For the final time this regular season, the Sacramento Kings took on their annoying neighbors from the south in a classic California showdown against the Los Angeles Lakers. A win would give the Kings a clean series sweep against the Lakers. A loss would give the Lakers an extra push in the standings, inching them closer to the heels of Sacramento. With the way things have been going lately, where up is down and left is right, the Kings had a good chance of breaking the brooms out after this one. Let’s see how they did:
Quick Stats
Outcome: Kings win, 120-107
Sacramento Kings: 120 pts, 52.3% fg, 46.3% 3 pt, 75.0% ft, 30 ast, 44 reb, 14 to
Los Angeles Lakers: 107 pts, 48.7% fg, 43.8% 3 pt, 77.3% ft, 25 ast, 38 reb, 14 to
Do you hear that? It is the sound of brooms sweeping the floors everywhere around the greater Sacramento area. The Sacramento Kings have officially swept the Los Angeles Lakers this season with tonight’s big win at home. With this win, the Kings increase their separation over the Lakers in the standings, the beam is lit, and all is right in the world.
The Good, The Better, & The Best
The Good:
- Welcome to Ellis Island: With Kevin Huerter out tonight, Keon Ellis got the starting spot and made a convincing case of why he should remain there. Ellis had an immediate impact on the defensive end and fit seamlessly into the Kings’ fast flowing offense. Early on, it became clear that De’Angelo Russell was in for a rough night. Ellis fought over every screen and recovered on every point of attack to disrupt and frustrate Russell with the ball. To top it off, just when Russell thought he might get a break, Davion Mitchell came in and took over right where Ellis left off, keeping Russell trapped in basketball hell. Russell scored just 1 point through three quarters and ultimately finished with 6 points. Ellis racked up 3 steals on the night. On the offensive end, Ellis looked confident in his role, not hesitating to take open shots within the flow of the offense and making decisive drives to keep the ball moving. He finished with 14 points on 3-5 from the 3-point line. With the defensive presence he brings to the starting lineup, and being stacked with Mitchell’s equally intense defense off the bench, Ellis may have found himself a new job in this starting lineup.
The Better:
- Team Win: A win is good. A win against the Lakers is great. A win against the Lakers by a dominant and collective team performance should be labeled as a controlled substance in Sacramento because I want it pumped through my veins at all times. The best part of this win was that everyone did their job. All five Sacramento starters finished in double digits. Domantas Sabonis notched another incredible triple double with 17 points, 19 rebounds, and 10 assists. It still blows my mind that this is the kind of production we can expect from a Sacramento Kings player every night. De’Aaron Fox does what he does best under the bright lights and showed off his midrange expertise with 21 points and 7 assists. Keegan Murray earned himself a double double with 19 points and 11 rebounds on 5-10 from deep. Off the bench, Malik Monk provided timely plays and shotmaking down the stretch, while Alex Len brought the physicality needed to contain the Lakers while Sabonis got his rest. Everyone did their part and played within their roles and it was beautiful basketball to witness.
- Timely Responses: The Lakers had multiple runs from multiple players tonight, but the Kings did well in responding to all of them. To start, Austin Reaves opened the game up on a heater, scoring 13 of his 28 points in the first quarter. The Kings eventually slowed him down with different defensive looks and forced other Lakers to step up. Rui Hachimura was next, scoring 17 of his 20 points in the first half by finding all the weak spots in the Kings’ defense and taking advantage of mismatches. Again, the Kings made adjustments with varying defenses and forced the Lakers to pass the torch. The Kings had their best defensive quarter in the third, holding the Lakers to just 17 points. Down the stretch, LeBron James (18 points, 13 rebounds) and Anthony Davis (22 points, 10 rebounds) tried to kick things into gear for Los Angeles, but once again, the Kings responded accordingly and prevented the Lakers from gaining any significant momentum for a comeback. The Kings did what good teams do – they suffered some runs, called a timeout, and responded with defensive effort and offensive execution.
