Post-Game Update: 10:00 pm
I’m writing this out early. The Kings are down 20 with 3 minutes to go and Precious Achiewa just went through Gradey Dick’s legs before smoking a layup.
Darius Acuff Jr.’s NBA debut saw him shoot 5-24.
Keegan Murray shot 1-8.
Domantas Sabonis had 14 points, 18 rebounds and 8 assists, so that’s cool, I guess, from an asset building perspective.
For anyone looking for actual context to the game, I promise it was out of reach earlier than you’d think and uglier than the people at the water cooler will describe it.
Okay, there’s 32 seconds left and the score looks like it’ll wrap up at 121-96.
81 games to go.
Game Preview
Are the Kings starting off the season healthy? No. Have the Kings built momentum in the off-season with impactful acquisitions, coaching changes etc.? Nope. Well, at least their starters have all gotten to coalesce over the course of suprisingly good, if not imperfect pre-season, right? RIGHT??
Missing key role players, hampered by bloated contracts for flawed stars, anchored by a coaching scheme straight out of the 90’s, the Sacramento Kings are back for another season of humiliation rituals for the players and fear-mongering around potential ping pong balls for the fans. With much of the positivity surrounding the season swirling around rookie point guard Darius Acuff Jr. (with small eddies of optimism for inexperienced, but not particularly youthful draft picks of the last two years) Kings fans have their hearts guarded, hopes stretched to their capacity and fears guarded for the season to come.
Will the Kings be the most embarrassing team in the NBA this season? Will their highly touted rookie guard live up to their draft day hype? Will their owner’s previous meddling really set back their franchise a decade?
Man, wonder what Clippers bloggers have to ask themselves today.
Who: Sacramento Kings (0-0) vs. Los Angeles Clippers (0-0)
Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, CA
When: 7:30 PM PT / 10:30 PM ET
Watch: NBCSCA / League Pass
So how dire is the situation in Los Angeles tonight injury wise? Well, both Sacramento rookie standout forwards aren’t seeing the floor: Maxim Raynaud starts this season out with the knee injury he sustained in the preseason and Dylan Cardwell is out for at least another week with his strained calf. Malik Monk, somewhere between being out of shape to start camp and nursing what he’s calling an ankle injury is coming into the opener as questionable. And, well, just to feel one last pang of sadness, of course, former future team captain Ben Simmons is out after sustaining a torn Achilles tendon right after the end of preseason.
On the other side of the court, the Clippers will be without the main piece back in the Kawhi Leonard ex-communication, Brandon Ingram, who is dealing with a partially torn achilles tendon. Bradley Beal is also out, though at this point in his career we should just be getting updates when he’s actually available to play. Max Strus has a partially torn plantar fascia, Jordan Miller has a torn rotator cuff and the worst (or best) potential Wheel of Fortune answer, with every vowel in his name plus y, Yanic Konan Niederhausen, is recovering from Lisfranc surgery. Also missing from the Clippers tonight are governor Steve Ballmer, President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank and President of Business Operations Jillian Zucker, all suffering from aspiration issues.
Tonight’s game isn’t a match-up of basketball titans, to say the least. While the Kings are widely considered to be the worst team in the league by national talking heads, the Clippers are routinely sitting within striking distance of the Kings crown. The vacuum left in the wake of their high profile player exits, mixed with the general franchise malaise in the wake of the Pablo Torre curb stomping has left the Clippers in a bit of a no man’s land, with decent talent but no true franchise cornerstones and without the management incentive or resources to improve in the short term. Don’t get me wrong here: Darius Garland, Keaton Wagler and Brook Lopez are enough talent to keep the game close against this iteration of the Sacramento Kings, and I will never, ever doubt Ty Lue’s abilities to get the most of his players (and Doug Christie’s lack to do the same), but this is a very winnable opening four quarters of basketball for the Kings. Zach Lavine and Domantas Sabonis are the second and third best players on the floor tonight, and as low as that bar maybe, Darius Acuff performing like he did in the preseason and Keegan Murray winning his match-ups could be enough to overcome the expected lame duck scheming from a lame duck coaching staff. But, it’s the Kings, their defense might be the worst in the NBA in this season and ITS THE KINGS.
It’s going to be a long season, everyone. Here’s to whatever silver linings we find.
Prediction: Kings 114, Clippers 111
Would could very well be watching the two worst teams in basketball this year playing with depleted rosters tonight. What a way to celebrate the start to a new season.
Also…
I think we all know 4 starters, but who is the 5th? Is it gonna be Hunter, who looked absolutely terrible in pre-season? Precious, but wouldn’t he need to be the backup 5? Could it be Nique and the Kings run small and fast?
