Fresh off a nail-biting victory over the Golden State Warriors, the Sacramento Kings continued their 7-game road trip with a visit to Dallas. The Mavericks were riding high off Luka Doncic’s 73 point outing against the Atlanta Hawks, but traveled from Atlanta to Dallas for the back-to-back. Could the Kings take advantage and secure a second win to start the road trip?
Quick Stats
Outcome: Kings win, 120-115
Sacramento Kings: 120pts, 53.8% fg, 36.7% 3 pt, 76.7% ft, 27 ast, 39 reb, 13 to
Dallas Mavericks: 115 pts, 43.9% fg 34.8% 3 pt, 72.2% ft, 35 ast, 43 reb, 10 to
Well, a win is a win. The Kings were in complete control for the first 2.5 quarters of this one, but the Kings habitually fail to put away their opponents. The Kings squandered multiple leads and allowed the Mavericks to hang around just long enough for the Kings terrible late-game execution to once again show its ugly head. The Kings get a W in the books, but need to consider themselves lucky, and take a good look in the mirror as they continue the season.
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
The Good:
- Keegan’s Defense: Keegan Murray guarded Luka Doncic early and often, and it was glorious. Three blocks, a drawn charge, and creating frustration and confusion everywhere. It’s incredible how much of a defensive leap Keegan has made in just his second year in the league, and it paints a picture of a very bright future for Murray as a two-way star. Keegan struggled with his shot in this one, but it’s great that Keegan has already evolved and grown to the point where he can has a huge positive impact on a game even without shooting well.
- Aggressive HB: Barnes continued his recent trend of starting games aggressive and finding opportunities to score. Barnes finished with 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists, and was 4 for 7 from beyond the arc. The Kings are simply a better team when Barnes is aggressive.
- Double Double Domas: Domantas Sabonis did not have his best game, but still extended his double-double streak with 17 points and 11 rebounds, plus 4 assists. I never want us to lose sight of just how consistently good Domas is. 17/11/4 as a bad night has us a little spoiled.
The Bad:
- The Bench: The Kings were carried by the starters in this game, while the bench struggled mightily. Malik Monk led the bench unit with 9 points. Monk made some beautiful passes but his shot wasn’t there for the second game in a row. JaVale McGee added 6 points, Trey Lyles has 1 point, and that was it. Davion Mitchell was scoreless in 11 minutes, and was absolutely cooked on defense.
The Ugly:
- Late game execution: This should have been an easy win, but the Kings let the Mavericks hang around. Down the stretch the Kings displayed every issue we’ve lamented in close games this season. We saw rushed shots, abandoning the offensive scheme, dumb turnovers, a failed coach’s challenge, and Malik Monk missing back-to-back free throws. It caused some major flashbacks, and the Kings were very lucky to survive all their mistakes.
The King of Kings
De’Aaron Fox
Star Fox is absolutely back. 34 points, 7/8 from the free throw line, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, and all the swagger we’ve come to love from Fox in a big game. And Fox put up those numbers despite struggling from beyond the arc, going just 1 of 5 from three.
Up Next
@ Memphis Grizzlies, Monday, January 29th, 5 PM PT
The Grin Reaper.
It’s such a creepy picture of Keegan I don’t want to see it.
I immediately had to log in just to rec the very first comment. Koudos!
Phew!!!
Dang, why do games gotta be like this.
Pack up the basketballs, get on the plane and put this behind you, Kings. On to Memphis.
Happy for the W and in terms of seeding this gives us at minimum a split with the Mavs which is big. But if they could actually hold a 20 point lead it would really be awesome. They seem to be on a mission to give the fanbase a stroke every night out.
agree- and it was 22 points twice. Poor execution.
good game until the poor 26-40 fourth quarter. I don’t get it- why not keep playing the same way?
This is about the tenth time this has happened- fourth quarter collapse and sometimes fatal.
Finished in time to hate watch the duds and LAL. 2 OT- mister mouthpiece was all giddy, thinking he won it but then LeBron, now a hated Laker, blew past rookie Carrot Top, and a flailing Kuminga only to get fouled by day-day who complained. James sank both (unlike Monk or Huerter) for the win.
So did I hear Kayte pretty much say that Malik may have the yips for last minute free throws?
I thought so too but since Kayte is always talking it is difficult to remember much .
See, what fans don’t understand is….
You people get off Katie’s case. I’d like to see you do the commentary and listen to my comments on yours. Katie knows basketball and that’s the bottom line. She is so much better explaning the game than those people on national television and those five old farts after the game that didn’t say or give anything good about the King’s game. Went on with the Celtics. IMO if the King’s can’t get some respect on national telervision then cancel any other games they might have. I’d rather listen to Katie any day.