The Best:
- Clean Sweep: Any day where the Kings beat the Lakers is the new best day of my life. 4-0 never sounded so good. At what point is this no longer a rivalry? (Just kidding, I will hate the Lakers until I am rotted dust in the ground).
The King of Kings
Harrison Barnes was out of his mind tonight in the best way possible. He led the Kings with 23 points on 7-11 from the 3-point line, with 4 of those cashing in during the fourth quarter. Every time LeBron James tried to breathe life into the Lakers for a final push, Harrison Barnes was there to punch them in the stomach and knock the wind out of them with another dagger. We all knew he wasn’t here to mess around when he did this in the first quarter:
Great snap drive from Harrison Barnes before throwing it down.
The Black Falcon is in the building. pic.twitter.com/s2qhgUNhn2
— Brenden Nunes (@BrendenNunesNBA) March 14, 2024
Up Next
Saturday, March 16th vs. New York Knicks – 7:00 P.M. (PT)
We finally broke the “we can’t get more than 10 games over .500” curse!!!
Never felt so good to sweep a team for the season. Keon Ellis is awesome.
Defense, baby! (Keon, baby!)
These last two games have been awesome. I hope they keep it up.
ABB, is Keon Ellis an NBA player?
I told that doofus two years ago that Ellis was going to earn a role in the rotation sooner rather than later. Sure has been quiet this week…
I also like the dual criticisms that McNair can’t find value outside of the first round, while also labeling Ellis as a D-League player who has no business getting minutes on an NBA squad.
Pick a lane! One is as equally stupid as the other.
I have to admit, I was low on Ellis myself. Glad I was wrong. I guess I’ll stick to my day job.
Why say something when you have an opinion?
Much easier to say nothing and then jump on people when they go against the fanboy mob.
Keon is one of the few I’ve gotten right. Thought he had a high ceiling as soon as I saw play. Can’t believe he was not drafted given how the game is played now.
Whatever happened in college had something to do with it.
They were quick to sign him knowing full well nobody was going to draft him for some reason.
Kings wanted him in the draft and were confident that he would drop past the second round. Had the sign papers in front of him before Adam Silver or his partner even left the podium.
Monte has a bad track record after the first round, but he hit a HR with this. All teams need a wild card- undrafted guy, let go by someone else too early guy or a Euro (but that has not worked out yet)
You assume anyone ever reads what you write?
80% of what you say is gibberish that is no where near reality.
Never stood on a dumb position before?
No, baby. Just you. See above for proof.
All of your gibberish is solid and never stupid.
Got it.
Yeah, that comment didn’t age well at all.
I have an opinion….I say it.
Who is ABB?
The guy who isn’t a fanboy and will say what he thinks.
For the last three days….yes.
I know I sound like a homer and sound like making this shit up but………………….I said early on that I thought Keon was a player. My suggestion – that the Kings did not follow- was to have him play the role that Terrance Mann did in his first couple of years with the LAC- enter game at end of quarters for defense. Mann did that and worked his way into the rotation.
Keon is still hesitant on his shot and needs a mid range game with confidence and needs to not get the yips on fast breaks but he has skills and potential.
Next years break out guy- Colby Jones. He is confident, shifty and a get to the basket guy.
Just last month, Monte McNair converted Keon Ellis from a two-way contract to a three-year, $5.1 million contract with a team option for the third year.
I think that kind of low-risk, high-upside move, which is clearly already paying dividends, will be seen as right up there among his best.
Opens up more options for improving the roster this offseason if Ellis can continue to contribute this way.
Let’s hope that Colby Jones will have a similar impact next season. Another low cost move that could pay off.
The little important wrinkle here is if Monk walks this summer for more money elsewhere, the Kings were almost forced to keep Huerter for his skillset and role. Now, if Ellis continues to perform, Monte’s has far more options.
I disagree. I think Huerter is replaceable at this season’s performance level. He makes a fine bench player in my opinion, or see what assets you can get for him.
Not so much if Monk walks. You won’t be able to replace Huerter with superior wing talent via trade, even if Ellis ascends to a starting role. Like you said he’s a fine bench player and may even excel in that role.
