The Sacramento Kings got their first win of the Zach LaVine era on Saturday, defeating the New Orleans Pelicans 123-118. But despite the Pelicans being injury-plagued and in the middle of a truly terrible season, the Kings still had to overcome an early deficit to earn this win. The first quarter started terribly, with the Kings trailing 29-9 with 3:15 left in the first quarter. The bench unit led a nice comeback to close the gap before the first quarter ended, but the Pelicans opened up the second quarter with another run. The Kings fought to stay in the game, but still trailed 65-54 at the half. The third quarter was when the game turned in Sacramento’s favor. The Kings won the third quarter 45-22. You’d think victory would have been an easy cruise from there, but the Kings allowed the Pelicans to make it close in the closing minutes. Luckily the Kings did just enough to hold on and light the Beam. You’d hope for a more convincing victory against this Pelicans team, but for a team still finding its stride with new players, a win is still a step in the right direction.
Thoughts and observations from this one:
Welcome to Sacramento, Jake!
In the first quarter, Jake LaRavia checked into his first game as a Sacramento King and immediately added 5 points. His presence was also immediately noticeable on defense. LaRavia finished with 7 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, and 1 steal. It’s a well rounded state line, but doesn’t jump off the page, but it’s clear Jake is going to immediately be in the Keon Ellis category of guys who’s impact is bigger than their box scores.
The Bench Delivers
Speaking of LaRavia and Keon Ellis, the Sacramento Kings have a real bench all of a sudden! Doug Christie kept a tight 9-man rotation, with Devin Carter earning a DNP, but the bench unit of Ellis, LaRavia, Trey Lyles, and Jonas Valanciunas is a welcome change from earlier this season. I have to try not to dwell on why the Kings couldn’t add bench pieces like this earlier, and how it may have changed the conversations around De’Aaron Fox’s future. But it’s so nice having capable bench players come in and help rather than immediately undoing the progress made by the starters. Valanciunas in particular is such a fun guy to have on your bench. His size, his physicality (he fouls hard and it is awesome when he isn’t doing it to Kings players), and his steady presence behind Domantas Sabonis, it’s everything you could hope for from a backup center. Jonas enjoyed a nice moment as he sank two clutch free throws to secure the win, and threw a wink at the Pelicans bench. Ellis had 13 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 assists. Valanciunas had 6 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block.
Welcome back, Domas
Domantas Sabonis hadn’t been a big factor in the last two games. It seemed like the team was struggling to find Domas in the flow while incorporating Zach LaVine. Who knows whether it’s the benefit of a practice sessions, or an emphasis from the coaching staff, but Domas was back in this one. 27 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Kings in both categories. Although Sabonis did only have two assists, continuing the trend of fewer assists this season. With the lack of primary ball handlers other than Malik Monk, you’d think we see the Kings find ways to utilize Sabonis’ passing skills more, but that hasn’t happened yet.
Sacramento’s Shooting Curse remains undefeated
Zach LaVine arrived in Sacramento shooting 446% from 3 this season. In three games with the Kings, he is shooting 20% from 3. The woes continued in this game, as LaVine went 1-for-7 from beyond the arc. Malik Monk hilarious discussed it in the locker room after the game:
Malik on Zach LaVine lmaoooo
— Kyle_R (@kyler89.bsky.social) February 8, 2025 at 11:38 PM
The Kings as a team struggled from deep, shooting 11-for-41 (26.8%) on the night.
LaVine did manage to put together a decent night despite the struggles from deep. He finished with 22 points on 14 shots, along with 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and a steal. You can also see him getting more comfortable in the flow with the Kings, although the fit when he and DeMar DeRozan share the floor is still a bit clunky.
We still can’t stop these guys
There are certain consistent, universal truths in this world. Among them are the inevitable facts that Zion Williamson and CJ McCollum are going to light up the Kings every single time. Zion had a game high 40 points, while McCollum added 31.