As to Monk, something has to be going on behind the curtain, right? All we’ve heard from the Kings is a sore ankle, but it’s been weeks! Is there some official diagnosis?
It’s pretty wild to start a season with just one PG. Who is going to backup Acuff if Monk is out.
This team is paper thin at the moment.
I expect Russ to do an “Oh Yeah” KoolAid guy burst through the wall and start tonight.
Looks like the Clippers may be starting a small lineup (Garland, Dunn, Jones Jr, Hachimura, and Jackson), so I’d guess Nique will be our fifth starter.
Back up PG- Walter Clayton! Oops. Signed with the Mavs. I wonder why.
Kevin Porter has talent but 10 cent judgement. Maybe he signs.
This is a must win. Kings have to beat teams slated in the bottom 5- this is the inverse tank. Wining is winning (not losing).
I am being sarcastic but can Hunter, Murray + Sabonis get 20 points?
Which, if the Kings lose by 20-30 points tonight, is going to really leaving me wondering who they actually CAN beat this season.
The 9-73 record of the 1972-73 76ers keeps popping up in my brain lately. I can’t imagine why…
And here we are – splitting it right down the middle with a 25 point loss to the team that is the consensus pick for the next worst team in the league after us.
That 76ers record just might be within reach. 81 games left to find out.
Wait, who are you suggesting is the best player, Nique Clifford?
I am not sure Darius Garland is in a better tier than Zach/Domas, (and I don’t mean that as super high praise of Zach/Domas!)
Yeaaaah, Garland was my initial “best player on the floor” thought, but in a similar vein, that isn’t necessarily too complimentary to Garland.
Losing Simmons crushed the majority of joy or intrigue of season.
I suppose watching Acuff and Keegs might be something, but that’s understand the assumption they might develop. But I doubt that with Doug at the helm.
this has all the signs of a horrible season. I wish that stupid fucking owner would just sell.
Same for me.
I know a lot of people are excited about Acuff, but ball-dominant PGs that play no defense are just about my least favorite types of NBA players to watch.
And there’s just something about the vibe he gives off that tells me he really, really doesn’t want to be here. (Not his fault, I mean who really would want to be here?)
I’m going to watch tonight. I’m not sure when (or if) I’ll watch them again this season.
Simmons was such a lucky pick up by the kings, and that pairing with a cuff was perfect.
And now, because of that injury, I don’t even know if Simmons can ever come back.
Christ, I really hope the Kings don’t go out and sign Kevin Porter Jr now. No more DV players, Vivek!
Does Tristen Newton have any two-way eligibility remaining? I’d rather see him as our emergency backup PG than bringing in KPJ. Leave that final regular roster spot open for now.
Yeah, he’s got 2-way eligibility.
I’m with you on the last roster spot, but the Kings should get an injured player exception for Simmons and get one more additional roster spot.
Reading that rundown on Clips, they may be looking about as sad as us right now. These look like 2 of the 3 worst teams in the league to me. The battle for worst team tonight! Hopefully Acuff goes crazy and wins it for us, that’s the only way I see us winning and the only way I want us to. They can sit Lavine as much as they want, give me people who are hustling and playing D.
Kings have the edge is the worst team because worst coaches
How stupid is it that the very first game of the season is a must-win, simply because we’re trying to stay out of the bottom 3???
I think the difference maker tonight (and on most nights) will be Doug. His coaching absolutely SUCKS ASS. I can easily see this team coming out clueless and lethargic, getting down big early, and never really getting close to tying the score, just ‘cuz that’s what we saw in the preseason. Doesn’t matter that the opponent is expected to be one of the worst teams in the league – Vivek’s BS org can go even lower.
Doug doesn’t hold a candle to Lue. If the Kings lose tonight, that’s where they will lose it.
I think Simmons achilles got a good look at this organization and said, “take another year Ben”.
I hesitate to ask but…
How to watch if we dont have cable? I used to have league pass, but I recently moved back to the area and need to figure something else out.
I cut cable and am using YouTubeTV sports package to watch this season. It ain’t cheap, but you can also cancel at any time.
You can get NBC Sports California as an add-on to Peacock Premium. It’s like $18 a month on top of the Peacock subscription. So $30-$40 or so depending on Peacock with adds or not.
I do the YouTubeTV sports package as well which is like $65.
I was going to do the Peacock add-on but thought I’d watch some games on NBATV, so I went with the YouTube TV route. It is sometimes the only way I can see other “non-contender” teams.
