Fresh off an impressive win over the Rockets on Saturday, powered by Western Conference Player of the Week Zach LaVine, the Kings steamrolled the cursed Mavs for their fourth straight win. The final score of 122-98 doesn’t fully capture how emphatic a win this was for the Kings.. These early wins are crucial, with a brutal stretch of games against Denver, the Knicks, Clippers, and Warriors coming up. Tonight, the Kings handled business perfectly—building a big lead early, resting starters in the 4th, and no player logging more than 30 minutes. Key with Domantas Sabonis out for at least a week (hamstring) and Malik Monk tweaking something early, though he did return.
This matchup was a blessing for a team still gelling post-deadline. The Kings are starting to look like Doug Christie’s vision—launching near 40+ threes, hustling on defense, holding another team under 100 points (2nd time in 4 games!), and rocking a ridiculous 34-to-7 assist-to-turnover ratio. Defensive dawgs like Keon Ellis, Jake LaRavia, Jonas Valančiūnas, and Markelle Fultz are thriving. Keon disrupts everything—deflections, steals, blocks—while Jake’s big ole body and rebounding make him an off-ball maven. JV is an absolute tank, possibly the largest human I’ve laid eyes on. While he’s not your traditional rim protector, his sheer presence and force make offensive players think twice before attacking the rim. And hey, five blocks in the last two games doesn’t hurt his case either. We’ve been ensuring at least two of those guys are on the floor in most lineups, which achieves two key things. First, it creates better offensive balance since they don’t need the ball and play well off-ball—a perfect fit alongside Malik Monk, Zach LaVine, and DeMar DeRozan. Second, it strengthens team defense with fewer weak links, as Keegan Murray consistently holds his own while the bench guys bolster the more offensively focused starters.
Of course, the Mavs weren’t exactly operating at full strength. Their entire center rotation (Davis, Gafford, Lively) is out. Kyrie Irving exited early with a knee issue that this morning was announced as a season-ending ACL tear. Jaden Hardy briefly stepped up but then got hurt too. It’s rough to be a Mavs fan right now, which says something coming from Kings loyalists.
Do you like good passing? A highlight from tonight was DeMar’s evolving role in a post-De’Aaron Fox lineup. Though he only logged 4 assists to 1 turnover, he was clearly focused on creating opportunities for others—a crucial development given the team’s lack of a true point guard. Malik Monk rediscovered his groove, shooting 50% from the field and dishing 8 assists with zero turnovers. Zach LaVine stayed scorching with 8-of-12 shooting and 4 triples. And the man of the night, Keegan MF-ing Murray, was relentless in 25 minutes—18 points on 6-of-10 from the field, 4-of-8 from deep, and attacking in transition. Loved every single shot he took.
Next up, a road-trip closer in Denver on Wednesday. Sitting 3-0 on this trip, the Kings have a shot at taking down the Nuggets, who are coming off a tough loss to Boston. Denver’s 7-3 in their last 10 and looking to secure the 2-seed in the West, while the Kings, now 8th at 32-28, are just a half-game out of 6th. With matchups against Golden State looming, this Denver game just got even bigger. Buckle up!
Yes or no.
Is Jonas Valančiūnas a better fit for this offense than Sabonis?
Why not both?
Don’t see why not. JV, Ox, Murray, LaVine, Monk?
I have wanted to see that combo in some spurts since they made the trade. Defensively, Sabonis can guard a bit on the perimeter, JV can rim protect.
Offensively, if I am an opposing defender I would not want to navigate high/low screen action with those two.
I think interior defense is a very underrated and badly needed skill JV has brought to the team.
you’re such a maybe.
Yes!
Offensively, I’m not sure I would say better but JV gives them a totally different look. I do think he is a better fit defensively. Better rim protection and more intimidating.
Potential Ewing Theory?
Oddly, I think yes? I mean, Domas has sort have been wasted offensively when the LaVine – DDR – Monk trio are on the floor. And with him being the next guy in line for a max contract, I could see the org. working on an exit strategy.
Stealon Ellis shout out on the new Kings Herald Podcast!
Really? lol awesome
Jerry said he wished he’d thought of it.
Lol that just made my week. Thanks Kfan and Thanks Jerry!
He’s signed for three years after this one. Very productive and efficient. A good team defender with length. Now shooting threes. Team player. Unselfish. Arguably the best rebounder in the nba. Can play the 4 or 5. Let’s see how this year and next year play out first.
