After their double overtime victory over the Magic on Wednesday, the Kings had a day off to recharge before hosting the Toronto Raptors tonight. The Raptors, relearning themselves after their recent trade of OG Anunoby for new teammates, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley, had won their last two games coming into Golden 1 Center. With trade rumors swirling at an all-time high around the potential of Pascal Siakam coming to Sacramento, the Kings looked to ignore the noise, end the Raptors’ short winning streak, and begin one of their own. Let’s see how they did:
Quick Stats
Outcome: Kings win, 135-130
Sacramento Kings: 135 pts, 54.0% fg, 55.3% 3 pt, 66.7% ft, 35 ast, 42 reb, 15 to
Toronto Raptors: 130 pts, 52.0% fg, 35.1% 3 pt, 85.2% ft, 31 ast, 37 reb, 14 to
My chest hurts. We saw just about every version of the Sacramento Kings tonight: the Beam Team, the Kangz, and the Cardiac Kings. Let’s get into each one:
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
The Good:
- Beam Team: The Kings showed some of their best brand of basketball tonight, where they fully embodied the spirit of the Beam Team. The offense was *chef’s kiss*. The ball was constantly moving and there was a fluidity to their movements in relation to one another. This all resulted in a 20-point lead by the end of the first half after the Kings shot 14-27 from the 3-point line and tallied 22 assists. They were aggressive in crashing the offensive glass and capitalized on a bunch of second chance opportunities. It was all beamy vibes as everyone got a chance to contribute. Keegan Murray shot a perfect 4-4 from the 3-point line and scored 14 of his 18 points in the first half. Harrison Barnes had a productive night, scoring 16 points on 5-8 from the 3-point line. Malik Monk (15 points) and Trey Lyles (12 points) led the bench unit as they contributed another combined 7 3-pointers. On offense, every Kings player seemed confident and decisive with the ball in their hands, making quick decisions to keep the ball moving. The constant movement and sharp shooting broke this game open in the second and third quarters where the Kings enjoyed a 23-point lead at one point.
The Bad:
- The Kangz: While we got to relish in the beauty of the Beam Team on offense, we also had to suffer through a lot of Kangz defense. Sacramento struggled early on by committing numerous fouls at the rim. Even while the Kings were rolling on offense, the Raptors were able to hang around because the Kings sent them to the line 11 times in the first quarter, where they cashed in on every single one. Defending without fouling is a goal the Kings are still trying to meet while still focusing on increasing their physicality. In the second half, the Kings slowly let the Raptors back into this game with countless defensive breakdowns. Seven players, including all five starters, from the Raptors finished in double digits. The most glaring came from Dennis Schroder off the bench, who seemed to be able to get wherever he wanted on the floor and scored 18 points on 7-11 from the field, most of these being layups. Meanwhile, Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley, each scoring 20 points and each making 4 3-pointers a piece, capitalized on the Kings’ lack of defensive discipline. Pascal Siakam seemed like he had to earn every bucket he got, but still managed to finish with 18 points and 9 assists. It’s difficult to fully appreciate the execution on the offensive end when the defensive end leaves so much to be desired still.
The Ugly:
- Cardiac Kings: The Cardiac Kings did it again. The signature of the Cardiac Kings is to let you get comfortable first with the 23-point lead, then punch you in the heart to get it racing by letting their opponent right back in during final possessions, only to win the dang thing like they should have in the first place. The conclusion of this all went down late in the fourth quarter, as the Kings allowed the Raptors to shrink their 23-point lead down to just 2 points with 2:30 left on the clock. What followed was a frenzied sequence that included great offensive execution by Malik Monk and De’Aaron Fox (24 points) to penetrate the paint and find an open Domantas Sabonis underneath the basket. Sabonis was fouled and made both free throws (a rare thing for the Kings tonight, who shot 66.7% from the line). The Kings tried to hold onto this 4-point lead, but a turnover by Sabonis, a failed close out by Monk, and Sabonis’ sixth and final foul put Chris Boucher at the free throw line where he cut the lead to just 3 points. Fox responded with a fallaway jumper in the paint to once again fortify the lead, and from there, the Raptors were unable to execute. But, none of this would have happened without the complete crumble by the Cardiac Kings. Sacramento failed to meet the moment when Toronto, unsurprisingly, turned things up a notch on both ends. The Kings failed to make proper adjustments and ultimately had to rely on their clutch star to get them out of this one in the end.
