After falling to the Portland Trail Blazers 127-102 on Friday, the Sacramento Kings faced off Portland again Sunday evening. This time, however, the Kings prevailed, winning 121-106 in a game where the youngsters shined.
The Kings came out running and gunning, similar to their approach on Friday, in the first quarter. Buddy Hield assisted De'Aaron Fox for a corner three; Tyrese Haliburton fed Richaun Holmes in transition for a thunderous slam; Sacramento was rolling, going on a 15-0 run in the quarter to take a double-digit advantage. Kyle Guy and Frank Kaminsky also received playing time because Cory Joseph (back soreness) and Jabari Parker (back soreness) were ruled out prior to tipoff. The two connected after Guy fed a pocket pass to Kaminsky for a tough layup. Sacramento led 30-21 after one.
The second quarter contained some interesting tidbits for Sacramento's lineup. Guy featured alongside Fox, and the Kings ran multiple pindowns for Guy to get him looks. Guy looked pretty solid with those minutes. There was also a play where Fox and Holmes reversed roles; Fox set the screen, and Holmes attacked the rim #Monteball. After attempting 50 threes in the previous game, Sacramento was on pace to pass that mark, attempting 26 threes in the first half. Portland cut the lead to 58-51 at halftime, knocking down some much-needed threes. Buddy Hield racked up the points in game one, but only shot 1-8 from the field in the first half. However, he looked to set up others often, which is what you want to see when the shot isn't dropping.
Sacramento opened the second half with the same starting lineup; Portland mixed it up, bringing in backups like Harry Giles and CJ Elleby. The Kings generated multiple good looks from deep, but they couldn't get any to fall. Portland slowly reversed the course of the game in a comeback led by Gary Trent Jr. and Giles. Some Enes Kanter baskets in the low block gave Portland the lead, and Sacramento failed to respond on the other end. Holmes, who the Kings used in the high post to make passes, fouled out in the quarter. Two free throws by Justin James and a steal and flush from Haliburton in the final seconds gave the Kings a lead entering the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter featured many of the youngsters for the Kings, with guys like Guy, Haliburton, Chimezie Metu, Robert Woodard II, and Jahmi'us Ramsey all entering the floor. Haliburton showcased his passing ability on multiple occasions; Woodard made an impressive up-and-under layup for his first points; Metu finished some tough shots down and converted a triple. Sacramento's youngsters outscored Portland's rotational guys (Trent, Derrick Jones Jr., Robert Covington, etc) 34-22 to win with a final score of 121-106.
Game Notes
Tyrese Haliburton. That's it. That's the article. Haliburton played 30 minutes and seemingly made an impact play in every single minute. The rookie finished with 11 points (5-10 overall, 1-3 3P), seven assists, six rebounds, one steal, and one block. It was a very encouraging second game for him.
With Joseph out due to injury, Luke Walton called on Guy for those minutes, and Guy seized them. Guy finished with 14 points (4-8 overall, 3-7 3P), five rebounds and three assists. He's undersized, and the athleticism he displays in the G-League hasn't translated to the NBA, but with the Kings short on playmaking, maybe Guy could provide that. However, he'd likely need to share the court with another initiating guard.
Metu stood out in the final quarter as well. He ended the game with 11 points (3-5 overall, 1-2 3P) in 12 minutes, along with four rebounds, one block and an assist. The Kings have a two-way spot alongside Guy open, so Metu could earn that spot at this rate.
Notable Stats
The Kings shot 14-49 from deep (28.6%). They are absolutely letting it fly, but not converting at an ideal rate. You'd hope the attempts go down and the makes go up sooner rather than later.
Sacramento won the rebound battle, 50-42. They also assisted more at 27-19. The youngsters had no problem moving the ball around to their fellow teammates.
Sacramento put up 27 fast-break points to Portland's 14. That's what you want to see.
Next Game
The Kings will return to Golden 1 Center to host the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. PST.
Mask it or casket, no doubt.
I don’t think there’s a ton to gain by mask shaming. They will all get covid at the same rate the regular population gets it. There’s literally 10 dudes huffing and puffing on the court at all times. I don’t think there’s that much added risk when Luke wears his mask below his nose.
This is pretty much where I’m at. Maybe working in health care I’ve just chosen to pick my battles this year.
There are plenty of things I can stand about Walton, but this would be pretty far down the list.
Is that a hard battle to pick though? Maybe it decreases the odds of transmitting COVID just a tiny bit, and it’s not a difficult thing to accomplish.