He’s one of my favorite Kings ever. He’s also due to make $141m over the next three years. I think that he’s a value at that price, but the Ranadive ownership group does not exactly have a long storied history of (a) giving out big contracts and (b) seeing them to their conclusion. Now, this front office is the same FO that gave up Hali for Domas, so they would probably be a little more reticent to part with him. But it won’t shock me if he does not make it to the end of this contract in a Kings uni.
They’re also M.I.A when it comes to flipping a valuable asset.
Hey that’s not fair. They’ll flip valuable assets. They just won’t get value back.
I was absolutely thrilled with the way they handled the ((((shudder)))) Cousins trade. The way he found out at the AS game was brilliant……but it was two years too late, IMHO.
Also, a competent FO could have still turned that trade into gold. That #10 pick in ’17 could have been OG or Bam or Spida. Even after they traded it for the #15 & #20 they still could have spun it into a couple of really good players. But Justin Jackson and Harry Giles wound up being the “bounty” from that trade (along with Buddy Hield).
As much as Vlade deserves all the shit for the Luka miss, that draft could be seen as Vlade’s second biggest blunder. It’s even worse then the salary dump trade to Philly.
Frighteningly enough, if Vlade drafts Bam or OG to go along with Fox that year, he might still be the GM today.
Not a chance. He’d have screwed the next thing up is some original way.
For sure. Hell, if he’d just George Costanza’d almost all the decisions he made, he might be commissioner by now.
How is Sabonis the next guy up for a max contract? He’s locked up through the end of the 28′ season.
I don’t see anyone else on this roster sniffing a max deal, do you?
No, but he’ll be at the age Zach LaVine will be when his contract ends. It’s possible that neither of them signs a “max” deal. They are still going to get a lucrative deal, depending on health, but I’m not sold on Sabonis getting another max at the age of 32. That’s a long ways off.
FWIW, I’m still a believer in Sabonis, and I think the pairing with LaVine can potentially be better than the Fox pairing. I’m interested to see how Monte, or whoever, builds around those 2, especially if Keegan and Keon are part of that process.
I am in no way advocating dealing Sabonis. I am merely pointing out the far higher than zero possibility that this organization deals him before his current contract is up. They have done this pretty much each time in the past, and while there have mitigating circumstances, some of those circumstances were a direct byproduct of organizational missteps. Small sample size coming up, given the paucity of high end talent:
DeMarcus Cousins – The Kings dealt him before they had to pay him. Now, there were plenty of red flags, as well as questions as to whether or not this was a guy that you built around. But the inability of the organization to both manage Cousins and the team around him was a big contributor.
De’Aaron Fox – The Kings dealt him before they had to pay him. And in my opinion, this did not stem from him having this overwhelming desire to be traded to SA. This stemmed from max contract shenanigans and the front office’s attempts to publicly devalue Fox (via throwing him under the bus for the Brown firing).
Now, was the organization right in not maxing these two guys? Yes on the first, time will tell on the 2nd. Did they get a good ROI for either guy? Nope.
So when it comes to Sabonis’ next deal, I’m just not brimming with confidence that this ownership group will open its wallet. I have more confidence that the relationship between Domas and the organization will become frayed, causing an ultimate less-than-value trade of him.
I never mind being wrong, and am wrong often, and I am hoping in a big way that I am wrong about this.
And 1 – As we saw with both Cuz and Fox, just because a contract is through a certain period of time does not mean that it does not become an insurmountable problem far prior to the contract expiring. If history is an accurate barometer, Domas could become publicly discontented in the middle of the 26-27 season, even though his contract runs through the end of 28.
Good points. Just to play devil’s advocate, this front office did re-sign Barnes and Monk and did give Fox and Sabonis an extension. Those deals aren’t to the numbers of a “max” extension like you are referring to in the case of DMC and Fox’s next extension, but I agree to your point. This ownership group has not proven they are willing to spend to compete, which usually means offering out fat contracts and spending into the tax.
The barometer for me is to see what they do with Keegan this summer. He is up for his rookie extension and I DO NOT want to see the Kings ride it out through next season and let Keegan hit RFA.
I definitely don’t see that, short of some blockbuster deal like the Twolves moving Ant or something.
He is a top 20 NBA player who is set to make sub $50m for the next three seasons after this one. No way Vivek and co. (maybe monte/wes? who knows) trades a “star” for lessor pieces. That hasn’t been their MO.
(Unless maybe Sabonis/his family get in a dispute with Matina or her family … then all bets are off! lol)
*lessor pieces meaning draft assets and young prospects. They seem intent on trading for “win now” players when moving major player assets.
I do not mean to imply that the returning players aren’t debatably lessor in production/impact/whatever.