Of course all of this could change is someone like Colby Jones steps up or Monte pulls a rabbit out of his hat.
Have you watched a basketball game?
Why not bring back Giles?
I mean, if Keon Ellis is going to play like this, we can start having some different conversations about this team. He’s been AWESOME since entering the rotations. I just can’t figure out why he wasn’t in the rotation for the middle part of the year.
I still have no clue why Coach Brown gave him a DNP-CD against Chicago when he had just played the game before that.
The Chicago game is especially glaring as White and DeRozan started going off you don’t play your best perimeter defender when he’s been playing well? I thought that was Mike Brown’s worst coached game of the year. At least he seems to have learned from his mistake.
DeRozan has been playing amazing lately
He’s been incredible the last couple weeks.
White took a rough shot from Siakam landing on him yesternight.
Bummer too. He’s one of those players who really surprised me with his consistent high-level of play.
Made no sense. He has played well almost all season.
Can the team just keep starting Keon?
I am baffled by it. Seems like Brown is enamored with Huerter’s rare hot shooting streaks and ignoring that game in, game out Keon provides more of what this team needs to win.
I think Huerter is pretty valuable when he’s shooting well. But when he’s not? He kills the starting lineup.
I think Ellis can help team get to 2nd round – woot!
All around great win. Everyone did their part en route to defeating evil.
I thought Coach Brown did a good job making in-game adjustments, throwing different looks at players when they were getting open too much (Reaves and Lebron), forcing AD out to the arc, doing some voodoo to make Rui disappear in the 2nd half, etc. Maybe Brown’s best coaching of the season.
LTB!
Gotta dance with this sweep!
Coach Brown won a challenge, too!
(Sabonis block on AD after AD missed that dunk, first whistled as a goal-tend).
Rui who?
he was the toughest matchup of all the fakers. Big, strong and can shoot and did in first half. Second half- disappeared. I think it is D. Ham and LeBron thinking that he has to “take over”.
So after games like tonight, is Harrison Barnes’ contract good or bad? Kings don’t win this game without his contribution.
I’m still undecided
Been efficient this season, just not consistently showing up game-to-game. Undecided as well.
It’s good when the Black Falcon soars!
Just keep it simple, if Monte had not gone over the cap to extend Banres, who would be playing his role right now? The Kings would not have had the cash to replace him in free agency and we’d likely be looking at an ugly 3 man rotation of Lyles, Sasha, and Edwards in the Barnes role.
From all that, the contract is good because it is an asset retained and an asset that can be moved in the future. Sometimes the player for the contract is just as important as the contract for the player.
Let’s wait until the end of the season and see what’s happened. If he keeps doing what he’s doing Monty has more options on the table.
Jack!
HB does not have an over-valued contract. He has contributed, albeit not as much as last year but in some games he has been crucial.
Lyles has under-performed and Sasha has not performed, so the HB move, in retrospect is fine. Kings could us a bevy of talented 6/8-6/9 guys. OG and Pascal were tempting but way too expensive for this team. A trade comparable to the OG to NYK trade would have been tough on the Kings. Pascal did not/would not give any indication that he would be more than a rental. Hard pass.
There are off season options. One of the problems is as soon as a guy gets good, the price goes way up. Be nice to get them younger but no pick this year.
I really like either Tari Eason or Jalen Smlth as a mid level trade. Jalen can play along side Sabonis and also backup Sabonis at center. As you know I have always liked Tari. Can play both SF or PF.
Tari out for year I think.
Just unsure of Smiths toughness
and your dude Z. Collins is ok
The amount of games he’s shown up for us vs the amount of games we needed him to and he didn’t edge a little more toward the “didn’t” side, IMO.
Still, I like HB and don’t think he’s the reason we get gapped some games. I def think he could be a little more assertive at times, for sure but last night is literally his optimal contribution level; pressure release valve to the tune of 20+ points when called on.
Obligatory:
Immediate Thumb for you.
Automatic thumbs up, no matter what.
Automatic up—percut
Even back then Keon was showing up for us!