The King of Kings
Domantas Sabonis notched his 8th triple double of the season, finishing with 24 points, 15 rebounds, and 11 assists. His 10th assist that solidified this triple double couldn’t have been any sweeter:
Domantas Sabonis ↗️ Malik Monk 💥🔨 pic.twitter.com/UmNly62w5Y
— NBA TV (@NBATV) January 6, 2024
Up Next
Sunday, January 7th vs. New Orleans Pelicans – 3:00 P.M. (PT)
It’s not dancing, but it is a Fox riding a velociraptor.
On paper, nice win- ignore the 20 point lead and the free throws.
L T B!
Just so we all can understand and appreciate our world and it’s history. Velociraptors had feathers and weighed less than 100 pounds. Cats may or may not have ridden them.
Valid points.
Yeah, really. Not sure what the heck happened there. Regarding the FTs at least they went 8/9 after starting out 2/6.
The Raptors couldn’t quite climb all the way back to top us!
Glad we took this one. The next one could be yet another demoralizing drubbing.
Big turd avoided
. I view the Kings now in terms of having/building a team that will win in the playoffs and contend.
So, I appreciate that the kings are winning but I see a lot of issues, or at least questions. Roadblocks to a real Championship run.
D still bad. They’ve got 2 holes in starting lineup…still. Unaddressed in the off season. The players that were brought in are not cutting it or not playing. Huerter to the bench did not lite a fire but stamped out all his flames. He is essentially useless right now.
Suddenly the Kings don’t have alotta trade value or talent/players behind 4/5 guys.
They have 1/2 court issues now amd free throws. Along with defense….. those 3 are absolutes in playoff winning basketball.
Moves need to be made. Defensive personnel has to come in. I’d also like to see Keegan always get to 2 number of shots up. 3 at worst.
…..and scene
The Kings in a nutshell:
They can beat any team on any given night with hot and suburb shooting that overcomes below average defenseThey really can’t beat any playoff team in a 7 game series because they rely too much on hot and superb shooting that overcomes their below average defense.Basically, any quality coach and team can overcome this team with adjustments over a series but can be caught flat footed in a single game by the Kings lightening in a bottle approach.
Right. Can/will Monte make a move. Can/will M Brown make adjustments
Pretty much agree with all of this. The free throw shooting is why the games are close coupled with the defensive lapses. I’ll take wins over losses but that’s two straight fourth quarters where I’ve lost my mind. The mistakes are just SO DUMB.
I was at thengame last night. I don’t understand why Keegan doesn’t get more touches. In rthe first half he had them and look at the result. The second half not until their was 2 minutes left did he get some touches and again lookn what happened.
Not sure if it’s coaching, him not being aggressive and calling for the ball, or the defense really starts to lock him down.
This happens quite a lot with him. He just needs more shots most nights, especially when they are going in.
I wonder if it’s coaching adjustments too. I need to see more from coach Brown.
But Keegan also does lose
aggressiveness. I see him watching a lot. .
Domas, Fox and Monk (and Mitchell) are fairly ball dominant. There’s a lot of ball movement required for this offense to be successful and they didn’t do a great job of that in the 3rd / 4th qtrs. last night.
Agreed. Often the offense just seems like ‘stand aside, give Fox or Monk the ball and they will create something’. With reasonable success, but not always.
It wasn’t the defense. I was there last night too, and there were at least 3 plays in the 3rd quarter where he was wide open in the corners and the team never gave the possession more than one pass for an ugly miss. Huerter had 2 of those as well in the fourth. When they stop moving the ball the offense is not good.
Also, De’Aaron looks slightly gassed, going back to the Charlotte game. He looked a little better last night but you can see he’s struggling with something a little bit. Without his ability to dribble drive we don’t have much for a go-to scorer, hopefully he gets back to “normal” soon…
In an interview Malik said his thumb was injured
I love the guy but he is going too much towards the hero shot.
because Mike Brown coached with Steve Kerr ?
&ct=g
when a team passes to Harden, to Luka, to PG or Leonard, to Booker etc. Those guys want to shoot. look to shoot. When the Kings pass to Keegan he does not look to shoot. Most of the time he just tries to pass it back or to DS at the elbow. It’s in his head- or not in his head to shoot.
The offence is very good. Special mention to Trey Lyles. Ok, that’s cool. But the defence is SO BAD. Is there any trade under the sun that can fix this? Because it’s apparent that coaching will not correct this current teams defensive issues
IMO Duarte is playing pretty good defense and we need that. That is why is has replaced Huerter and also because Huerter is in a major slump. That’s why Btown put him in the last minutes to play defense.
