We made it y’all. It is the last night of 2023 and whether it was your best year yet, or one you’re ready to move on from, it’s time to close this volume and move on to the next. But before we could really relax into the festivities, we had one last Sacramento Kings game to either celebrate or curse this year. The Kings ended their road trip and calendar year in Memphis to take on the Grizzlies. Since the return of their complicated star, Ja Morant, the Grizzlies were rejuvenated with a 4-0 run before recently falling to the Nuggets and Clippers. The Kings looked to carry on the momentum from their previous 23-point comeback victory over the Hawks and end the year right. Let’s see how they did:
Quick Stats
Outcome: Kings win, 123-92
Sacramento Kings: 123 pts, 51.1% fg, 48.5% 3 pt, 76.5% ft, 28 ast, 59 reb, 13 to
Memphis Grizzlies: 92 pts, 36.6% fg, 30.0% 3 pt, 71.4% ft, 20 ast, 34 reb, 8 to
We can all celebrate and sleep well tonight knowing we are ending the year with a beam lighting the sky. The Kings left no doubt in this one. After finishing the first quarter with a 5-point lead, they never looked back. They spent the second quarter maintaining an 8-12 point lead, the third quarter maintaining a 15-20 point lead, and the fourth quarter maintaining a 20-30 point lead. It was dominant, delightful basketball to watch, and the perfect way to end the year.
The Good, The Better, & The Best
The Good:
- Unlocking the Rotation: Coach Mike Brown made the call tonight to switch things up in the starting lineup. He replaced Kevin Huerter with Chris Duarte. This had three noticeable effects: 1. Harrison Barnes got more and better quality looks – Huerter’s usual shots were redistributed to Barnes, allowing him to have more frequent attempts on offense and he finished with 11 points on 4-8 from the field. 2. Kevin Huerter got to join the bench party alongside Malik Monk and Trey Lyles, where he also found some more consistent production – in 17 minutes, Huerter scored 9 points on 4-9 from the field. 3. Chris Duarte’s defensive presence made the Kings more switchable in defending Ja Morant (17 points) and Desmond Bane (17 points). Whether this will be the lineup Mike Brown continues with remains to be seen, but it was extremely successful tonight.
The Better:
- Bench Production: The Grizzlies came out shooting hot to start, hitting 7-13 from the 3-point line in the first quarter. The Kings were able to keep up with this, however, thanks in large part to their bench, as they came out firing as well. Trey Lyles and Malik Monk combined for 3 3s straight off the bench and helped give the Kings their 5-point advantage to end the first quarter and weather the Grizzlies’ hot shooting. Lyles was a consistent force on both ends, finishing with 12 points on a perfect 3-3 from deep. Alex Len felt like a warm comforting blanket in the backup center spot. Len has negative chaos in his play style, doing exactly what he’s out there to do – be a big dude in the paint and rebound. Len finished with 8 boards in 12 minutes. Davion Mitchell was decisive in his role tonight, scoring 8 points on a perfect 4-4 from the field and connecting on 4 assists. In total, the Kings got 58 points from their bench to help them gain and maintain their lead all night.
The Best:
- Getting Physical: The Kings played one of their most physical games tonight and it paid off for them. Their defense allowed nothing easy inside, as they held the Grizzlies to just 32 points in the paint. As this pushed the Grizzlies to look outside, the Kings held them to shooting just 12-40 from deep. Sacramento’s defensive rotations, recoveries, and rebounding were honed and focused, allowing Memphis just 1 offensive rebound all night. Domantas Sabonis went to work early, challenging Jaren Jackson Jr. every chance he got. Sabonis finished with a triple double of 13 points, 21 rebounds, and 12 assists. Read that again if you must, because it is pretty insane.
The King of Kings
Malik Monk got to show out for a large group of his family and friends who were in the arena to support him tonight. Monk, of course, did not disappoint. He finished with 27 points and 5 assists on an incredibly efficient 10-13 from the field. And it wouldn’t be a Malik Monk game without a Malik Monk slam:
high-flying 'Lik is 𝐒𝐎𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 into 2024! pic.twitter.com/gK8d48MWI9
— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) January 1, 2024
Up Next
Tuesday, January 2nd vs. Charlotte Hornets – 7:00 P.M. (PT)
Domas be all like….
Kevin had a pretty good game too…
Happy New Year, Kings fans (well, at least in 3 hours and 45 minutes for those on Pacific time). Hope y’all have a wonderful 2024, and let’s get to the postseason again next year!
Seemed like the Grizzlies were sleeping on us!
Or maybe we just had them dancing to our tune.
Either way…
Happy New Year!
From the Department of Reasonable Expectations:
I’m disappointed in Fox for not setting his personal single-game record of made threes for the third game in a row (Portland (7), Atlanta (8)). Also, the Kings didn’t win by enough, I have gum on my shoe, and ninety percent of my email is spam.
And Monk. He had a good game in front of many friends and family. So, is that what it takes? Do we, by which I mean the Kings and not me, have to fly his family and friends into Sacramento every time we want him to go 10 for 13? If so, who will be responsible for all of the meal vouchers?
Domas had his fourth triple-double in the last seven games, which begs the question: Where are the quadruple- and quintuple-doubles?
Now I haven’t checked every game, but I’m pretty sure that Domas so far has a grand total of zero quintuple-doubles, and that makes me sad.
Zero quintuple-doubles!
“Happy” New Year.
Fox must have seen the criticisms from the last game recap thread of those fans concerned that he was in danger of falling in love with his three-point shot!