It’ll be interesting to see what Brown does with the rotations going forward. Huerter hasn’t been terrible this season, but has dropped off since last season which was a career season for him. If you compare him to Keon, he’s a better creator with the ball and shoots better. While he has length and can disrupt the passing lanes, his on ball defense has been bad. He has come up clutch a few times with effort plays grabbing critical rebounds and even had a few timely blocks to secure games. He obviously has experience and has earned a spot in this league and should have a reasonably long leash. When K-von shows up he’s a game changer.
Keon on the other hand has shown he’s a very good on-ball defender and team defender, and he can hit open 3s. His ability to create and ball handling are questionable. You can’t have him be your primary ball handler. His ability to disrupt on defense should have earned him significant minutes.
Throwing Davion into the mix, he’s a better ball handler and has great on ball defense. He lacks the length of Keon and I actually prefer Keon over Davion defensively because of Keon’s versatility. Davion’s ability to spread the floor is suspect and his shot doesn’t look right, even if he’s been making a decent percentage lately. I don’t trust his shot and he’s probably a 33% three point shooter, which won’t garner too much respect in this league.
I’m probably moving Huerter to a backup role and starting Ellis for a bit to see how that plays out. The starting rotation has plenty of ball handlers and they probably can afford to have a guy on offense that is a pure spacer. I’d try a backup unit giving Davion’s minutes to Huerter, leaving the ball handling duties to Huerter, Monk, and Sabonis when Fox is sitting. There’s no true point guard in this lineup, but I think they have enough ball handlers to make it work.
As for how you end the game, go with the hot hand. You can go small with a Ellis, Fox, Monk 3 guard lineup or flow with Huerter, Sasha, or whoever else might be on a heater that night.
Is Davion really the better ball handler? To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure if Davion does anything better than Ellis.
I will say this, Davion got down right jumped over a few times last night. His lack of size and shooting will never make him a key rotational player in the league.
Question Adamsite. I previously read an article where Monty could trade Barnes and Mitchell and 3 firsts for MIchal Bridges. What’s your take on this. Michal would be your SG and Huerter would come off the bench which would look like Ellis, Monk, Huerter, Lyles and probably Len.
dude, that’s a discussion for the offseason.
3 firsts is a hell of a lot to give up for a guy you peg as your third best player and is the same type of guy you envision Keegan to be, who you currently have on a rookie scale deal. I’d rather just go target a guy like Thybulle at have the contract and a 1/3 of the assets needed to get him.
I’d be okay going for Bridges, but think I’d rather go after Claxton or Johnson.
I also like Johnson. At 6’8′ can p;ay SG.
ball-handling, passing, driving, midrange pull-ups, hands.
they’re totally different players. but as mentioned before, I think Keon would fit in the starting unit next to Fox better than Davion would, and I still think there’s a role for Davion as backup PG.
with 17 games left, I would not tinker with starting line up but would give some of them a quicker hook.
Fuck the Lakers!
much obliged…
Loved the Espn crew’s takes. Lots of good stuff on Domas, Fox, Keegan and Keon.
We’re streakin’ baby! Back to back solid full game performances.
Could we be putting it all together at the right time?
Keep starting Keon!
Keon Ellis is shooting 38.9% 3PT on 2.3 attempts per game.
KH is shooting 36.3% 3PT on 5.5 attempts per game.
2 of the last 4 games, Keon has gone 3-5 from beyond the arc (Spurs, Lakers). The other 2 games, he shot 1-3 combined from three. Total, that’s 7-14 (50%) over the last four games. On the year, Keon’s 3PT% is better than Huerter (4th highest on the team: or 3rd highest if you remove Jordan Ford’s 67% on .5 attempts), and while the sample size of the last four games is admittedly small, he has shot better when given more attempts.
While I do not think Keon is a better shooter than Huerter, the numbers tell me he should continue to receive more minutes and shot attempts.
If the main argument to keeping KH in the starting lineup is that he is a better shooter, the 3PT numbers suggest otherwise.
I think Keon’s performance on both end of the floor tips the scale in his favor, and ultimately makes KH replaceable.