Numbers show that Duarte is playing marginally better defense. Kings are basically swapping marginally better defense for marginally better shooting. I think it’s also giving Huerter a chance to come off the bench to change things up.
Basically, I feel it has more to do with reseting Huerter than it does with Duarte playing better.
I agree, the change was more about Huerter than Duarte
I remember the discussions before the start of the season that we didn’t care so much about win-loss record, but that it is more important to see progress. And here we are, with a better win-loss record and yet a feeling that in some matters, the team is not progressing and even regressing.
There is some individual growth (significant growth even), but collectively it just isn’t meshing consistently enough. And this was after all the talk about the importance of continuity (which I also supported). It’s disappointing to me.
That’s why I can’t really get very excited about this win somehow. I guess I am glad that the Kings have decent survival instincts but I am just as pissed that they seem to lack killer instinct.
Just my 2 cents.
Reacting to the win, but somehow knowing the long game is unsure.
The record is better but the team is playing worse. All their advanced offensive numbers are worse and the net rating is worse. They’re fine night to night but as Adam said up above, they’re going to be a first round exit unless they make a move or two. The team is good but there hasn’t been any team progress despite the stars plus Keegan being better. Basically everyone else has been worse.
Last year, the Heat had a slightly positive record (44-38) and a slightly negative NetRtg (-0.3) but there they were in the finals. If Red Velvet can rediscover himself the way Duncan Robinson did I think the Kings have an equally accessible path. Getting to the dance is the most important part, no matter how ugly.
Well Huerter might need tonditch the “feel shooter” thing and work on a consistent form. His slump has lasted too long.
Wow, finally a coach that can teach Huerter how to shoot.
Agree. You can see he is not in his usual rhythm. The 3’s seem to be very forced. Coaches need to work with him on the little mechanics that can throw off what needs to be a precisely executed shooting form.
The problem with the Heat analog is that the year before they were the number 1 seed and dealt with a lot of injuries last year. They had a proven veteran core that had gotten to the Finals before. The Kings have still been mostly healthy this season and don’t have any history of success. They also don’t play a style of basketball that lends itself to postseason success. Some folks theorized the Heat would have another gear in the playoffs. I think there is a zero percent chance the Kings have another gear right now.
And they had defense to rely on. Good offense has a bigger variance, good defense is much more consistent.
Duncan Robinson to Kevin Huerter is a sound comp
(Robinson was signed to a 5yr/$90M deal 2021- less than Jordan Poole, more than Huerter)
Good way to state it—not progressing. Perhaps regressing.
Progress is rarely linear and closing out close games is definitely a learned NBA skill. If they notch 50ish wins, I’m not really going to complain much given, you know… <glances at the past two decades>
Turning it around for perspective, my Buffalo Bills have been the opposite over the last few years and it drives me absolutely batty – they can’t close out games at all, they either win in a crushing domination or lose at the gun. It’s totally infuriating in a completely different way. I’ll take the clutchiness of the Kings any day.
Yeah, I’d hesitate to call it clutchiness, but YMMV.
What’s up with Allen? I was sure he’d be competing for MVP status the last few years.
Josh is amazing, the play calling is just weird sometimes and the receivers other than Diggs are awful. James Cook turning into a good runner has also eaten into some of his numbers.
The bigger issue is that roughly the entire defense died in London playing on what was apparently painted concrete at Tottenham. Daquan Jones is finally back but Matt Milano was the key cog on that defense and he shattered his knee on that BS field.
I get your points. On the other hand, this year the team can’t sneak up on opponents like they did last year. Opponents have had a lot of time to prepare for the Kings. Another discussion we had in the offseason was wonder how the Kings would adjust if opponents copy the Warriors strategy in the playoffs. Despite all that, the record is better than last year, and continuity probably has something to do with it.
I’m excited about the win. Hoping Lyles’ ankle is okay.
Yeah! Up by over 20 why can’t we win a couple by 25 or 30 instead playing to save the game. Defense has to be the biggest reason but what was it 56% from the free throw line. Not last night but other nights. Someone said we are dead last in free throw percentage. WOW! These are the best players in the world.
PS What’s it with Sabonis and layups. At 7 feet tall he should miss maybe one in the season. Okay I would give him 2.
I’m going to be nitpicky about Sabonis. He misses way too many layups because he doesn’t have great touch but also he just kind of doesn’t think and goes up or travels through traffic. It’s almost like he’s already decided to do something and just does it.