Is it hard for Luke to wear the mask properly or for the nba to tell him to do so? Not at all. And he totally should. Not giving him a pass here, just saying that on the spectrum of sexual assault accusation to not wearing your mask properly 100% of the time, just say, 80% of the time, I just can’t get too bent out of shape over this.
This year has been tough for all of us, in various ways. I’ve seen close friends of mine spread really dangerous misinformation, not to mention the president of the United States (not a close friend lol). I’ve argued with in-laws. I’ve tried to encourage, inform, and educate all year both professionally and in my personal realm. There’s been plenty that’s left me distraught this year about the future of our country. Our energy and capacity to care is a finite resource. We all pick our battles about what to get upset about, and I choose not to lose too much sleep over this.
I’m not losing sleep over it. I just don’t think it’s especially difficult for him to pull his mask up another inch. And i think calling this “mask shaming” (not your terminology, I know) is no different than hiding behind the term “political correctness” to absolve people of their bad behavior.
This is not a massive issue. And he should still wear his mask properly.
not a massive issue, but it reflects his personality imho.
Agree. These guys are being tested over and over – players and coaches alike.
I agree. Especially after watching the citizens of Portland behave so proper all summer. I’m not sure anyone up there can talk much about etiquette.
Can you please define “proper” and explain, in detail, what your comment has to do with basketball?
Good grief.
It’s ok – analogies are hard, BB55.
Some people are unable to apply critical thinking and/or discernment about information in the modern era of disinformation that’s so rampant nowadays. It’s always shocking when they crop up in the wild.
Christ.
I just noticed TKH does not have a report button.
Well put.
Come on, the guy can’t wear it over his nose? And pulling it completely down to yell at the refs? Stop enabling stupidity.
Correct. Most of the big kids are figuring out how to do it correctly, I’m sure Luke could as well if he just really tried.
Yeah, pulling it down to yell at the refs pretty much defeats the purpose of wearing it…
Tell that to a healthcare worker.
You just did.
He should wear the mask appropriately…period. This isn’t about Lose Often. This is about everyone.
I just don’t think that we should do the thing in which we criticize people for individual mistakes. I’d say our collective demand to watch NBA basketball puts more healthcare workers at risk than Luke doing something that we’ve all done at one time or another over the last 9 months.
Is telling someone to wear a mask properly “mask shaming”? I’d say it’s a public health service, but I could see why anti-maskers would dislike it.
I just think pointing at the one guy not wearing a mask properly, while there’s 10 guys on the court (plus refs) not even wearing masks, kinda misses the point.
I might point out that the 10 guys on the court are doing a different activity that makes masks less effective for them, and masks interfere with their ability to do what they need to while playing. Kind of like asking a motorcycle rider to wear a seatbelt or something.
we’ve all made a collective decision that the risks associated with playing this season are acceptable. Criticizing Walton feels like, to me, being able to have your cake and eat it to. We can all feel good about ourselves for pointing out Walton’s shortcomings while contributing to a system that will lead to more people getting covid.
I don’t like it when people spit on my cake before I eat it.
I totally see your point about the NBA season (and all pro sports for that matter) having a COVID cost associated with them happening. I’ll also point out the leagues are having these seasons as a loss prevention measure (need to keep those TV revenues going), moreso than for ‘the fans’ since if not playing meant less monetary loss for leagues they wouldn’t play this year.
Lastly, absolutely nobody would be calling walton out at all if he wasn’t feedbagging it and ignoring best practices – best practices that got the entire NBA through the bubble successfully.
but there may be a different decision tree for the NBA if you and I said the entertainment is not worth the risk right?
I’m certainly not an NBA Television Contract Expert ™, but my understanding is that they have to broadcast a certain number of games per year or they don’t get paid by the various networks they play games on. Fan preference in 2020 isn’t a part of that equation to my knowledge.
Let’s say for the sake of discussion that this was done specifically for us fans. In that case, I’m *extra* annoyed at Walton for putting more people at (an admittedly extremely small, due to NBA protective practices) more risk. But that’s just me, who’s sheltered in place since around March 9th.
But a big part of the risk vs worth calculation in that decision tree depends on personnel abiding by established protocols.