I agree completely. What numbers don’t tell you is the player’s shot selection. Huerter takes 1-2 forced/off balance 3s per game in my view. I don’t see Keon taking bad shots.
It’s not even that I would say Keon is a better player than Huerter it’s that he matches what this team needs better.
One thing that concerns me is players have eyes and ears and if it is clear that Keon is better for the team and Brown stays dedicated to Huerter he could lose the team.
Keon’s SSS of shooting should be taken with a gain of salt. My eyes tell me teams are letting him shoot because they don’t know what he is capable of…yet. Huerter, on the other hand, is part of every team’s game plan. They know the DHO is coming and plan for it. Keon is getting spray threes.
Exactly. Keon is taking open shots when they are there not forcing anything. Huerter definitely forces shots.
Seems like the Huerter DHO has been figured out and that was the one thing that Huerter was elite at for a bit.
I would take my chances with Keon.
I’m still giving Huerter the edge on shooting, because he’s proven it long term. He’s made 891 career threes at 38%, which is very good. Ellis has made 41. Lets just temper expectations a bit until we see a long term trend.
Nope I have seen enough of Huerter. His occasional hot streaks don’t outweigh his deficiencies.
I don’t favor Keon because of shooting. In fact it’s about last on my list.
But we were specifically talking about shooting….
I too like the idea of Ellis and what he brings elsewhere, but am just not ready to anoint him the future at SG. Let’s just see how the rest of the season plays out.
Nope start Keon now. Bring Huerter off the bench if he is hitting his 3s, he plays if he is not, he sits.
And this is what my main point is and what I said earlier:
‘It’s not even that I would say Keon is a better player than Huerter it’s that he matches what this team needs better.’
I agree.
I’m sure that if Keon is getting more playing time, teams are going to start scouting him and coming up with game plans. Going forward, I’d be surprised if teams will keep letting Keon shoot open shots.
True, but if Keon scores below 10 pts a game he still contributes a lot. I doubt Keon offensively is going to be at the top of any scouting reports any time soon.
One way teams could game plan Keon is to attack him and try to get him in foul trouble. Being a young, inexperienced player the refs aren’t going to do him any favors.
So more spacing then..
Even if Keon only scores say between 4 and 10 his defense will get us 8 to 10 points which is considerable enough to win most games.
Agree on the SSS, but Keon did shoot 44% from 3 last season with Stockton.
Even if the teams have learned how to defend the DHO, it is still something they have to scheme for, which allows the offense to play off of that and add some diversions by using the DHO. Trick defenses to heavily guard the DHO, and then hit them with something else.
Keon doesn’t do the same things as Kevin offensively, so having both options can keep defenses guessing.
This is an important point. Throw percentages out because Huerter is viewed as a lethal 3 point shooter while Ellis is not. That’s what actually matters. If Keon keeps knocking down threes that will change.
You really can’t compare Huerter’s with Keon’s threes. One for the whole season compared to a couple of games. IMO start Keon for a couple more games see what’s happening and then make a decision. Huerter over his career has been a really good 3 point shooter. Keon is a far better defender. IMO we need that defensive drive right now. We also need better offense from our bench. Is this a good dilemma you bet it is. I also think Lyles needs to step it up more down the stretch. Len is doing what we asked him to do. I firmly believe Murray is going to improve along with his defense a better offense down the stretch. The most important thing that will decide all this is first NO INJURIES to your core players and second if we can play defense like we have the last couple of games. GO KINGS!
Good point. Great to have more players who are pushing and out-performing each other.
My original point in all this is that I believe, at this point, and unless something drastic happens, Huerter is replaceable.
It has been pretty evident that Keon Ellis has stepped up, and some of the other Kings players spoke to that sentiment a few post-game’s back.
I would rather roll the dice with Keon at this point, instead of trying to force Huerter into a lineup that seems to be thriving without him.
I agree.
What I like most from the game is fans chanting “BEAT LA !!!!”
This chant really energize the team.…..
This win is an important one, and really happy that everyone showed up….
