The Sacramento Kings kicked off their first road trip of 2023 against the Detroit Pistons, and the Kings had hopes of a bounce-back effort after a brutal showing against the New Orleans Pelicans. Unfortunately, the Kings carried over some of their bad habits from the Pelicans game and dug themselves an early hole. Kings fans were screaming doom and gloom after the first quarter, which saw the Kings give up 47(1) points to the lowly Pistons, despite Detroit missing Cade Cunningham due to injury. Luckily, the Kings turned things around in a big way. The Kings closed the gap and took a lead into half time, and despite allowing the Pistons to keep it a little too close during the third quarter, the Kings ran away down the stretch with a 131-110 victory.
The key to success for the Kings was really their Core 4. Domantas Sabonis had a monster game, dominating the Pistons in the paint en route to another triple double. He finished with 37 points, 13 assists, 10 rebounds, and 3 steals. Keegan Murray also came up huge. Keegan played great defense and racked up 32 points on 17 shots, to go along with 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, and a steal. Malik Monk had a great game off the bench, finishing with 20 points, and 9 assists, including several beautiful passes to a rolling Sabonis.
De’Aaron Fox struggled for stretches, looking very uncomfortable at times. At one point he blew a breakaway layup where the ball simply flew out of his hands and into the heavens. And yet, because Fox is so good, he still finished with 26 points, 4 assists, and 2 steals.
You may notice that those four players accounted for 115 of Sacramento’s 131 points. Yeah. The rest of the crew struggled to score. Kevin Huerter returned to the starting lineup and finished with 4 points, but did add 5 assists and 5 rebounds. Kevin played hard, but his shot wasn’t falling. Trey Lyles also gave the Kings good minutes, despite scoring just 6 points. He also added 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and lots of tough defensive effort. Alex Len chipped in 6 points. No other Kings scored.
It was a far from perfect game, but despite the rough start it was nice to see the Kings recover their composure and handle business. Hopefully this win can help get them back on track moving forward.
Domas was the only King ready to play in the first . Thankfully Fox, Monk and Keegan joined the game later . Seems it’s time to start Lyles over Barnes at least to me .
Why can’t Vez get some of Barnes minutes? Or any minutes? Is he that much worse on defense in Barnes? Doesn’t look like Barnes plays great day. I wonder what’s up.
Is there any way they’d be trading him?
Vez isn’t good. He shoots inconsistently and thats about it. Doesn’t move well, or do much else. Could start Lyles and play Kessler some. Toscano isnt the answer either…
I think it’s worth developing Kessler, as he is lengthier and more athletic than Toscano and Duarte. I think he could be a decent, end of the bench player, but on our team, he could be a pretty decent 10th man in some instances. Lyles, Kessler, and Ellis seem like they care and want to put forth effort, whereas Barnes is suspect, Kevin is ineffective, and Duarte does not play so smart quite often.
Vezenkov reminds me of Bjelica, streak shooter who can impact the game in certain situations. Also, he’s a willing defender but is hampered by middling athleticism. I do think he’s capable of more that he’s shown but I guess he needs to ramp up the D to see more of the floor.
Yeah, the eye test sees him running akwardly compared to the others on the floor, but from what I’ve seen he almost always tries to get good positioning for a rebound or at least has a body on or looking for an opponent so they can’t make a play on the rebound. I guess willing but not necessarily able would describe him on defense?
Agree. But more/better effort could help with that. I mean look at Lyles. not super athletic but able to make plays on defense (come on Duarte, take a page from Lyles’ book)
Not only is his DRtg better than Barnes, it’s 7th best on the team. Barnes is 16th.
So Vezler is better on D than Barnes? To me, he looks like all the other Kings for the most part.
I think if Sasha got a solid run of minutes for a month, say 25, he would produce and play winning basketball.
He does something else: he rebounds the ball at twice the rate of Barnes, and that has been a major issue against longer teams.
Agree, at least one of Brown’s patented five-game auditions as a starter.
Huerter steps up with the triple single.