But that’s just like..your opinion man..
Mine is that Kayte* is absolutely awful, even worse when combined with Draper.
I agree that the Pairing of Kayte and Drapes is not good but that has mostly to do with Drapes. She and Jones are much better imo. They need to offer Jones enough $ so he abandons his ESPN stuff and does kings work full time.
I agree Jack. I think Kayte is good, and getting better.
I think her formative years being during an all time bleak period of basketball left her with some bad habits that she is growing out of. She loves basketball, she loves sacramento, and she loves the Kings, so I am a fan.
So you’re saying that what the commenters don’t understand is that Katie is better than network announcers.
She sure did. Said it was all mental and was talking about the teams sports psychology person. Just something he needs to get past by putting the work and focusing in his process. The desired outcome will eventually come.
His FT misses bother me less than the dumb TO’s. I belive he had two on back-to-back possessions. One was absolutely inexcusable.
Lots of dumb turnovers
I think part of the reason the last two games, the kings have looked more like themselves on offense is because Monk is not dominating the ball.
I love the guy, but he cannot be the primary ball handler most of the time.
And I think these fourth quarter collapses are very much related to foxes in ability or unwillingness to just go to the hole/ (due to injuries and Moises freethrows). , but he’s doing that now because it looks like he fixed his free-throw stance?
Last year at the end of games, they would allow Fox to just go one on one which he dominates on. But now the rest of the team is starting to do that. When the game is tight, I don’t want to see Sabonis dribble dribble, dribble, dribble, or Monk, etc. If it’s not fox, they need to run the offense .
I mean, Keegan should be getting some touches.
I think she said free throws may be getting in his head or something
That’s better than the theory that he’s missing his FTs because some fans promised him their cookies after the game.
that was Luka- he likes, obviously, his cookies.
That guy eats a box of Mallomars while waiting for his food in the drive-through at Wendy’s.
They made it harder than it needed to be, but at this point I’ll take the win and just be happy we didn’t have a repeat of the Phoenix collapse game. Need to not take your foot off the gas no matter how big of a lead you’ve got.
We’re getting Memphis on one of their SEGABABA, so need to take advantage of that like how we did with Dallas on their SEGABABA tonight.
yes
I think Memphis plays Pacers in Indiana today and Mavs had played Hawks in Atlanta night before.
And the Dubs played the Hawks the night before they played us.
That was fun. The Kings definitely have their swagger back on the offensive side of the floor, and there were many good defensive possessions tonight. Funny how that starting lineup is effective when the SF & SG are not huge negatives.
I loved Fox’s shot selection tonight, I was missing the middie as of late. I have loved K-Von’s all around game lately too. Great effort rebounding, being handsy on defense, holding his own on switches, I loved when that Lonnie Shelton-wannabe Grant Williams tried to back Kevin down in the post only to be denied (Grant Williams is one of my least favorite players in the league).
Idk about this Dallas team. Doncic can win a lot of reg season games, but they just do not have the talent to go past the first round. Who is their third best player? Hardaway JR? Yikes. Grant Willams? Dollar-Store Raef Lafrentz Maxi Kleber? Lively, a rookie center? Derrick Jones? He is an 8th man at best, probably not even that. They need a forward badly.
Keegan is so good. I kept hitting rewind to watch him swat Luka on consecutive shots, to then watch Luka waddle up the floor complaining to get a tech. He might have the most punchable face in the league, even including Devin Booker.
I still feel like the Kings need a 4th guard, Davion can’t be it. Delon Wright, THT, Jevon Carter, Anthony Melton, someone who has a little size, capable defender, and not a negative on offense.
Good start to the road trip. This would be a great time to have a streak.
He might have the most punchable face in the league, even including Devin Booker.
Haha! This was good! I agree. Thumbs up
Monte Morris is someone that can help the team.
Monte has high assist to TO ratio. But a bit small. A poor man’s Lowry or Jameer Nelson
We have Keon Ellis. 6’6″ can play defense but hasn’t played lately. IMO the Kings are playing Davion because he could be a trading chip. Ellis knows his role and can shoot the 3 when needed.
Well, Davion hasn’t seized the moment.
Got the DPOG against the Hawks in a game won with D. Drilled 3 three’s against the dubs and pulled the chair on Klay. Kings won last 3.
He had a recent game 3 of 4 from 3 point range. Needs to work on mid-range shot, creating space like DeAaron and not just try to shoot 3’s.
2 way contract have a limit of 50 games play max. Kings would have to upgrade his contract to a fully guarantee 1 year contract. I think that’s why he havn’t been playing. They saving it toward the end of the season or after a trade maybe. Business side of the game kind of dirty.