Durate hitting 3, Davion driving and kick out to Barnes for corner…Len defending the paint
It always a good day to beat the Lakers !!!
Len with a casual 3 pt. buzzer beater…
Great couple of wins. I love Keon starting and playing more. I was disappointed to hear Brown say when asked about Keon starting ‘I’m not there yet’….
I AM!
Said it here before I do not get Brown’s dedication to Huerter starting and his reluctance to reduce his minutes. It’s obvious to me this team is better with Keon.
Coach Brown, turn on the jets! and start Keon already
You have my vote.
There could be many reasons for coach Brown to say that.
But yeah, I’m liking the idea of starting Keon the more I think about it. he fits next to Fox, especially during the 1st 3 quarters. Keegan would also benefit by not having to guard the opponent’s best guard every possession. keep those two out of foul trouble.
The cons would be not having the playmaking, versatility, and floor-stretching ability of Huerter, but that might be offset by the offensive boost the Kings get from defensive stops, and the ability of Keegan and HB to have bigger roles on offense.
Well said. I think you nailed it when it comes to helping Keegan but Huerter still has the edge on the offensive end. It’s a balancing ac for Brown right now.
I think how the game is flowing. Might need offense. Might need defense. Also is Huerter shooting well or missing a lot. The dilemma is Browns Haven’t had that since Keon starting. I would think Brown and the other coaches would love that dilemma.
I agree with all of that.
My main reasons for wanting to start Keon over Huerter would be:
Your second point is underrated. There has been a lot of confusion this season between Keegan, Huerter and Barnes on who is supposed to be taking shots after Fox/Domas. Barnes’ worst games this year have been when he is completely uninvolved on offense. Keegan is also better when he’s more aggressive on O, and less exhausted playing D.
You put Keon into the starting 5 and it becomes very clear that he is there to take about 6-8 opportunistic shots a night, move the ball, and defend the best guard. That allows Keegan to focus more on becoming the true No. 3 option, and it empowers Barnes to take 12-15 shots a night, too.
Better defense and more efficient offense from your forwards? Sounds like a winning formula.
It happened last night although Keegan was guarding James most of the night.
I like this. I understand why Huerter would want to take shots. He was good at hitting shots off the DHO last year. But it is not working out this year for whatever reason.
It just seems to me like he forces it a bit too much, and when it doesn’t work out, it is as if he is in his own head. Like he feels like he should be the third option, but at this point, he is no longer that piece, at least according to what this team needs and what makes it thrive.
I agree with all these points.
I have two arguments for a slightly different solution.
I think that Barnes would react better than Huerter to a bench role and would thrive as a main offensive cog on the second unit, whereas Huerter is either on or off, wether off the bench or in the starting lineup (I could be wrong).
Also, Huerter garners a lot of attention as the main DHO partner of Sabonis. He could act as a decoy in developing plays that open up others while defenders focus on disrupting the DHO.
Move keegan to the 4, Huerter or Keegan as SF and have Malik and Barnes as your 1-2 punch off the bench.
In reading this back and forth amongst everyone, I think you have hit a keen point Rik.
Ellis has been great, especially against expectations, but he isn’t anywhere near the type of shooter or playmaker that Kevin is, and I think it would be a bad idea to over expose him whilst his confidence is building so solidly.
One of the first things MB does to start off every game is to run a few DHO’s for Kevin. He knows how to run off a screen, he can shoot, he is a decent playmaker if the shot isn’t there, and he has gravity and defenses react to him. Ellis can’t run that play. Ellis still has some pretty rough moments in both decision making and completing some fairly basic passes, so I don’t see what the staff should put him in a situation where he has some rough parts and loses confidence rather than letting him keep finding his place and building on small successes like we have seen the last two weeks.
I understand the case for having a better on-ball defender like Ellis in the starting lineup, but would probably prefer your solution. I think HB’s ability to bully smaller players, and bait younger players into biting on his fakes and off-the-wrong-foot-floating-fadeaway-off-the-glass isolation moves works really well for the second unit, especially as Keegan continues to show the ability to rebound and challenge shots as a weak side defender.