But seriously… if I can see that hierter shoots poorly when he’s not set and squared up, why can’t the coaches? And/or why don’t they and Huerter do something about it? I think I recall heard her saying he got out of his other slump by setting his feet?
In this game, we saw the full range of Kings’ defense. A terrible first quarter followed by rwo good (2nd, 4th) quarters and one decent one.
Depending on effort, the Kings can be worst in the league or they can hold the Piston field-goal-less for more than 10 minutes.
So,, terrible defensive or league-average D.
Seems like the Kings are shifting away from Barnes, who played only 13-14 minutes tonight if I’m not mistaken.
Lyles deserves those minutes.
.
My two cents. The defensive effort didn’t change for the King, we just saw the a very bad team in the Pistons go from hot to cold.
The Kings were giving up easy shots for most of the game. The Pistons came out shooting far above their averages. As the game went on, however, they returned to the norm.
Agree with this. Even Kayte and Kyle said the Pistons were bad from three to take away the interior and it’s a done deal. Of course, Piston then shot extremely well from 3 in that first quarter. 47 fricking points, hahaha
That was the plan with Orlando, too, and they set a team record for 3s in a game.
Maybe it’s the defensive scheme. Deny paint scoring as much as possible at the cost of more 3pt attempts. We all know the Kings don’t have solid paint protection so maybe a sagged off defense on the perimeter to help down low is Brown’s scheme?
Could be. The team just looks confused most games on defense and it leads to lots of open 3s. Maybe keep the scheme simple and consistent so the players are comfortable and can start trusting each other.
There is a lot of switching and chasing down 3pt shooters from distance which sort of leads me to believe they are sagged off to help on dribble drives.
To be perfectly honest, I’d rather give up open 3’s to poor shooting teams than watch a layup drill.
The Pistons were cruising along…and then the 2nd quarter started.
OT: Perfect replica of downtown road conditions.
Start Lyles please ????????Monk is not just a microwave scoring six man , the starting 5 can you use that passing and passion from start to finish .
Nice way to finish a game poorly started.
At this point, at least until a trade is made or C. Jones gets some run, I think MB should slide KM down to SG, Barnes down to SF, and put Lyles in at PF. They aren’t getting enough from KH or CD.
That first quarter was so bad I can’t even be happy they won. That first quarter outweighed the rest despite Sabonis and Keegan having huge games. Bleh.
Glad it’s not just me. That first quarter was foul. It’s good they were playing the league’s worst team because most wouldn’t let this Kings squad back in after a start like that.
I’ve posed this question before but once again: are there any realistic trades out there to move the defensive needle? I can’t see many.
Same. I’m actually not a fan of Siakam so I was dreading that trade scenario. Dillon Brooks, anyone? Hahaha
Thybulle, Caruso, and Smart. Their teams will be selling them by the deadline.
Marcus Smart is good, but not sure he’s what we need length wise.
Thybulle would be an excellent addition but won’t come cheap. His shooting has reportedly taken a decent jump this season
Heard rumors that the Bulls are really interested in Huerter. If so could the Kings find a way to get Caruso?
Then forget Siakam. He doesn’t want to come here. Go after Kuzma.
If they could work a trade for Caruso and Torrey Craig revolving around Huerter (and most likely some draft compensation), I would do that in a heartbeat.
Coming out that way after the Pels game is just inexcusable.
This shit has got to stop. Please start Lyles and “anyone” in place of Barnes and Huerter. Maybe riding the pine for 5-6 games will get their heads back in the game.
I just don’t get the Barnes thing. He’s cooked. It has to stop.
Detroit bouncing around as a low rider – looking interesting but really can’t go anywhere
39 Assists! And basically The Core 4 outscore the entire Motor City squad
Just amazing
We dancin’?
Don’t know if I should give in to that Temptation!
“Kings fans were screaming doom and gloom after the first quarter”
With my game thread bingo card, I got two bingos with four minutes to go in the first quarter.