Up Next
The Kings visit the Dallas Mavericks on Monday, with a 5:30 PT tipoff.
This is the bench we’ve needed since we traded for Domas. Too bad it took so long to go get it.
…and at the expense of Fox. So many missteps along the way and still a long ways from getting it right.
the “half full” view is that we’ve also moved on from HB, Mitchell, Huerter and now Len and we’ve got a starting 5 that actually makes sense with a 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 in the lineup. Having 4 effective guys on the bench plus Carter is a good thing. With recognition that guys like Ellis, JV and Laravia need to play serious minutes. Baby steps.
I’m still not entirely sure that we have a starting one through five that makes sense. But I love the bench and I’m willing to give the starting group some time to see how they gel. And hey now at least we have some picks to work with.
If they keep the same starting 5, just swap out DDR for Keon after 4 minutes, then put DDR and the remaining bench crew in 4 or 5 minutes later.
They do need to stop coming out sluggish early.
I mean technically, we’re starting three guards, an undersized power forward, and a center. Not saying that’s a bad thing and necessarily. It’s just not a typical one through five.
Right, but that was also the case with Fox but we had two hybrid 1/2 guards and 2 of the 3 guards shoot 32% 3PFG. Monk and Fox are basically duplicative. Lavine is a different player and Ellis needs 20+ minutes every night.
Open question if we ever want to get bigger at the 3 or 4
Uhhh we don’t have a starting 5 that makes sense though, we do on the roster but they aren’t using it
Our starting makes almost no sense unless the goal is to give up 140 points a game.
Still need to fill the ideal 4 spot next to Domas. Could have drafted Ware who has been great the past month, but MM can’t help himself with undersized guards.
Laravia will do the job.
Yes , Ware, DaSilva and DaRon Holmes would have all been better adds than Carter for this team. I know Holmes is injured but he could have been great add. He was an all offensive and defensive Big 10 player. All three of them would have been great for this team… ugh
Can’t imagine that a barely-win at home against an injury-plagued league bottom dweller means that they’re starting to figure it out. Next game will give a better indication.
Next game we’ll win and it will be against a “rudderless, Luka-depleted worthless Mavs team”.
Have fun with that.
29th rated 3pt Defense
26th rated 3pt Offense
Adding Lavine, Laruvia and Valenciunas is not changing that.
Dallas, New Orleans, whoever.
Lavine and LaRavia are better 3pt shooter than all the guys they sent out. The 3pt offense should be better.
3pt defense, not so sure about. They still over help in the paint, but maybe that starts to change schemetaically now with JV down there and LaRavia being much better than Huerter or whoever had those minutes.
IMO these moves will change things. Let’s wait and see.
Huh, last I checked the Mavs were ahead of us in the standings and had just beaten Hou, but yeah whatever.
I’m sorry, how’d that go, again?
You gotta start somewhere.
The Orlando game was really bad. Portland they played better. New Orleans was a mixed bag of really good play and really bad play.
They need to find a middle ground and execute consistently throughout the game.
I think this team is the middle ground, as in a .500 ball club. There are going to be some more “meh” wins and some winnable losses. In the end it’s not going to matter much until it’s determined if they keep or lose their pick. It will be so Kangz if they finish just outside the playoffs but still lose their pick.
I think they have the same potential now as they did before the deadline, simply because LaRavia and JV are far superior to Len, Jmac, KH, Colby. They have a 9 man rotation of competent players.
It’s up to the coaches, and the players, to figure out how to win at a high level. That’s where my concerns are with 30ish games.
“I have to try not to dwell on why the Kings couldn’t add bench pieces like this earlier…”
I don’t understand why, exactly, it took Fox to get a decent bench, other than salary cap constraints. I feel like Monte’s talk about flexibility really didn’t mean a whole lot during the last couple of years when the team was unable / unwilling to utilize whatever “flexibility” they had. I’m sure much will be forgiven if they can segue these moves into a nice run this season and next. Will be interesting to see if they continue making adjustments in the offseason but for now I’m excited again to see what this group can do.