I could see that working as well, with the caveat that Huerter has a short leash. If his shot isn’t falling, he sits.
I think running more post ups with Barnes is a good idea too. Feels like that they did that more last year, especially to reverse the flow when they starting giving up a big run. I recall one recent game (Clippers maybe?) in particular where they ran several post ups for him in the 3rd quarter to get them out of a funk.
Kings fans: Can we trade for Alex Caruso?
Monte: We have Alex Caruso at home.
Alex Caruso at home:
If we have Keon, Murray and also Fox playing defense IMO we need someone like Michal Brides or Dejounte Murray
King Keon’s Coronation
Looking at the standings. The Kings are a solid 3 games up on the Lakers at the 9th seed and 4 games up on the Warriors at the 10th seed, with 17 games to go. IMO, it would take a collapse by the Kings AND a resurgence by their division rivals to change things.
The battle for the 6th spot is now down to Sac, PHX, and Dallas. I’m still of the mindset that I DO NOT want to be in a position of to face one or both the Lakers or Warriors in the play-in.
Kings are a full tier above Dallas, LAL and GSW imo. From my perspective it’s a dog fight between Sac, PHX, and NOP for the final 2 guaranteed playoff spots. At this point, though, I’m quite comfortable that the Kings will be making the postseason – play in or not.
Did you check out the last ten games on the schedule for PHX? Rough. I think they are likely to stay in the play in sans some luck with other teams resting players to close the season.
Boston, Charlotte, and Milwaukee are their next three games. We gotta take advantage of that.
Kings have tie breaker on Suns right now- head-to-head is 2-2. But one more game to go end of March Quirky season- play then 5 times. We blew a large lead over them earlier in the year.
NOP could be tough to catch.
6, actually might be better than 5 since 5 plays 4. which might be LAC. 6 plays OKC or Timberwolves, I suspect.
And it’s looking increasingly likely that the Lakers and Warriors will be 9th and 10th, so if things hold to form, one of those teams is being eliminated via the play-in game.
yes, I was so frustrated for the last couple of weeks and now 2 wins and I am pulled back in.
May thy AD chip and shatter.
As of right now, 6 in the standing looks like a good spot. Would be good to avoid the clips, pels and jokic
IMO if the Kings get into the playoffs it probably will be the 6th seed. After that its going to be the team who is playing the best no matter what. Right now if the Kings are starting to get hot and continue being hot these last games then anything could happen. You can’t will your opponent so the best thing is if its true the Kings stay hot beat the teams you are suppose to win and pick up some wins like the last 2 and stay away from injuties anything can happen. IMO when playing like the last 2 games with reasonable good defense and shooting a good percentage of 3’s the Kings can beay any team.i
Oh how our Tankathon posts have changed these past two seasons. It’s beautiful.
I know- Tankathon was my bible for 10 years. No longer
Side note.
We have complained, rightfully so, when the national folks do Kings games, they don’t know the finer details of the team, the in-season peaks and valleys, what the team has been going through on a specific level. They’ve seemed to regurgitate the same old narrative.
That wasn’t the case last night. The ESPN broadcast team knew very well who this team is. I found it quite enjoyable.
At the same time, it was a luxury hearing Doris only needing one possession to make her point. One day we will have that on our local broadcast, one day.
That was the best national broadcast game commentary I’ve heard in quite some time. It was just nice that it seemed like they had actually watched the team play before and unlike Bob Meyers, didn’t seem invested in the Kings losing.
I’ll give them props for being informed. That’s about all I can muster for that call, though. I’ll take Pat over Kayte, but that dude’s voice about put me to sleep, he wasn’t very interesting to listen to at all.
Edit / Add:
The production was very Lakers-centric until it was clear the Kings were going to win (how many times did they cut to coach Hamm in the huddle coming back from breaks, talked to Hamm on the sideline, etc. Only once for the Kings in the last qtr. unless I missed it) and I particularly like the fact that Kings broadcasts show the timeouts and fouls on the scoreboard graphic overlay, which I really missed last night.
bob myers is a douche
I mostly agree. One nit to pick was when Davion made his first appearance and chucked up a three that missed, the lady announcer pointed out his overall percentage and didn’t understand that shot at all, bad shot, what was he thinking.
