It was a concerning start for Sacramento, going down 20-10 early in the first and seemed like it would be one of those games. However, the bench came in and changed the tone of the game and the tone stayed that way for the remainder of the game. The Kings dominated the Hawks for the second time this season and complete the series sweep of them 2-0. It was also good to hear Jerry Reynolds on the broadcast for this one and we’ll hear him for a few more games.

The first quarter did not start good for the Kings at all. The Hawks were dominating the paint with their big man John Collins, who had 10 points on 4-4 shooting. All shots came in the paint. Atlanta jumped to a 20-10 lead, but then the Kings bench made noise. They went on an 11-2 run towards the end of the quarter and regained the lead. Bogdan Bogdanovic, Marvin Bagley, Harry Giles, Justin Jackson and Yogi Ferrell all chipped in beautiful plays as the Kings led 32-31 after one. Nemanja Bjelica and Buddy Hield led Sacramento with seven points each.

Sacramento outscored Atlanta 35-22 in the second quarter and built a 65-50 lead heading towards the end of the half. The half ended 67-53 as De’Aaron Fox was in perfect position after a missed shot by Iman Shumpert and he easily put it in. The bench was the main factor in Sacramento’s success in the first half. Marvin Bagley killed it in the first half, with 13 points on 5-7 shooting with seven rebounds in 14 minutes. Harry Giles had eight points and four rebounds in nine minutes. Yogi Ferrell had seven points, three rebounds and two assists in 10 minutes. Bogdanovic was 0-6 from the floor and 0-5 from deep. Fox didn’t score until he came back in in this quarter and ended the half with six. Collins missed five straight shots for Atlanta, but did get points on free throws. Trae Young led his team with 14 points and five assists. The Hawks were also very careless with the ball with 11 turnovers.

Another great quarter by the Kings, outscoring Atlanta 38-27. The biggest lead in the quarter was 29 for Sacramento at 94-65. Giles was arguably the best story in the quarter, with flashy passes and finishing at the rim. He was just as good on defense, too. Giles scored 20 points (career high) on 10-12 shooting with seven rebounds. Bogdanovic also got going, scoring 10 points with a beautiful behind-the-back pass to Giles. Hield had 15 points for Sacramento. Young had 16 for Atlanta. The quarter ended 105-80.

The Hawks did get the lead down a few times in the fourth quarter, but there was no chance they were going to take this one. Atlanta outscored the Kings 33-30 but still fell 135-113. Kings win and improve to 26-25 on the season.

Best Players

It all starts with Harry Giles. Off the bench, Giles scored 20 points on 10-12 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds. He also had a nice assist to Bogdanovic. A +/- of 27 on the night.

Marvin Bagley had a 17 point, 12 rebound double-double off the bench in 28 minutes. He was 7-14 from the field and also had two assists and a steal.

Buddy Hield had another game shooting 50% from three. Hield finished with 18 points on 6-11 shooting, 4-8 from three along with three rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block.

Notable Stats

De’Aaron Fox only scored nine points on 4-10 shooting, but did have seven assists.

Yogi Ferrell had 11 points in 25 minutes on 5-9 shooting and 1-5 from three. He didn’t miss a shot inside the perimeter and also accounted for four assists and three boards.

Sacramento won the rebound battle 53-36, the assist battle 36-24, the points in the paint battle 76-40, the fast break battle 26-8 and the turnover amount at 14-21. Atlanta only had more blocks at 3-2 and less fouls at 19-24.

The Game in One Sentence

A great start to the home stand because it only gets harder from here.

Next Game

The Kings play the Philadelphia 76ers for the first time this season this Saturday at 7:00 PM PST.