I am in agreeance that this post deadline squad is a deeper one. Fox seemed to add more than Zach (3 game SSS) on the overall – defensively in particular – but JV, and LaRavia by providing long missing positional support have expanded the whole gestalt.
I’m going to add (pile on?) here a bit repeat that the addition by subtraction of Red Velvet/RickAstley/Ke’von aka Kevin Huerter has been a more dramatic move to my dumb fan eye than the off loading of De’Aaron. And I will again say that IF IF IF McNair had traded away Huerter at the trade deadline last season, no other changes (Barnes, Davion, Sasha) and replaced him with a similar (Gary Trent, Jr. for example – not a star, someone trade gettable) it makes you wonder how last season and thus this season would’ve played out. Oh well.
The luxury of a quality, starting level 5 as a backup should also be (loudly) applauded, The “Vikingness” of JV alone is grin worthy – I feel they should blow an Ox horn when he enters the game.
Coach Christie has (enough of, IMO) the goods. Let’s see if this translates to wins.
What is the “right direction” for this team, I wonder?
I’m not advocating for this approach, necessarily, but I think Monte sees things like a card counter at the casino. The House (big-market teams) always wins.
But if you stay at the table long enough, maybe you can get lucky. Monte doesn’t bet big. He limps in, no big wins, no big losses. He stays flexible. And as long as he never goes bust, he’s got a shot. So he keeps playing conservative, keeps in the game, keeps counting the cards. Fox forces his hand and he flips him for Lavine and picks – a small loss. He takes the picks and flips them into two terrific role players – a couple nice wins.
Maybe you disagree with it, but when I look at the players and assets that this team has compared to 5 years ago, this franchise certainly has a lot more chips since Monte sat down at the table.
That’s actually a pretty good analogy. Small gains, small losses, nothing too extreme. Stay somewhat relevant and hope to catch lightning in a bottle one season.
The analogy is good, but if this is really Monte’s thinking, the premise is so obviously wrong. There’s plenty of smaller market teams that have won championships. The very team they traded Fox to, case in point…
What’s maddeing is- to continue to poker analogy- the NBA actually gives you a way to replenish your chips. Imagine a poker game where if you crash out badly, they replenish you with a stack. Monte/Vivek seem to perpetually think they can play with the big boys with their meager stack but they should really be doing what everyone else does, and be really bad for a few years and replenish.
Agreed, it’s a good analogy, and seems exactly like what he’s doing. And let’s give him credit for Keon – signed him after the draft, and they developed him. You’re not going to hit on all your picks, but as a small market team, you better be right more than you’re wrong. I’d say he has been.
Where I disagree is in the comparison to the Spurs. Luck has a huge role in this. You have to pick in the top 3, and sometimes first, to get Tim Duncan or David Robinson. Even if you land in that spot, it may just not be the year they’re available. The Kings have been unlucky, hence their version of a good night at the casino is like mine: lose your money slowly enough that at least it was entertaining.
Having said that, the Spurs culture makes a huge difference.
Was just about to write the same thing. I’ve seen a bunch of takes about look at the Spurs position after 3-4 years of rebuilding versus the Kings. Both teams have made some good deals and poor deals. The difference is Spurs lucked out with Wemby.
Smaller market Denver got lucky with Jokic. Great pick…but they obviously didn’t expect this version of Jokic. Vlade fumbled the Kings one chance at a sure thing. Until a sure thing lands in your lap or you get lucky in later rounds try to keep yourself in the game. Think the analogy makes a ton of sense.
Great analysis of the last game. Agree with a lot said. I’ve liked Laravia for a long time, and for what the Kings needed as a backup 3-4, I think he fits like a glove. He’s almost Cam Johnson before he became Cam Johnson? An awesome pickup, great energy on both ends. He’s an active and smart cutter – he’s not just running around on offense. Can knock down the three, and knows to make the extra pass. On defense he’s got good length and mobility and competes hard. Excellent pickup and I really hope we keep him.