Teams also can’t take 2-way players into the playoffs. They’d need to be converted to a regular deal if they want them postseason.
The Kings currently have 1 roster spot open after JTA finished his 10 day contract. I bet it stays that way until the deadline in case of a trade. Maybe Keon gets converted if that roster spot remains unfilled after the deadline.
yes, waiting game
Thank you. I did not know that about 2way contract.
I like Keon too, but I think he still needs some time before he is in the top 8-9 of a team hoping to make a run past the first round. Maybe in a year or two, he sure fits the bill of what I think the team needs in the backcourt to round out the Fox, Kevin, Malik trio.
Love the comments, insights and humor. Luka just looks like he wants to get punched, similar to Booker- it’s the silly side smirk.
Mavs are so one sided. Yes he got assists but how many times did he pas and his teammates missed? When you have the ball on EVERY possession, you will get assists. I thought Kings defense on him was good.
Mavs- third best player? Luka. He is their first and flat earth is second and he comes in again at third. Lively needs to learn to keep the ball up, big man.
Agree on fourth guard but not sure just who.
So Luka is empty calories!
I’ll focus on the positive today: the defense from the Kings was fantastic from midway through the first quarter until the third. Would be great for everyone (the players, coaching staff, but most of all the fans) if they could do it for a bit longer than 2ish quarters.
Something completely different, but why did Brown opt for McGee over Len? Len’s been fantastic this season.
MaGee was supposed to play last game and thy kept him on bench and JaVale probably matches up better with his younger self- Lively.
Never in d-ouch!!!
But it’s a win!
Not perfect, but they played fairly good defense most of the night. Swarming to shooters at the rim for good blocks and straps.
I do give credit to Barnes and herder for finding their form from last year. That’s why the O looks normal again. They still need to get defensive players in those positions but at least they look decent.
I did not see the game. Just curious by whom was Davion “cooked” on D? I did not see the game, but as a PoA defender, I would think 6’7″ 240lb Luka is absolutely the worst match up in the NBA for Davion.
Mavs worked to get him switched on Luka, which ended horribly. Didn’t think he stayed in front of anyone else either. He is a problem because of his small stature against most teams.
Also did nothing offensively. But when you get pulled after 2 or 3 minutes because of being a complete liability defensively, that is understandable
I don’t have issues with Luka outmuscling him or shooting over him, but he also blew by him twice, which was shocking to see.
Luka shouldn’t be blowing by anyone. He has the speed and acceleration of a walrus on land.
He looks soft and pudgy
Agreed. Can’t expect Davion to muscle up with Luka. The getting blown by was terrible. It highlights why Davion is a situational player and not a rotational player.
Both halves he came in and immediately picked up a stupid foul on the perimeter too.
I think Luka hooked him on both. If the refs aren’t calling it, there’s nothing Davion can do. It’s already a bad matchup.
Can we finally put the “Davion is an elite defender” myth to bed?
He switched his trainer in the offseason…or some excuse like that.
Yeah, Luka might not be a good matchup for Davion. The first foul call when they went chest to chest sort of confused him also – he was asking the ref politely why a foul was called. But against the Mavs earlier this year he D’d up Kyrie well – so I still like him in the Dallas matchup.
I agree there. If you want a capable defender on Luca giving Keegan a rest try Edwards. He was in a little last night and did a pretty good job.
I’d like to thank Vlade for this win. Had we drafted Luka, we’d be stuck with one superstar and a bunch of scrubs, like Dallas. Instead we have a complete team. He was playing chess while everyone else was playing checkers.
Ah yes… the famous chess play…
The Vlade pick.
I don’t think so. Last time I checked the Luka lead, Mavericks won and went kind of far in the playoffs?
certainly, you have to build around a player like Luca. But the same can be said for Fox.
Or maybe you were being sarcastic? Because it is one of the worst misses of all time
Yes. Sarcasm
I think we had a lot more depth than Dallas at the time of that draft. Fox, Barnes, Bogi, Heild, etc. Even if Fox and Luca could not coexist, one of them could have been traded so from a value standpoint it was still bad. The only thing good that came out of it is that Vlade got fired.
Yeah, three-dimensional Chesterfields.
All road wins are good. Really want us to start completing some of these blow outs though.
This is one of my pet pives. I don’t know how many times especially this year where we have a good lead and can’t keep it. Why can’t we sometimes up by 22 win the game up by 30 instead of 5. Very frustrating and doesn’t help my blood pressure any either.
Jack, we agree Mine was 210/120
I’ve read multiple write-ups that point out a breakdown of the Kings on both sides of the ball in endgame situations. I’ve read dozens of fan comments here denoting the same…
So I am struggling to understand how fans and writers can come to the same observation, and yet the coaching staff sitting courtside continues to let the same thing happen game after game.