I don’t really see that.
Sabonis is a better passer and a more versatile scorer. The Kings have just gone away from a lot of the DHO and pick and roll action that Sabonis thrived in.
As such, even though his numbers may go down due to an offense centered on creation by DDR/LaVine/Monk, it doesn’t mean that JV is “better” for the offense.
I wish we would run some more DHO
JV is a fantastic backup center and I’m very confident they can power through the next week or two with him as the starter. His sweet spot minutes wise has still got to be in that 20-25 min per game though. He was gassed last night for stretches and was only out there for 23.
Get well soon Kyrie
With Kyrie’s injuries, Kings are now playing for 6-9.
Who gets 10? POR, PHX or SAS?
I’m thinking Portland.
I also think we have a very outside shot at the 6th. HOU and MEM have been struggling. Currently 3 and 4 games back in the loss column respectively. A win when we face MEM gives us the tie-breaker against both.
I would guess Portland has a good chance of grabbing the 10th spot should Dallas (likely) fall. Phoenix is a dumpster fire that I don’t see getting better, and Spurs don’t have Wemby the rest of the season. Even with their record, Portland hasn’t been bad at all.
Dallas is still 4 up in the loss column over Por and SA. It’s not so much how much Dal is going to lose as much as it is how much Por or SA can win. Por has been on a heater lately, but their next five are @Bos, @OKC, Det, @GS, and NY. At that point they will have on 15 games to close ground on the Mavs.
Also, I think it’s a long shot that the Kings catch the rejuvenated Dubs, but as we are seeing, key injuries can change that, and we are talking about the Kings being just .5 games back of GS.
It will be fun and infuriating to watch this play out.
And 1 – Why, oh why could we just not be good average at home? A pedestrian 19-10 at home would have us at 36-24, just behind the Rox for 5th and at least 3.5 clear of 7th.
Possibly because MB could not/would not find minutes for Keon early in the season?
I am hoping for a top 6 seed but I think there is a good chance they come up a game or two short.
If that happens I will be fully enraged at Fox and thinking back to some of the shoulda-been wins earlier in the season where he looked unengaged or double digit 3pt attempt games while shooting 15%. That DET loss on his way out will haunt me.
I think we end up 7th or 8th, but hope for more and fear finishing 9th again.
It would both convenient and unjust to blame Fox for wherever this team finishes. The team was better for having him than not, and the shortcomings of this team – especially at home – cannot reasonably be placed on his shoulders, in my opinion. The roster as constructed was better with him on the floor than off. The lack of bench depth while he was here was the true Achilles heel for this team.
Nope, not Fox’s fault at all.
Cool sample size. Forgive me if I don’t spend the next several hours putting together all of the clutch shots that Fox has made over the past few years, including this one. I don’t think that your argument is worth the counter. Not saying that you’re not entitled to it. Just saying that I couldn’t disagree more with it.
Fox had a 1.3 VORP for the Kings this season (3rd behind Domas and Ellis) and a BPM of 1.2 (3rd behind Domas and Ellis, unless you want to add JV’s 1.8).
Sometimes you need to ignore sample size and just believe what you see, in this case a supposed max level player literally giving a game away.
And there are many, many other cases of him shooting the Kings out of games with his poor shot selection.
And now later in the season we are worried about every single game for seeding.
Sample size or not, they all count. And IMO, Fox and Brown are the most responsible for the bad start to the season.
I think that sometimes we need to ignore our emotions and study what is right in front of us. Statistically, this team was better with Fox on the floor than off. And if we are basing it on what we see and look at the macro (all of his games) instead of the micro (fouling Jaden Ivey), we confirm that the team was better with Fox on the floor than off.
Understand, I’m not arguing Fox vs. LaVine here (that is an entirely different conversation). I am arguing that the roster that included Fox was better with him than without him, and the on/off stats and what I say supports that. As always, your mileage may vary.
The macro is Fox was the best player and top scorer on a losing team for most of his career with the Kings. He did not sniff winning until he was paired with Domas.
Not sure why you defend him so much. His exit and how that happened showed how he really felt about Sac. In my view, he was checked out and half assing it for quite a while, his primary motivation was the max contract and when it became obvious he was not getting that he punked his way out of town and killed any leverage the Kings had on his way out.
And projecting forward, I think the Spurs are crazy to think he is going to elevate them in a meaningful way. His game will not age well.
Fox’s defensive effort was awful for much of this season, he had some terrible games offensively & the Kings weren’t better w/Fox on the floor this season.
