Following another disappointing loss on Monday, the Kings desperately needed a win over the Los Angeles Lakers. Beating the Lakers holds huge implications for playoff positioning, and for general purposes of good vs evil. Let’s see how they did.
Quick Stats
Outcome: Kings win, 130-120
Sacramento Kings: 130 pts, 55.7% fg, 38.7% 3 pt, 83.3% ft, 32 ast, 46 reb, 13 to
Los Angeles Lakers: 120pts, 51.9% fg, 46.9% 3 pt, 84.0% ft, 25 ast, 34 reb, 14 to
This game started UGLY. The King came out with lackluster energy, and trailed by as many as 19 points in the first quarter. It really seemed like Sacramento was going to continue the same energy from Monday. Luckily that wasn’t the case. The Kings, led by De’Aaron Fox, came out with energy and focus and closed the gap before the end of the first. They extended the lead big time in the second quarter, and continued the momentum in the third. The Kings did allow a bit of a run in the fourth, but the game was never truly in danger down the stretch. It was exactly what Kings fans needed.
The Good, The Bad, & The Best
The Good:
- Bench Contributions: Led by the inevitable 6th Man of the Year Malik Monk, the bench stepped up big in this game. Monk had a huge 26 points off the bench, to go along with 8 assists and 5 rebounds. Monk’s swagger and shotmaking were on full display. Trey Lyles had 7 points, and played some solid defense on LeBron James down the stretch. Lyles didn’t exactly stop LeBron, but he slowed him down more than the other options the Kings threw at James. Davion Mitchell was also huge in this one. I don’t know where Davion’s shot came from, but he was a perfect 4 for 4 from beyond the arc. I was also happy to see minutes for both Alex Len and Keon Ellis throughout the game.
- Steady Like An Ox: Domantas Sabonis struggled early in the game. The Kings weren’t getting a lot of love from the refs (I know you’re shocked), and Sabonis couldn’t settle into a groove. Sabonis continued to attack, and finished with another triple double. 16 points, 20 rebounds, and 12 assists.
The Bad:
- Opening Energy: As I mentioned earlier, the Kings came out flat in this game. Given the stakes of this game, it’s concerning that the team continues to struggle with their energy and focus at the start of games. Luckily it was a brief blip.
- Kevin Huerter: A big part of those opening struggles involved Kevin Huerter. Huerter ended up playing just 12 minutes and had 2 points on 1-for-3 shooting. I don’t blame Mike Brown for quickly moving away from Huerter in favor of other options. Not sure what’s going on with Huerter this season, but it would be nice if he could figure it out for this home stretch.
The Best:
- Mike Brown won 2 Challenges: No, seriously. He won two coach’s challenges. In one game. It was incredible.
The King of Kings
De’Aaron Fox took over this game early and never stopped. Fox tied his career high with 44 points. During one stretch Fox scored 10 straight points for the Kings. The Lakers simply had no answer. Fox kicked into gear when the Kings fell behind early, and it was great seeing him step up and lead the team when the Kings needed it.
Up Next
No rest for the victors, as the Kings host the San Antonio Spurs Thursday night in Sacramento.
The last couple weeks, the Kings have become the Crypto (Arena) Keepers!
That was a fun win.
Fox, Monk, and Davion absolutely cooked the Laker’s guards. I know ESPN hopes with all of their heart that The Lake Show is a playoff juggernaut, but that team has huge holes, not the least of which is AD folds against physical centers, and Jokic, Sabonis, Zubac, and Nurkic are all on the menu, and that they have two starters that will be hunted on defense in Reaves and Russell. Those two should go in big on a Father’s Day gift for Foxy after tonights game.
Did Keegan have the most impactful 7-3-3 game of the season? He is just all over the court. What an impressive young player. It seems the most common comp was Middleton, but I think Paul George 2.0 is what the Kings are going to see from him.
Nice to see Davion shoot well again. A consistent contribution from him might change the trajectory of this season for the Kings. Nice to see minutes from Ellis rather than Duarte as well.
What a win. That was fun.
Yes – Kee G—13 is becoming more PG-13
Though Khris Middleton was an All-Star until his recent injury struggles.
Wildcat strike tonight – 70 points from those Lexington alumni. Fox back in early season form. As much as De’Aaron and Lik dominated the ball, Sac had 32 assists tonight.