But that kinda misses the point of masks, doesn’t it? The main reason Walton should wear a mask is BECAUSE those other people aren’t/can’t, in case he has the virus. Protecting himself for the players and refs is a secondary benefit. It’s similar vaccinations. One of the most important parts about being vaccinated is helping to protect those that can’t be. In reality, anti-maskers are benefiting from people that do wear masks. Which, of course, reduces their chances of getting the disease. Which in turn reinforces their personal n=1 research. And round and round we go!
Or, put as a simple question, you think D’Antoni, Pop, or Casey want to get close and shake his hand after the game with his behavior?
the point is that once we collectively decided to have a season we also collectively decided to put people at additional risk. Were you okay with the NBA season happening, but only if everybody followed the rules? Because that’s what complaining about rule breakers feels like to me.
Well, I personally wasn’t invited to be part of the team deciding whether the NBA season should be happening. But if I were, yes, I would exactly say I’m “okay with the NBA season happening, but only if everybody followed the rules.” In fact, I’m confused about your question. Are you suggesting that once they decided to have a season that any guidelines/precautions/rules applied to make that season as COVID-safe as possible are hypocritical? And that our willingness to consume the product is hypocritical if we disagree with elements of how those guidelines are being followed or enforced? I mean, even if we put the social responsibility aside, their ability to complete the season and our ability to enjoy it are going to be dependent on mitigating the spread of the virus among the people involved as much a possible.
I feel like you think I’m anti-mask or something? I’m anti publicly shaming people when we’re all in this together.
it’s clear ‘public shaming’ doesn’t work in the USA anyway, as the nation is so divided that ‘shame’ for one thing in one group is praise in another group these days.
I don’t think you’re anti-mask at all. I just disagree with the point I believe you’re making and the usefulness of holding public figures to their role as standard bearers.
I think it’s just where we all draw the line between holding public figures accountable and shaming them. Like there’s a difference between agreeing with the penalty related to a crime, and showing up to throw rotten tomatoes at the criminal.
is commenting on a fan blog about mask choices in the ‘holding accountable’ or the ‘shaming’ bucket?
cuz I honestly don’t know the answer here unless the team fines him or something that falls clearly in the ‘hold accountable’ bucket.
Haliburton is going to be a stud. Less CoJo and more Haliburton please. The engagement and activity on both sides of the ball was refreshing. I want more minutes for the young guys. They held their own against quality role players.
Overall, Fox picked his spots better. He needs to clean up the turnovers. The defense was actually existent. Not great but existent.
Liked the Kings pace and effort tonight. Tough watching Harry Giles get 19 and 13 in 26 min. Looked easy for him.
Gotta say, Harry has looked really active the first few games. Hope he keeps it up.
I always felt like Harry had this in him if his knees held out. He’s also greatly benefitting from playing for a good coach instead of a bad one, now that he’s escaped basketball hell.
I’d like to see Harry do well over a month’s time before I pronounce him a major loss.
Ok
Loved watching Hali tonight.
Really great in his first stint midway through the first, came in for Fox, and immediately the Kings were putting lots of pressure on the ball around the arc and bringing lots of doubles up top and then scrambling on the pass outs, but it was effective. Went on a 15-0 run as soon as he came in. Hali seems to cover so much of the court, knows how to rotate, terrific vision, basically the opposite of rookie Ben McLemore. When a defender gets by him instead of uselessly trailing the play standing in the midrange he does cool stuff like sprinting to the corner passing lane to break up a kick out pass or pressure the shot if it goes out there.
On offense, no he doesn’t break down the defense 1-on-1, but he uses passes and screens to accomplish the same thing. Sort of reminds me of an old school John Stockton type facilitator. Nothing fancy with the dribble, but keeps the ball moving and makes the right play. 7:0 Assists/TO tonight speaks to that. And he did show in a couple of spots he’s confident to launch an open 3 or attack the rim when that’s the best play. 11/6/7, 0 TOs, +20 on the game…
Meanwhile… Mr. 163M 13/2/4, 4 TOs, -15. Yikes
Yeah, Fox is very much struggling right now. I’m still not hugely concerned, although it would be nice to see the “best player” on the team impact them positively when he’s on the floor, even for a few minutes.
Not worried about Fox long term. It is pre-season and he seems likes he’s going through the motions a bit. It was just a big contrast with Hali and is a little unnerving to see a guy you just gave that much money to getting outplayed by a guy in his 2nd game ever. I trust he’ll be ready for the regular season.
Great insight on Halliburton. I noticed the exact same thing on defense – he sprinted over to the corner…not after the pass, but in anticipation of the kickout. Seems to be good at quick transition from defense to offense as well, and keeping the defense on their toes. Gives me real hope that he can stick around in the NBA for several years.
