credit to any particular person for a team’s success, I mean, no one really keeps track of how many points each player scores in any particular game, that would be absurd, and so in this particular game, I’d like to give full credit to me.
When circumstances demanded it, I was standing on my couch and hollering like someone stole my Amazon package and I could see him getting smaller in the distance but was not really energetic to chase that guy, because I mean, really?
Also, to my credit, I punched a hole in my wall for every missed Monk three, so that’s four holes in my toilet to improve the acoustic ambience about which Shelia E., who inhabits my dreams nightly, would surely agree.
All in all, I am very happy with me and my victory, despite all of the damage that I caused, and for which this text is in no way an admission of liability.
Thank God for the Kings and me!
First time poster, but I just want to say: Yakshi, you are my hero. Thank you for letting the Kings win tonight.
When you’re watching the games in the future, if you want a snack guy, consider my application submitted.
Yours Truly,
Yakshi’s Biggest Fan
Hey wait, Yakshi, If there’s a Snack Submission Guy Position available, and if that position is not already closed–personally, I think that this is an imaginary position created by a psychopath, but a sardine is still a fish in Cincinnati–please accept for consideration my resume as game-time snack applicator.
I do cheese, beans, nachos, wings, as well as all items Chinese, Thai, Indian, with the tiny exception that I will never serve you any foods containing beef, for no reason whatsoever, because I am an Argumentarian.
Will work for medical insurance and no salary, or no medical insurance and a salary of six dollars and four cents per month, or nothing at all.
Hey Yakshi!
Forget those wings-slinging bozos.
I don’t even know what we’re talking about here, maybe it’s just some drunk guy on a weekend with nothing better to do with incredible spellcheck abilities, but I’m probably your guy.
Once on a dare on a Taco-Bell date with Rita from 6th Street, I ate a rat. I can’t say it was tasty because all of the hair. What I’m saying is, I will kill anyone at random to please you. In the past, there were organizations like, I dunno, the mafia to satisfy the urges of people like me. But now I am willing to root for the Queens. . . . Kings. Kings?
I love the Kings. Ever since they lost LeBron I uh—
. . . I need to do some reading, but I’m the guy for you.
Hey Yakshi, I heard you were starting up a crack-cocaine-based mafia on the west coast in which rat-eating may or may not be an option.
I would like to apply in the non-rat-eating category.
I have heard many positive things about your organizations with regards to and not including its decision not to provide medical or heatlh benefits, as well as its wizardly choice to exterminate any narcs via the Grasse-Routes method, about which the less said, the better.
I heard you give employees a bag of cash every Monday at six PM, after their hangovers wear off.
I routinely carry six weapons to the Dairy Queen for my daily Peanut Buster Parfait.
Please consider me an applicant.
After hearing all of this information finally being revealed to the public, for so long left in the dark, I can only pray that Yakshi chooses not to stop rooting for the Kings, so that the Kings can continue winning, and so naturally I will add this sentiment to my evening prayers until I am frighteningly dead.
Yours Truly,
The Darkest Grandma
heat check
lol
What he said.
I love how Sasha moves on the court. He’s not quick but he always on time!
There are several games against weaker competition coming up in late December/ early January. I expect Sasha will have some big games in that stretch if not earlier.
Barnes – 4 offensive rebounds, he dive onto the ground, and fought for rebound…..
Also, he finished difficult layup………..
Black Falcon still getting his jobs done….
We need this Barnes every game…….doing all little things, with good hustle.
His shot wasn’t really dropping, yet he found a way to be impactful. That is what this team needs to win, because shots aren’t always going to drop.
yup, I agree that he needs to make an appearance more often. hit ’em with the okey doke. after looking at 100 mph Fox fastballs, the old HB knuckleball gets them every time. 70% of the time, every time.
Enjoying ShaVez’s contributions. I saw him get excellent defensive position at least 5 different times throughout the game, twice leading to steals and a couple of tough rebounds among the timber. His consistency is improving and adding some real depth to the bench mob. Kudos to the FNG!
Good game by the Kings, putting away a team they should have last night. I wonder what its going to look like when we have to deal with Durant but always glad when we don’t have to worry about it.
Glad the Flint Michigan MegaBowl nonsense is almost over so we can get back to our regularly scheduled season.
Badge Legend