Again, love seeing that confidence from Davion. Last game it was so mid-range pull-ups with an occasional drive to the hoop. With the very vertical Lakers, popping from the outside was smart. And he’s running to the spots (corners) to get those open looks. He seems to be learning and leaning to his strengths more and more.
Nice to see Keon as well. As for Duarte, he’s come in and given good energy and scoring the previous 2 games, but it was Keon time tonight.
Next.
always appreciate your posts and observations UTG.
I’m a big Keon Ellis fan. From where he started to where he is now has to be one of the bright spots this year. IMO for what it’s worth I don’t think the Kings need to look for a backup point guard for next year. With the rest of this year plus the summer to work with him IMO he can do the job. Now go and find a 3 and D wing starter that is young not old.
Ellis should be getting any minutes that would go to Duarte. He is combo guard that usually has a positive impact on the game.
If Davion is dealt in the offseason, Ellis should be able to fill that role too.
Did you know that “Lik” means “ing” in Arabic?
(Lik seen here in an Ings uniform)
Remarkable win. Now they’ll probably follow it up by losing at home to San Antonio on Friday.
They won’t lose.
Yes. I guarantee we won’t lose at home to San Antonio on Friday!
The 1st quarter the Kings were put on their butts… Then the 2nd quarter……
A disgrace to the Fox name.
He’s the faux Fox.
Rick Fux.
Fux around and find out.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen that longer clip. RF manhandled Christie twice in that sequence before getting popped with the uppercut. Well deserved shot. Especially after RF’s bully ball ways.
Fox should change his number to 44.
Always great to beat the Fakers! Now we’re 3-0 against them and hold tiebreakers in case that comes into play.
Next up we play tomorrow………………the Spurs at home and Wemby won’t be playing.
Maybe a strategic move by Pop to not play Wemby. Increases the likelihood that the Kings will fail to show up.
Great win.
Yes yes.
Sabonis continued his career dominance over Anthony Davis: 9-0 now. And Fox continued his dominance of going down the left stripe of the lane – that sequence in the 3rd quarter was bonkers. He needs to do that more often, even with the improved shot Fox taking it to the rack down the left is extremely efficient.
Speaking of which, AD has a player option this summer – if he declines and the Kings can grab him that’s like the craziest big pairing in the NBA, right?
You are right about that third quarter run Fox had. If he had been wearing a sign that read “I’M GOING TO SHOOT A LAYUP ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE PAINT” it couldn’t have been more obvious where Fox was going. The Lakers knew, and there wasn’t a damned thing they could do about it.
Fox torched everyone, but for the life of me, I can’t understand why they would put Reaves on him. The only surprise was that Fox didn’t start scoring in bunches from the jump, but the team having five turnovers in the first six minutes didn’t help.
Interesting about Reeves “defending” Fox. Ten years ago they would put LeBron on Fox in that situation, LeBron can still score, but he has lost the defensive quickness he used to have.
Terrific game summary Greg. Appreciate you getting this out on a late night for you.
A Tale of Two Kangz Games
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way
Mike Brown did a great job this game, at least he played Ellis…
And Ellis helped that 2nd Qtr run, and he played awesome defense….
Loved what Davion and Ellis did in this game…
Beating the LA is always a good day !!
I just don´t get this team. On any given night they´re capable of just about anything from looking like a contender to not bothering to even show up. Just weird.
Also, here are two Center statlines for you:
38M 16P 20R 12A 2S 0B 3TO
34M 14P 11R 3A 0S 1B 2TO
One of those is an Allstar, the other is “overrated”. Go figure that one out.
Didn’t catch this one as it started at 9:30pm for me. Watched the condensed version that did not seem to capture the magical Kings run to build that lead in the 2nd and 3rd quarters.
Beating the Lakers is always a good thing!
Great win! Fox was majestic and Domas was Domas. watched with Lakers commentary. hilarious. those guys sounded shocked to find out Domas leads the league in rebs, double doubles and tripple doubles. they had to tripple double check the latter stat, they thought it’s Luka… what competence!
Domas is slept on by so many in the league because he isn’t flashy. Blue collar player that quietly produces and contributes to winning basketball. So glad he is on the Kings.
I don’t think he’s slept on. At all. Until he wins something in the playoffs he won’t get the same recognition as other players. He’s 0-5 lifetime in. The playoffs. Never advanced past the first round in 5 playoff appearances. His stat lines are also very weak 14-6. In the playoffs.