One was “another lackluster start” to “another open three” to “sit the starters” to “defense is broken” to “everyone is on the table” for a successful bingo.
And the other bingo was the negative one.
I’m not sure what your point is? People are going to react negatively to bad play and an obvious crack in the foundation. ….let ‘em.
Doomers will always be funny to me. I don’t know why you think I want them to stop.
Ohh. Got it. It’s humor to you. I thought you were criticizing. Cool
Everyone is criticizing, and everyone knows that going in. I’ve been told that it’s therapy. I wish them the best in their long-term recovery.
So yeah, the overreactions and exaggeration are reliably funny, imo.
Tonight’s game, one guy was openly rooting for the Kings to lose, so that was an interesting wrinkle.
Because I’m still in a salty mood, I see Greg started the post-game article with the same energy the Kangz did:
Little known fact: the probability of making a spelling or syntax error when pointing out someone’s temporal error increases by 900%
It was a far from perfect recap, but despite the rough start it was nice to see the Greg recover their composure and handle business. Hopefully this piece can help get them back on track moving forward.
“See the Greg”
What the fans don’t understand is that recaps don’t write themselves. It takes a strong effort in all phases of a paragraph. If the statistics aren’t there, you have to go back to fundamentals. Nouns. Verbs. Prepositional Phrases. That’s how you get the recap back on track.
Did Greg write this article or AI? Chat GPT?
We will never know
I’m still writing 2023 on my
checksrecaps!Greg ruined my recaps.
Please don’t boo him.
I’ve always liked Harrison Barnes and Kevin Huerter but their performance has dropped off considerately from last year. Don’t know if they’ll generate enough interest to get the Kings a changemaker at SF but I don’t think we’ll be as good as we were last year if we keep them both.
Right. You could really see their deficiencies in the playoffs. Maybe they coulda moved em in the off season
“Maybecouldas” are airtight.
Do you think the Detroit media person gets to keep their job
Detroit is at the point they’ll take any win they can get. Even if it’s just a quarter
Chew on this. The game shifted so badly for the Pistons that everyone dressed for them had a chance to change the dynamic in quarters 2-4. Everyone that is but Bagley.
He is basically their Kessler Edwards, but making $12.5M this season…and next.
Wonder if his dad would do better with Det if he coached them
Bagley is such a waste of talent. Not saying we should have gone with Luka (he would have affected Fox’s development) but Jaren Jackson Jr and the Bridges boys were still on the board.
Reporter: Hey coach Brown, congratulations on the win tonight.
MB: Thanks, we gutted it out.
Reporter: Talk to us about giving up 47 points to a 3 win team in the first quarter.
MB:…
This win doesn’t make me feel better, after last game’s asswhooping.
How the hell can you come out so weak in response to that drubbing and give up 47 points in a quarter to the worst team in the league by a wide margin?
Team Meeting Time?
I don’t know what the solution is.
What I do know is that I see only one guy giving consistent effort throughout every game, and that is Sabonis. It almost seems as if too many players here think that they can take plays off or lose their focus for a while and be fine.
Also, we had a 15 point lead after 4+ minutes in in the 3rd and early in the 4th it was tied.
Against the f-ing Pistons.
Without Cade.
After a humiliating asskicking at home the previous game.
You have a 15 point lead and can’t even finish the Pistons off?
So stating that “the rest of the game was pretty good“, as Greg wrote, is a matter of perspective, I guess.
It’s frustrating how annoyed I am at a team with such a good W-L record, and I am trying not be and really enjoy it, but they are not making it easy.
I think there needs to be a shakeup in the core rotation. I know most folks consider the 4 core players untouchable, but one of them is about to hit free agency is one of the worst defender on the team.
It’s likely a very unpopular opinion but Monk for Caruso works perfectly salary wise. The Kings would be trading some scoring for defense, but I think that is what is needed. I’d start Caruso next to Fox and bring Huerter off the bench.