Oh, and I think he should complain to the league about having that shot he made with about three and half minutes left in the third quarter recorded as a two instead of a three. He clearly pulled his foot back behind the line before releasing that shot. Must be a conspiracy against him and Lebron!
Gonna be a lot of sleepless officials tonight
Wonderful win! The Grizzlies were the darlings on the NBA at this time one year ago. Ja was an MVP candidate. Memphis was considered a Championship contender and Memphis a model of how to build a team.
The Fickle Finger of Fate had other ideas.
Certainly, there is plenty of more season to play out, but it is a different level of expectations for Ja and the Grizzlies.
On January 1, 2023 Sacramento played Memphis…
and lost 118-108 with the Griz 23-13 and Kings 19-16.
Happy New Year to You all, fellow Haeralders. May 2024 bring health, happiness, prosperity and love.
Go Kings!
oh, and Dance!
&ct=g
I am on the record as saying Fox taking too many threes is garbage. He needs to light it up if he wants to and I have an avatar
My 2024 New Years Resolution is to agree with Ellis more.
I’ll start with Rec’ing this post.
Hope you had a good holiday season JP!
You and your family as well Michael. Enjoyed all your posts in 2023 and look forward to your post game analysis in 2024.
The team celebrating New Years on the plane!
If they could have just flown west at 1,000 mph they could have been celebrating the new year in every time zone!
Happy 2024 friends!
jarren Jackson jr is overrated .So happy to have Sabonis on this team ! The kings just need to avoid size and length in the playoffs
They could have also had JJ on team. A perfect 4 next to Sabs.
But at least they have Trey
at 28 million a year?
Marcus Smart?
I thought that Jaren Jackson Jr was making 28 million dollars this year. I guess I’m wrong. Oh wait this is a double entendre… excellent.
Yeah who needs a perennial DPOY candidate when we can just keep doubling down on offense and shooting 3s and playing no defense and eventually win a championship that way.
Exactly. JJJ would be perfect in Sac. So would’ve OG. Too bad they couldn’t get him. Exactly what the Kings need.
I’d gladly pay JJJ 28 million a year to play the four for this team. I’d pay 45 million a year for him to be the four on this team. He’s literally the perfect fit next to Sabonis. Swap out Barnes for JJJ and we are a no doubt title contender.
Nice, emphatic road win to round out 2023.
I hope 2024 the D will keep getting better.
I like Huerter off the bench. Removes the “attack me” sign from his back, evens out the defense for the starters and adds scoring punch to the second unit.
Like Mirann wrote, the shots went to Barnes which helped balance out the unit. Duarte was there for his defense and energy, a la Doug Christie, and that allowed the other 4 starters to have more of a role offensively.
Huerter also got to play against Memphis bench guys where he can hopefully excel from now on.
That sounds nice in theory, but will only be sustainable if Duarte will both provide the goods defensively and be enough of a threat offensively to avoid being largely ignored by the opponents’defenses. In theory that should be possible. Let’s see how it works out in practice.
If you say what might be possible and IMO what could be possible Monty again hit the nail on the head.
Not just what Monk did on the floor or what he did with his shoes last night the Kings better keep him for at least another 3 or 4 years. If they don’t I would be very dissapointed. What a class act and what a basketball player. He has and will always be one of my favorite BB players. Happy New Year.
Monk is a keeper. He and Lyles, I think, are playoff performers too… needed on championship contending teams.
The remainder, outside of top 3, remain a question or don’t seem to be reliable in the playoffs or a weak link other teams exploit.
If he keeps up the defensive energy and cuts/moves offensively, that should be enough to make it work…
Disagree. The days that purely defensive players like Tony Allen could play heavy starter minutes are numbered. Teams nowadays will sag off that guy and double the star players, daring him to shoot from outside.
Guys like Dort and Thybulle have adapted and are now at least decent from 3. Duarte has to be at the very least a 3 and D guy. Just defending and cutting ain’t cutting it (pun intended).
I think 35% from 3 would be enough for him if his defense is good. Not great, but enough to work with the other 4 starters
I hope so.
But this season, so far, he’s averaging a paltry .367 from the field and only .304 from 3 and that simply isn’t good enough. (And last season was only marginally better).
Maybe Duarte can snap out of it and regain some of the production he had as a rookie, but he is probably just 10th man.
A big guard he can play physically and at least be a threat from outside is definitely something that can help though.
We need Francisco Garcia 2.0!
Unfortunately, Huerter is a bench dude. They still need to replace that spot….unless Duarte magically start shooting like Steph.
I like Caruso Okoro or Dort and Thybulle. Take your pick.
KH belongs on the bench, he isn’t starting material. Hopefully improved play coming off the bench increases his trade value
You are not trading en elite shooter, especially with his contract size…..
You don’t want to trade KH?
Why not?
Happy New Rotation
Definitely their best performance the last couple weeks. Need to come out with the same intensity and kill the Hornets tomorrow as well!
Hoping to go 3-1 on the upcoming homestand. Definitely need to beat the Hornets and Raptors, and then steal one of either the Magic or Pellies.
Then it’s off to Detroit…at least we don’t have to worry about being the team that broke their losing streak…
I will be at the Pelicans game with 11 family members and our two boys (1 and 3) will be at their first game so I hope it’s that one!
Have you noticed some broadcast quirks here? Like Kayte tounge-slipping saying DeMarcus instead of Domantas. And after a some time, while a free throw was being made (can’t remember who), the stat graphic shown Richaun Holmes? Quite the throwback if you ask me, and hilarious.
Happy New Year guys! What a time to be a Kings fan!
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