Teams will take away his strengths in the playoffs and expose him. Crowd him at the rim, force him out in space. Where he can’t shoot.
Regular season accolades are fine. But when it really counts. The playoffs. He’s been less than average
All star and all nba nods are regular season accolades and he gets snubbed there…that’s what I assume he means by slept on
Fox is a certified Laker Killer, he def gets up for these LA games because he knows about the rivalry and how much it means to Kings fans to beat LA, plus he loves big stage in LA. Him and Monk love the big moments that why they always get the ball at end of games, a lot of these other guys are shying away. 3-0 vs LA is so satisfying, really have to appreciate the level of success we do have compared with past years. Thank you for the satisfying win Kings, Light the MFin Beam!
Other guys shying away? Like who? Have the other players passed up clean looks in clutch time, a la Ben Simmons?
I’ve not noticed any unwillingness to step up when the moment required it.
I know we hate on the Lakers but their broadcast team overall paints the Kings as a team to be feared. I was never more thankful to use the away broadcast as last night.
It feels like a luxury when the color analyst shuts their f$cking mouth when the ball approaches the 3pt line after a score on the other end.
I want that back in Sacramento SO BADLY.
Seconded
Maybe a billboard is needed?
Last time we made a billboard they unleashed Covid. I listen to enough podcasts down in the bunker to know they’re totally connected.
Yeah, I’m gonna need
proofa tweet before I’ll believe that.Had LBJ sat the Kings would have lost. Of this I have no doubt. Poor game plan by Darvin Ham.
Do not, do not, DO NOT play down to San An tonight. Take care of business for once.
Great game last night. It may be time (* correction, it’s been time) to run the last stretch of the season with the Kentucky backcourt. Let them finish what they started.
Funnily enough, the Kings have struggled against the Spurs this season even though they are 2-0 on them. I won’t be surprised in the slightest if they come out lethargic tonight. The fact that Wemby isn’t going to be playing increases my worries.
I have the same worries my friend.
Still…Go Kings!
I usually start watching 20-30 minutes after the start so I can buzz thru commercials/half-time. Almost turned this off when we got down 19 in the first. Checked the score, saw we had closed to 10 midway in the 2nd, so I figured I had to keep watching.
That 40 point swing thru the 2nd and 3rd was beautiful. Solid win!
Now let’s take care of business at home. Need 5 of 6 on this home stand including a must win in the rematch next Wednesday.
I don’t think any of Davion’s four shots touched iron at all. They hit the net like they had been dropped from directly above the rim. When he’s able to set himself and launch, his shot has been gorgeous recently.
He has been much more assertive and confident offensively. It has been nice to see. It took him 50+ games to figure it out, so hopefully he will keep this going.
Related to passing the trade deadline? I can imagine that for some people not knowing whether you are part of the team for the season would hurt their performance.
Credit to my wife – she came up with a term to describe a Sabonis pass while sitting on the floor: an “ASS-ist”.
Now the Kings, with the exception of teams like the Celtics, Bucks and Clippers, beat the really good teams and lose to the bad ones.
So, bear with me on this, the Kings will only play good teams in the playoffs, and should therefore do really well, and make it to the 2nd round, and possibly the conference finals.
Help me find the flaw in this reasoning.
The Flaw is its playoffs basketball.Sabonis is a regular season monster.Sabonis is garbage in the playoffs. His stats lifetime will tell you that.
Teams expose your flaws in the playoffs. The majority of the Kings wins against good teams have been against teams missing key players.
They beat the Clippers once without George. If Clips are healthy Kings have no shot.
Beat Denver 3 times missing Murray all 3 times, KCp 2wice and Porter out once
They beat Minny once wihout Mcdaniels and the second time and Edwards missing the second half of a one point game.
OKC is a young team that the Kings can handle because Chet is undersized. Don’t know if that will be the case again with them signing Biyombo.
Warriors are always a threat. That series is tied.
Kings have no shot with the Pels. Pels would destroy them in a series. Length, Defense everywhere, and will bully the Kings.
Suns depends if the Big 3 are healthy.
The only thing missing is they first have to get to the playoffs.
Not enough dancing for having beat the other LA team. Nice win, Kings!
Adorable little guy, even if he is a Laker
That’s definitely a technical foul.
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