And 1- Every game counts. Including ones where he was 1 for 10, 0 for 9, etc. from 3.
IMO, he was checked out for quite a while and his play and effort showed it. I’ll blame him if I want. Convenient (YES), unjust (NOT to me), true (100)
It doesn’t matter, it won’t make anyone feel better.
LOL, nice!
Yep, and this is truly what the vitriol is all about. For those that give two squirts about post-game pressers, this is the deal breaker.
It’s about optics for some people. The star player gave that answer and some thought he was apathetic and didn’t seem to care. Others took it differently.
The dark conspiracy theorist corner of my brain says he began to think about leaving once the Kings signed DDR. Fox was gunning for All-NBA this season in hopes of landing the super max. It could be argued that bringing in a less complimentary player like DDR, who would eat into Fox’s usage and production, hurt those chances. Savvy cost saving move by Kings brass, bone headed roster construction, or something in between? Tin foiled hat and all, your milage may vary.
Possible for sure. Also, that maybe he was disappointed on who they did not sign and then settled for DDR.
I thought Fox was one of the players recruiting DDR, IIRC? I think DDR mentioned that.
Yep. DDR mentioned that Fox, Domas, and Monk were there when they had dinner, discussing how he would be a great addition to the core.
Yeah, I don’t see us passing the Dubs, why I’m looking at HOU & MEM struggles for a chance to get out of the play-in.
Our home record has been bugging me too.
It’s those damn open concourses, the sound just vanishes.
The problem is, even if (say) Houston went 9-12 down the stretch, the Kings would have to go 14-8 to catch them. That’s 6 games over .500 in the last 22 games for a team that is 4 games over .500 for the first time this season.
Yeah, lots of IFs.
I will point out that with DC coaching they are 19-10 which is about the same winning percentage as 14-8.
Counter-point. 14-8 is a .636 win %. Team is 19-10 a .655 win % under DC. But I agree it’s not likely.
Especially when you consider SOS
I mean they are something like 10 games over .500 since DC took over
It is strange that we are not playing well at home the past few years… my fear is that we have the second hardest strength of schedule remaining… but if the team can get a few more practices and continue to gel we might get there
I’m thinking POR too, though wouldn’t it be freaky if the Kings droppes to 9th and SA gets in at 10th? A one-off game against Fox would be massively entertaining!
I’m always playing for 6-9. My wife tends to be a DNP unfortunately
The Mavs had gone two decades with either Dirk or Luka. Now this. Yeesh.
And the Mavs are apparently raising ticket prices for next season by at least 8%. Things are gonna get even more ugly between the Mavs organization and the fans.
Tried finding the Rachel Phelps carboard cut out scenes…but didn’t find any on giphy.
They’re making the Kings org. look like OKC.
And that’s saying something…
I root for the Kings and the Mavs have screwed this up so badly and had such bad luck that even I feel bad for them. If the Kings had been in the finals last year and then THIS happened, I’m not sure I’d ever watch basketball again.
Nico should have just told the Dallas business FO to raise the ticket prices by 7.7% as a final F.U. to the mavs fans.
At least for now, the basketball world will temporarily forget our moronic FO and talk more about DAL.
Mavs fans going through it. Well, at least they have Dak Prescott!
If there was a sixth-man award for the Philadelphia Eagles, my vote would be for Jerry Jones.
That is just mean.. but hilarious
Ouch. On a better note for them, at least they have the Stars.
With Kyrie done for the season and Jaden Hardy out indefinitely, I wouldn’t be surprised if Dallas fell out of the top 10. Portland has been playing well, and I could see them climbing and potentially sneaking into the play-in.
Very good win against a team they needed to beat.
Defensively they have been much better. Communication, rotations, close outs, being physical. The list goes on. Hopefully they can keep that up against Denver and steal one from them.
Lavine looks much more comfortable in his role. Dude is on a heater!
Keegan also looks more aggressive offensively. Keep that up!
Wins are fun.
It has been a bit fortuitous to play Charlotte and Dallas right now, they are almost high level scrimmage games, allowing the Kings to continue to make adjustments and work on the synergy of both the starters and the newfound positional flexibility of the bench. I loved Point-DeMar under Pop, and it is fun to see here, Zach is feeling comfortable, Keegan is flexing, and Monk is realizing he doesn’t need to be Fox-lite.
I love love love how involved Keegan is on every possession, whether it be on ball defense, weak side defense, crashing the boards on both sides, looking for his shot, he is just all over the court and confident in his ability to make plays. I wonder if filling out the bench and not having so much on his shoulders both minutes and responsibility wise has allowed him some extra juice to be taking things up a notch.