But I think ultimately, he’s got some issues when it comes to clutch and playoff basketball.
Be rarely makes his and ones. He doesn’t shoot free throws well. He’s hesitant to take the mid range and previously hasn’t been able to hit it. Defense just OK.
All of this is fine if he’s surrounded by defenders. It’s yet another concern for the kings going deep in the playoffs.
This was the game of the offensive rebound: Domas had 4, Barnes 3, Keegan 3, Fox 1. The Kings won the offensive rebound battle 11-8 and the defensive rebound battle 31-28.
It didn’t hurt to see the Kings go 21 for 38 from three either.
Was nice to see Mitchell go out and play aggressive from the get-go, something we hadn’t seen for a while. Hope it continues.
Unfortunately, this is a bad draft pick by Monte. Davion is too small and can’t hit the three ball.
I hope Trey is OK, that was such a freak accident. Has there been an official statement yet?
I thought I saw him sitting on the bench towards the end of the telecast, but I haven’t seen any annoucement. Looked bad on the replay, hope he just needs a day or two of rest.
The recaps, by the way, have all been of high quality, no matter who does them.
This site, no matter its circumstances, just seems to get better and better.
Agreed. Always something interesting to read each day, and to discuss with others.
Now for that last Mailbag Q&A…those questions ever grt answered???
Rarely does a team win when they give up 130 points, but they can when they shoot as well as the Kings did last night. 52% from the field and an astounding 55% from three.
The problem with that is it is not sustainable. The Kings need to find out how to win when their not on a heater, and that starts on the other end of the floor.
I understand all the concerns, and the things talked about below are the same things I remember hearing in 1999, 2000, 2001 .. the team is improved, defensively, regress some offensively. We are ahead of last year schedule, and have had more injuries. I don’t want to see us sell the farm for a one-year fix. I believe we might be able to find a player that is an upgrade on defense, but they won’t be a star. I believe Kevin Herter will improve. I think the kings are running a few more plays for Harrison now and you’ve seen improvement, I believe that we need to install some different wrinkles in our offense so when shooting is not good we can take advantage of other strengths. I’m not panicked enjoying it and I think we’ll get out of the first round of the playoffs this year.
Since you mentioned the concerns from the Kings glory years, I’d point out that after the rise in 1999-2001 the Kings went out and got Doug Christie and moved JWill for Bibby. The point being, they still tinkered and perfected the roster to get it to where it was a legit championship contender. I’ll also point out that Doug didn’t join the Kings until he was 30.
The Kings could be that Mike Bibby trade or Doug Christie signing away from taking a serious leap. Much like the glory era Kings that had their core of CWebb, Vlade, and Peja, the Kings have their core of Fox, Sabonis, and Keegan. Now Monte just needs to find the right parts on the fringes.
I agree…don’t sell the farm, just find the help.
Also, FWIW, I think Thybulle could be this team’s Doug Christie, and it won’t take all that much to get him from a rebuilding Blazers team. Having him starting next to Fox could really be something for the defense. Caruso is another one as well.
I would take any of the 2. Not far behind would be Dort and Okoro.
PS I would put Duarte in the list maybe as the bachup to one of the four mentioned.
I don’t see OKC moving Dort unless its for a larger package to get a star. Okoro might be available if Cleveland decides to shake things up. They are desperate for a PF with Mobley going down. I’d imagine they’d want Lyles and a pick as part of a package for Okoro.
I still feel Thybulle is the man to get with PDX building around Simons, Sharpe and Scoot.
Okay I’m in on Thybulle.
I agree. Monty pulling the plug on Siakam IMO was the right move. Again IMO the only big top player the Kings go after AT THE RIGHT PRICE whatever that is is Markannen. All other so called stars IMO are off limits. The fringe benefits sometimes out weights the big jump.
Exactly..
Agree that they need some offensive wrinkles. However, I’m not counting on her to get any better than he is because this is what he’s been the whole time. Inconsistent shooter. Bad defender. I saw it in the playoffs. Time to move on.
First half Kings was good. Last 3 minutes Kings was good. Wins is good.
Hmmm…
Juan Toscano-Anderson is waived thus bringing the roster to 14…
sounds like the trade smoke just showed a spark…
Possibly, or it could have something to do with a guaranteed money date or they want to bring someone else in on that last spot. I believe teams are now allowed to sign players to 10-day deals.
And there you have it.
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