We all know Davion has been on a bit of a tear recently and didn’t really mind the attempt.
It was out of the flow and with like :18 left on the shot clock. Not a great shot by him.
Have we not learned that the players are to take open 3s in the context of the Mike Brown “system”?
Keegan got yelled at earlier in the season for passing a wide open 3. McGee and Len shoot them. Its part of the offense, I don’t think it matters how much time is on the clock. We. Shoot. The. Damn. 3.
You have to have a good look. Patience instead of just chucking a 3 for the love of it doesn’t help.
He was open. That’s a shot to take. Its not like he was at midcourt
A couple of times last night I thought about switching over to the ESPN broadcast but thought the better of it. Guess I should have given them a shot last night!
Has anyone seen a super cut of how many times AD fell over after bumping into Domas last night? Was is six? seven?
That time Domas brought the ball up, went into AD in front of the basket, and turned into him and sent him into labor as was one of the funniest things I have seen all season.
AD needs to be the new Charmin Soft Toilet Paper guy.
He took that unintentional Domas arm to the chin. I could understand why he went down. I was surprised that it wasn’t called an offensive foul.
Got to lead with your chest, not your face!
Coach Hamm tried to challenge it, which I thought was hilarious. How do you challenge a no call…?
well, that’s the fakers.
I also thought it was great. Looking at Davis especially in the Kings games seems to me he has lost an edge this year. I wonder if him getting older and slower he isn’t what he used to be. Right now especially in the Kings game Sabonis is the better player. If I had, but I don’t, would definitely vote Sabonis over Davis anyday.
Im with you Jack.
Keon has the athleticism, the drive and commitment to be a great defender in this league. His BBIQ is underrated. He needs to get as many minutes as possible for this team to improve. Without him and Davion getting minutes, the team is one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA. With them, the team is at least a mid-level one. I’ve always been perplexed as to why it has taken Brown so long to get them on the floor this season, especially Keon, who hasn’t struggled like Mitchell. As OLDBHOY and jwalker1395 noted in a good observation, Barnes plays better with Keon on the court.
A reply to Adamsite to my question above Thybulle would be good for the Kings but if Keon keeps doing what he is doing IMO I would go after a Jalen Smith or Tari Eason instead if a Thybulle.
Hot Take:
These last two games, the 3rd Q let down no longer appears. The Kings have learned that it’s a 48 minute game. Same goes for end of quarters – they aren’t letting these two better teams (Milwaukee and LAL) cut their lead to end a quarter (or half). 11 steals, 30 assists. All Kings in the positive, All Lakers in the negative on the +/- scale.
Big game from Harrison Barnes, though Keegan’s numbers were impressive as well. And again – nice job Alex Len. He plays within himself, if that’s not too awkward a statement and seems very court aware.
Next.
Kings sweep the Ls. Fitting name for them this season. You love to see it.
This is quite enjoyable. Have a read:
Absolute gold, and to a fan base that legitimately deserves it.
FWIW, I think Ham is probably a pretty good coach, but (and this isn’t meant as a dig at LBJ) when your roster includes Lebron, you’ll never be fully in charge.
Eventually, the Lakers will fire Ham, pay him a ton of money for the privilege, and he’ll get another shot a team that’s less high-profile. I’d not be a bit surprised to see him thrive.
Maybe Mike Brown will hire him, I’m certain that his staff will have some openings this summer as other teams pry away some of our first-rate assistants.
I’d be shocked if Jordi Fernandez was still on the coaching staff after this season. He already was getting interviews for head coaching spots last summer.
Budenholzer. Another HC spot should be filled.
That said – the coach has to match the GM and the team. I used to believe that Monty Williams was a very good coach. And Quin Snyder.
not so much after this season. Is it the Chef or the restaurant?
Domas just appeared on cover of an NBA game
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Badge Legend