He seems extremely polished for a young player. So he’s probably high-floor, the question is going to be on his ceiling I think.
isn’t the knock on guys who are this kind of player usually athleticism? I don’t follow college or the draft, so I know nothing.
You do hear that. But I don’t think many decisions makers really buy into it. For some reason some people seem to think there’s a cap on how skilled/polished a player can get. Which players like Harden, Curry, Tatum and Doncic are constantly disproving.
Agreed. Was thinking about athleticism being the knock on Luka back in 2018 while I wrote that. SO happy to have a cereberal player helping headline the Kings roster!
I Love Love Love the Halliburton draft choice. His style of play is so fun to watch, and he has shown instantly that he absolutely belongs on an NBA court! It’s so freaking cool to see a kings draft pick play well out of the gate.
My hot take is that by the end of the season, he’s going to be the most important player on the Kings roster. He’s the type of player that lets everyone else’s games work.
Obviously, Fox and Hield are more likely to get the most accolades since their impact is more apparent in traditional stats.
This kid has me as excited about the Kings as possible since the Fox draft.
Moreso for me! I was an Isaac fan in that draft. My reaction to the Fox selection was more of a shrug. Like “okay, that’s an acceptable pick.”
Not trying to be judgey but didn’t they all say Parker was very fit and ready to go and he’s got back soreness after barely played one game two days ago? Good game by the rookes though-good ball moment and efforts all around. Metu had some good looks for his teammates too
Parker is what he is at this point. I wouldn’t read into preseason locker room hype.
That’s probably where Bagley got sick from haha
Bagley contracted COVID in Arizona. He said as much to the media.
And where did Walton play college ball?
LOL
Touche!
Oh God my sides lol
Ty started out so tentative whenever he got the ball it seemed like he’d immediately pass it like a hot potato as if he was worried to make a mistake or something but as the game went on you could see his confidence was building literally each time he got the ball. It’s as if he’s feeling things out, the speed and strength of the NBA, and with a calculated patience and intelligence. You can tell he has such a good knack and feel for the game both with the ball in his hands, but also knowing where to be on both sides of the floor, anticipating, cutting, timing, etc. The NBA game will slow down for him quickly enough. He could be special.
I really liked the young guys tonight, haliburton is exactly the type of high IQ guy we need moving forward to help with ball movement. I was impressed with Woodard and Metu as guys who can grow into a 3 and D mold. Mcnair has built a better young roster in one off-season than Vlade did his whole time here.
Last year we went into the season having just spent 20+ mil on Barnes, 13 mil on Dedmon, 12 on Ariza, 11 on Joseph. This year, GR3 looks like he can replace Harrison Barnes but on a minimum salary.
And Monte had only a small fraction of a regular off season during Covid!
Yea, if we tank for a high pick, while develop the young guys this year, and Fox gets back to form, we may have a young team that looks like it has potential for multi-year playoff runs.
Are you saying with a high pick next off season we have super team just young??
Available at the team store!
KH, you guys have to update this!
I wore my Young Superteam shirts (plural, I bought 3) to death, and finally passed them on to the great t-shirt land beyond this summer.
I love high BBIQ players, especially when they have the skills to do something with it.
Haliburton is fun.
That’s been one of the top things that has popped in my models and that I noticed as soon as the variables did and I looked at the top teams.
Most of them target high IQ, high skill players. You have the occasional exception like the Bucks (and now Magic) who were build by Hammond who seems to prefer length and athleticism.
But it’s something we have really missed and it showed dating back to those old Evans-Counsins-Gay teams we were all sure would take us to the playoffs.
Just having guys who are smart and who can read/react and make good, quick decisions can win a lot of games.
I think Haliburton is going to help the team unlock a lot of our potential and is going to be a player with a far bigger impact on the court than some people will realize because he won’t average 25 points per game.
He’s also the kind of player that makes the loss of Bogdanovich far less noticeable over the longer term. I don’t think that deal will show itself until a few years down the line completely (Halliburton, flexibility to name the main two components) but Halliburton fits the Fox TL in a way Bogi never could.
It reminds me a lot of the ’94 draft. Difference is the Kings have Tyrese for 4 seasons instead of ‘whatever contract you can sign them to’ deals like rookies had back then and ultimately the 3 year deal Brian Grant signed.