My petty side enjoyed how 67 of the 122 points last night were scored on drama queen Spencer Dinwiddie, who again confirmed his place as the best bad player in the NBA (versus Royce O’Neal, who is the worst good player in the NBA). Spencer is out there pounding the ball, air balling push shots, protesting every play like he is prime Kobe, when it has been three plus years since he was even an average player.
If Domas can genuinely rest and recover, and as someone in such incredibly peak condition as him, I think it is likely he recovers quickly, I wouldn’t be surprised if having this break is good for him, not just physically with all the minutes and effort he gives, but mentally as well. The last couple of weeks have been Bad Domas, where he is pressing, making a lot of turnovers, holding on to the ball too long, dribbling into traffic, frustration fouls. I think the weird season has affected him, and I would think it is much more likely than not he comes back refreshed and ready for a strong stretch run.
Bad Domas, totally true. I love how hard he plays but I do think he is guilty of trying to do too much at times. Since all the trades he has been very turnover prone.
Hopefully a break will do him some good.
I think it’s pretty safe to say the Kings first round pick is as good as gone at this point, and I’m cool with that. Dallas, Spurs and the Suns look ready to call it a season. The only thing keeping the Kings our of the play-in is themselves.
From all that, I do think they can hang onto the 7th or 8th spot, which allows them to 2 cracks at the real playoffs. The real storyline for me right now, is if they can get into the top 6. The 6th through 10th spots are going to go down to the wire and the Kings finish the season with 3 games at home vs. Denver, Clips, and PHX. Here’s hoping those games matter for a real chance at more than just the play-in.
Thing I really like about this newish Playin. Positioning has more value.
1st – Home court throughout. (Same as before)
4th – Home court. (Same)
6th – Last guaranteed playoff spot.
7th – 2 home court shots at playoffs.
8th – 2 shots at playoffs.
9th – a home court playin game.
10th – so you’re saying there’s a chance.
I’m fine with it… if we make the playoffs. If we give up a lottery pick, even the 14th pick, I will be pissed off. I think we’ve actually got a decent shot at making the playoffs now though considering the Mavs/Suns/Spurs all imploding. Portland is the biggest threat left father down the standings right now.
When asked my preference, I said I’d have preferred to be a lotto team this year, and I stand by that. I ultimately think that path had more upside than sneaking into the playoffs. Or worse, trying to sneak into the playoffs, lose in the play-in, and still lose the pick.
But I’m also happily surprised with how this team has played the last two games. I still have my doubts, and I think this next stretch will tell us a lot about who these Kings are or aren’t. If the Kings can enjoy a first round series, and possibly even sneak into the second round, I’d be surprised but I’d also be a lot less upset about giving that draft pick away at the point.
Totally agree. I too wanted to keep the pick in this year’s draft, especially with this roster looking old and without much of a long term future. If, however, this roster can make some noise in the playoffs, then I’m all for it. This is entertainment after all, so I’ll take it.
As an aside, I am loving the varied takes this morning. A lot of different perspectives and things to think about. Thanks to all for taking the time to post!
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Sort of a different tone of discussion this morning, something changed.
I just can’t put my finger on it.Shout Out to The Kings Herald Podcast: Another fun episode from Will, Tony and The Great Jerry Reynolds! Thank you so much, gentleman, I am already looking forward to the next one.
I agree that Coach Doug Christie deserves kudos for his work thus far.
Record: 19-10
For Doug Christie to finish >.500: Kings need to go 7-15
For team to finish >.500, Kings need to go 10-12
For 46, 48, 50 wins: 14-8, 16-6, 18-4
at their current rate (win precentage is .655)- and we all know that the competition becomes stiffer these last remaining games for the most part (tanking teams excepted, and the Kings don’t face many), that aligns with the 14-10 record, or a 46 win season. Of course – it would be surprising if it played out that way.
Some will find this interesting. ESPN Introducing Net Points(Link to Article). Seems it uses the Box Score to assign credit/blame for each player. Total up the Net points for each player on a team for a game and it equals the difference in the game’s score. LaVine’s 42 point game was the 13th best game of the season!
Here’s a link to the Data Thru 3/3
Domas ranks 8th on the season overall. 10th on O, 22nd on D.
Fox ranks 423rd! (No Typo)!
Keon ranks as our 3rd best player. Keegan and Monk rank very low, but not as bad as Fox.
The Data link is fun to play with. Can sort by team and has data back to 2019-2020 season.
Thanks for posting that Kfan.
Badge Legend