I like it
If the trade can be made for Huerter, that is a better option. I think the Kings should keep Monk as they need something of a “bench mob” for the team to succeed. IMO, Monk will re-sign if he is able to get 22-28 minutes per game and get paid for the numbers he puts up (both good and bad).
I think we fans also have to realize there is a very real chance someone offers Monk more than the Kings can and he walks for nothing. 6th man candidates are making $20M per year and the Kings can’t pay him that much.
Unless Monte has a “wink wink” deal in place with Monk before the deadline, it may be best to trade him for value.
What would they need to do so they could pay him more than the early bird rights?
Get under the cap?
Correct. Far under the cap, which is unlikely.
Nah, he’ll surely take less money to stay with Fox.
I agree completely. Sabonis and Monk are the only two players on the team that I never question effort-wise. I don’t know what will fix this team but I know something is broke.
I would start with benching Huerter and Barnes and I don’t mean not starting, I mean no minutes. Give them to consistent contributors like Lyles and Monk. And give guys like Ellis, Vez, Kess and the rookie more consistent minutes. What’s the worst that could happen? Give up 47 in a quarter to a three win team? Lose to a seven win team at home?
I am starting to question the coaching (which I have not done with MB yet) due to the devotion to Huerter and Barnes. I know I have seen enough of them to know they are not part of the solution.
Couldn’t agree more.
Appreciate the comeback. But a playoff-bound team will not let that slide the same way the Pistons fell back down to earth.
However, if the Kings were playing top tier basketball every night, the roster would stay the same come the deadline.
I think the team needs to change the starting unit and insert Lyles for Barnes, and maybe throw Duarte back in there (SG is a mess besides Monk, who is basically a PG I guess). Give Barnes minutes to Sasha. Maybe Barnes is becoming too passive most games. Sasha at least shows effort and is a willing rebounder.
Energy and effort guys to help prevent the slow and sluggish starts that have been plaguing this team. Digging out of early holes is not a good trend, and it expends a lot more energy throughout the season.
Glad they pulled out the W tonight. Just didn’t like how it transpired.
For some reason the losses have been hurting more this year. So I took a look…
Entire 22-23 season
9 losses by more than 10 but less than 20
2 losses by 20 or more
1 loss by 30 or more
Current season as it stands today:
4 losses by more than 10 but less than 20
4 losses by 20 or more
2 losses by 30 or more
Less than halfway through the season and we’ve got our ass cheeks kicked more than we did in the entirety of last season.
It’s not a good trend.
Yeah, the fact that blowout losses have become a frequent thing is not good. Record-wise, we may be better than last year at this point of the season, but I feel like last year’s team we never had to worry about guys going through the motions and looking disinterested. Like, if you’re going to end up losing, at least put that effort in and make things competitive.
It’s frustrating because this team is 22-14, and of course I’m happy about that, but at the same time there have been too many whiplashes of playing a good game to getting completely blown out, not to mention taking bad teams for granted (some of them ended up in wins, but games like yesterday and Atlanta we had to claw our way back from a big deficit).
The guys don’t look like they are having as much fun this season. Vastly different than last season when everyone seemed to like each other and were pulling for each other to do well. Not it seems like straight business, and some don’t seem to be performing in that environment.
Yeah, the start was ugly. That said, the 41-7 run that followed that start was incredible, and the the score over the final three quarters was 102-63.
The Kings won a game that they were supposed to win, by 21 points. I’ll take it.
OT: Sabonis in Netflix NBA documentary
I guess the other four guys are vastly-overrated, too.
Breaking: Edwards and Tatum called for fouling LeBron.
OT: Darko is Displeased
Good for him, he should feel that way and he should say it. Fines be damned,
Refs have seemed to particularly bad this season.
Ah, and now we have a Segababa, while Fox, Murray and Domas played 33 minutes or more to secure the win.
I hope they’re chomping at the bits to avenge the loss against Charlotte.
Oof double trap game on a Segababa. Last night’s Keegan-version was awesome, no hesitation when going to the rim. I hope we see this consistently going forward.
Badge Legend