Agreed
Yeah, I don’t want to get too “hot takey” too fast, but I was impressed by GR3 last night and he looked like a better defender than Barnes has been and while Barnes may be a more gifted offensive player, he does get tunnel vision when he tries to score and I really liked how GR3 moved the ball and the offense seemed to flow well when Fox, Haliburton, and him were briefly playing together (though to be fair, Barnes was playing PF for part of that stretch).
Anyway, there’s also a reason we got him cheap. So I am expecting that as we see him play more minutes in competitive games, we also see the “bad GR3,” but that was still my “way too early” impression from last night.
Something about the way Ramsey moves on the court is just beautiful and gives me a lot of hope for him to outperform his draft position.
Yeah, there’s not a ton you can take from the pre-season, but sometimes just seeing a guy play with confidence and physically look like he belongs is a good start, especially for a 2nd round pick.
I’d love to see CoJo sit every few games. Keep his value up but give him breaks and run the young guys.
Haliburton: 30 min; 5/10 from field; 11pts, 7ast, 6 reb, 1stl, 1 blk, and no TO’s. That’s outstanding for a rookie with no summer league and 4 days of camp. And Portland ran rotational players in Covington, Trent Jr., and Jones Jr. until the end.
And I wonder how many deflections? I didn’t watch the whole game but I think I can recall a couple deflections that may not have counted as Hali’s steal.
I think Hali also partially block some shots too………(although it have not been counted as block)
Haliburton looks like he’s going to get a big passing-lane steal that leads to a fast break almost once per game.
Hali looks solid. He def will need to add strength and tighten up his handles but he has good size and court awareness on both sides and his jumper is looking promising. His floor is George Hill and his ceiling is a bigger version of Jason kidd. I like the movement and pace we are seeing we should be an exciting 30 win team on pace for a top 10 lottery pick.
Thumbs up, but I think Haliburton’s ceiling is more CJ McCollum than J. Kidd.
Thanks but I just don’t see the scoring ability of CJ especially one on one with his handle and series of mid-Range moves. J.kidd came to mind based on his pass first instincts high IQ make the right play. J. Kidd never needed to cross people or be a scorer to have an impact and fill the box score. What’s most exciting is his defensive potential aside from his offensive passing ability and rebounding. Hali is a legit 6’6 with a near 7 foot wingspan he can cause some havoc on both ends
Reminds me of a better Lonzo, so yeah Kidd is a good comp as well. I don’t see the CJ comp at all.
Agreed. He’s Lonzo 2.0
Not sure if that’s good or bad. I like what I see though.
Haliburton resembles Lonzo? Haliburton is a much better shooter and will have a lower assist to to ratio. He’ll also shoot a higher percentage from the field. The Kidd and Ball comps are undervalueing Haliburton’s ability to score efficiently and score.
Yes he “resembles” Lonzo to me. I didn’t say who was better at what, but they’re playing styles are similar.
Does that make sense?
How about Doug Christie with a better 3-point shot? I saw Kidd courtside many times at Cal, he was a blur, a formula one race cart amongst go-carts, you could give the opponent 7 players, and it would not have mattered to Kidd, pedal to the metal, 0 to 100 mph in a split second, and he could still see everything on the court and rifle passes with precision. Haliburton is special but there is no comp for Kidd.
Yeah, out of those listed current Ball is the best comp (certainly not rookie Ball as Haliburton’s shot isn’t so out of whack that it limits him to the same degree). He really isn’t anything like Kidd. Kidd was Fox level fast and quick AND very strong with a tight handle, generational passing, and elite defense. Haliburton IS a better shooter than young Kidd though. Christie was also an elite athlete, while Haliburton is a better passer (Christie was good, even great for a wing at the time, but Hali has significantly better vision) and deep shooter (though equally limited to spot ups at the moment.).
yeah, if there were more Jason Kidds playing ball, they’d have to enlarge the court the size of a football field and still keep the shot clock at 24 seconds. If there was just one more Jason Kidd, he wouldn’t even play sports; he’d be an entrepreneur for a camera equipment company, helping put whatever is in his brain into image stability technology, so every camera would have a Jason Kidd Image Stabilizer, and next, Jason Kidd Gimbals, Jason Kidd Camera Dollies, Jason Kidd Camera Drones, and so on. I’m serious, if I ever meet him, I’m telling him to go to the patent office.
I’ve met him a couple times. I’ll just say…. hmmm, how can I put this…. let’s just say savantism is real.