Is it that difficult to keep this group of guys focused? Are they pulling a Giannis; and not listening to the coach and doing what they want? Or worse yet, does no one on the coaching staff feel the momentum swing and speak or act upon it to change what is happening?
I speculate team and sideline are trying, but I’m a bit dumbfounded that late-game breakdowns continue to happen and nobody seems to be able to stop it from happening.
It gets compounded also by the ISO play and nobody else taking a shot near the end of the game. Still need to move the ball and find open shooters. Keegan, Harrison, and Kevin are out there for spacing and shooting, and they need some shots when they are open.
Boy do I agree with your comment. I loved Fox’s game last night but when going to the middle and gets doubled or tripiled needs to sometimes kick the ball to a open player. IMO Keegan still doesn’t get enough touches especially late in the game.
It becomes predictable and easier to defend.
Why would you want either of the two best point guards of this generation when you can have Fox, a solid All-Star lol. I’d rather have Luka or Hali but oh well, team is pretty good, clearly not gonna crack top 4 in West, doubt even a trade would do it, not sure how they’re gonna do that. That would be amazing if Monte can figure that out in the next 2-3 years I’ll give him some time. Hopefully the Kings are learning at this stage in their success and maybe can stop with the slow starts and collapsing…def better than it was a couple years ago. Enjoying this ride we can play with anybody…but can also lose to anybody lol. I sleep well at night knowing the Lebrons and Dubs are average as fuck this year
Hot Take ramble: Grant Williams – not Luka or HB40 with a career high – and Kings get a Texas win!
&ct=g
Sac is in that second grouping of the Conference (and League).that is below the top winners (Minn, OKC, LAC, DEN) and above the fray of .500 (LAL, UTA, HOU) that make up the (damn) Play-Ins Posse.
Sac are playoff contenders, not Championship contenders. For being just one notch away from that dreaded drought, I’m still an approving fan. But worried.
This 5-8 grouping wouldn’t gnaw at me so if it weren’t for that silly additive to the ratings and click schedule – the (damn) play-in.
Let’s go through 7 calendar months and 82 games to kick the teams that land 7th and 8th in their conference in the shins.
i know, I know- there’s 38 games to go. Too much of a season, too many games ahead. Yet, I fret.
will the Kings stay in the mix at five, or six?
trade to be made, or further foster this current roster?
Am I alone in the club, expecting #5 and #10 to be an All-Star snub?
Happy Sunday!
Grateful for the W, but why on earth do the Kings go into “hero ball mode” late in every game? For 2 1/2 quarters, there was good movement and sharp passes leading to open and/or easy shots. Then, for some reason, that sort of disappears, and we see Malik and even Fox and Domas dribble, dribble, dribble… and more times than not there is a turnover or a failed shot. Dallas scored 40 in the 4th quarter, and that wasn’t totally on the defense. The offense just got stale. We saw similar things in Phoenix and Milwaukee. I kept waiting for Coach Brown to call a useful timeout or two when Phoenix went on those 11-1 runs. Didn’t happen. I find that head-scratching. Oh well, at least last night was a win…barely.
Seems like Kings get lead, relax and bit, slow it down and/or go for a home run shot to ice it. The home run shots turned into load fouls. or, as you said, they get dribilitis.
The “slow it down” part is the key. I get it if there is one or two minutes left, but stop doing it when there is still 5 or 6. It kills the offense.
Gosh darn it! Play offense the same way for 48 min. When up by a ton in the 4th give up the two, not the three.
Wow, Thunder lost to the Pistons by double digits.
Pistons have doubled their win total since trading Marvin Bagley 2 weeks ago.
The NBA is weird. Boston was down 31 to the Clips at home before throwing in the towel and letting the bench play the 4th.
Denver barely beat Philly, despite being at home, and Philly missing Embiid, Maxey, & Harris! Reed torched them for 30 pts, and even Beverly went for 17.
Which is why the Lions lost. The Pistons sacrifice their wins for Lions wins.
49ers are going back to the Super Bowl!!! Rematch from four years ago….but they gotta stop playing from behind. Can’t be trailing 24-7 at the half against the Chiefs…
As a neutral fan, this has been a very disappointing day.
I love how absolutely whipped Doncic looked in the second half. Second night of a back-to-back, sure, but he’s the most out-of-shape superstar I’ve seen Since Joe Montana showed up at training camp one year at 308 pounds.
And Monk is a bit broken. I’ve never seen him hesitant to take shots, and he is definitely doing that. Additionally, if Sabonis could catch passes with his knees, Monk would average fifteen assists per game. Just too many turnovers of the type that lead to fastbreak points.
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