It’s been a rough few games, but it did look like something started to click for them. Helps that Lavine made a few shots, too. I agree that with Fox gone, this is officially the Domantas Sabonis era, and Domas needs to bear that. He’s been the best player for a while now, but he’s gotta step up on offense. Not necessarily scoring, but in serving as the offensive hub. The team has shooters and some modest size and length around him. Ball needs to be in his hands 1-2 times per possession like Jokic while everyone else revolves around his gravity. And 2 of Keon/Murray/Laravia/Lyles need to be on the floor at all times. Enough of Monk, DDR, and Lavine watching each other take turns shooting.
Gotta say, I’m excited to watch Kings basketball again. Monte found a way to keep the team competitive while also adding some flexibility and picks to the team’s future. I feel there’s a strong argument that this team is more talented today than it was at the beginning of the season, not bad for having lost your star point guard. Go Kings!
Monk/DDR/Lavine shouldn’t be a regular line-up combo. I’d be fine with DDR off the bench rather than the starting, playing 4 minutes, then coming out suggestion (though that’s better than a long stretch with the 3). Why lie to ourselves and say that it works?
Use the other starting slot depending on the team. Quick team? Keon. Big team? Start JV at the 5, Domas at the 4, Keegan at SF. I’d be perfectly happy seeing the JV/Domas/Keegan rotation for a few minutes per game.
I wouldn’t make any assumptions on a beating an intentionally tanking team missing 3 starters.
Zion plays 5 more minutes and this game would have been Pels in the victory column.
In regards to Lavine’s game. Has always struck me as high volume scorer.
low iq player and never has made any impact on D.
Fox for all his warts. Was definitely becoming a 2 way player. This and the fact Fox played in a much tougher conference for the last 8 years.
.
and Zion will run over Ellis like a little kid every single time. All day every day.
Zion runs of every body. He pushed Domas back. Zion knew JV was too big, so he snaked his way around him instead.
Would putting JV in the game earlier have been the answer to Zion? I think he needed to feel someone he couldn’t move.
Is there any chance DC plays JV at the 5 and Sabonas at the four? Like, at the same time??
Doesn’t have to.
And a big bow of respect to the Great Hubie Brown. Heart warming and well deserved tribute on his last game broadcast just now.
He gave so much to us fans and the game of NBA basketball.
That was good. I like him. Analyzed the game well. Shared interesting stories, and didn’t talk to me like I’m a moron (take note Kayte).
HB is an all-timer.
Obviously everyone can comment whatever they want. But if you come here to make sure everyone knows how little a given win means, just know that we all get it.
Honestly, until we win at least one playoff series, no wins will mean anything. We all know that, and some of us choose to enjoy the wins anyway. Your telling us how bad the team we beat was isn’t going to change that.
I think we’ve had decent bench players for years.
The problem is that we were using some of them as starters.
Well, so much for the Mavericks making a run.
I’d assume too that perhaps Sabonis will be picked as a replacement?
1.3M bonus for making the all star. Hope he get it even if it’s replacement status.
Lively will still be out, and (noted Kings killer) PJ Washington left Saturday’s game with a twisted ankle. We should be looking at a significant advantage across the frontline.
I see this game as a “must-win” game for Sac. Dallas is right above them in the standings, and they are without AD and Lively, and others are GTD as well. Also, catching the Mavs after Luka is traded is a huge advantage for the Kings.
Bold prediction:
Dallas misses the playoffs altogether, then and leapfrogs in the lottery to a top pick. We make the play-in but lose, and in the process also lose our pick.
Any Kings fan here at Arroyo Seco Golf Course in South Pasadena on Saturday? Wearing a Kings jersey?
Badge Legend