After all the options I’ve tried including sailing the seven seas, YT TV is the best I’ve found. I get it for Basketball and Football then usually cancel after March madness if the Kings look like garbage (which is often).
sports bar
I’ve said this before and other threads, but I got a super box. It’s incredible and you can watch all the games.
But it’s illegal, right? Pirate streams are one thing, but pirate devices? I don’t know…
Well the war in Iran is illegal and no one is going to jail for it so…
Can we please keep political banter off this site!
fmhy.net been watching everything free for 20 years…
I am here for the pain to the fact that misery loves company. Appreciate all of you. Do you think Simmons will be back for the playoffs? Go Kings!
Another mostly hopeless season!!! Happy to go through it with all of you. Hopefully one of two things happen, we go on a miraculous run to the ship or the shame finally gets to the dismissive lil chap. Go Kangz!
The road to 20-62 begins…TONIGHT!!!
GO KINGS!!!
But that might not guarentee them last place!
Also, I miss the old prediction contests we used to do!
I’ll throw mine out here:
17-65
21-61
So which G-league player or end of the bench player goes off for 30 pts tonight against the Kangz?
Game time. I’m not sure we are ready for this.
BUCKLE UP EVERYONE!
The road to 25 wins starts TONIGHT.
There will be dips, speed bumps, twists, turns, and a lotta potholes.
But if the team can hit 25 wins, or even not eliminated from the play-in before the end of January, I for one, would say the destination justified the tortured journey.
THE LEAGUE CAN’T STOP WHATS COMING.
The Kings are F-ing terrible. They’d be watchable if they played average defense and ran a sensible offense.
Ahhhh.
Back at it again for another season.
First quarter double-digit deficit. Glad to see the team is back in its safe space.
Kings on pace to give up 160. All is good.
“One thing we know is Doug Christie loves defenders.” -Kayte
Who winds up with more total wins this year: Niners or Kings?
Ouch.
But one will make the playoffs with only 17 wins!
Garland getting star calls.
Doug needs to make some adjustments with how they’re playing Garland.
They are hiding Acuff on every defensive possession. Keegan is being forced to pick up Garland, which isn’t going to work. Garland is far too fast for Keegan. The whole defense is collapsing because of it.
Hiding Acuff defensively…exactly why I didn’t want them to draft him. It just makes building any decent team that much harder.
The Blazers are absolutely blowing out the Suns. 94 to 57 in the third.
How do you feel about the tiny hats?
Let’s go Kings!
Lakers blowing out Dubs!
Same as the last two years. The Kings simply don’t look like an NBA-level team.
We are Relegation Nation.
Also second year in a row they have failed to address their need to get a talented (and not over-the-hill) point guard early in the offseason. Instead of looking for talent – which a Professional Organization does starting on July 1 – they just wait to see what crumbs are left over a few weeks before practice starts. (Russell Westbrook: 10/16/25, Ben Simmons 9/8/26).
Really gonna need Lavine to get on a heater to have a chance
And sit Acuff. And play defense.
Did Karaban get left at the hotel? I can’t even see him on the bench and Mogbo has been terrible.
Wonderful read and fail to react offense.
3-21 from the field and 2-5 from the line is a very, very ugly line. One game isn’t a career, but also, the Kings are up against an AWFUL NBA team tonight and you really have to put this kid in a position to succeed, at least individually. This kind of flop on your face failure can linger and turn into a lack of confidence.
But like Jones said, there’s going to be games like this for Acuff…LOL
Yeeesh, Keegan laying a goose egg in points.
He’s way too soft as usual. He went for a drive against Lopez and just gave up halfway to the basket.
Keegan and Acuff are 6/32 combined.
This team is about as bad, probably worse than I thought. Against mediocre competition…unwatchable…worst in the league, possibly by a significant margin.
This one game was enough for me, zero interest in this season…
***6 PILLARS ALERT***
Lot of lopsided scores tonight.
Was Scott Perry crying when they panned to him?
You mean the “brain trust?”
Garbage time by the middle of the third quarter. Keegan Murray looks really lost as a capable NBA players. Clifford redeemed himself a bit after a really bad 1st half. Sabonis should be traded to give the guy a chance to win. Tyrese Haliburton tonight — 23 points and 12 assists.
what a fucking embarrassment.
Lose by 25 to the team that you are supposed to be competing with for the worst team in the league this season. Bravo Kangz, bravo.
Doug won’t make it to Thanksgiving.
Not sure. He’s a Vivek toady, and he’s dirt cheap. The team might just make some BS excuse about injuries, unexpected bad luck, or other nonsense, instead of firing him.
Well, one thing’s for certain. If Doug really is Matina’s favorite, we may finally find out exactly how much power she truly wields within the organization.
If the Kings start 1-20 and he still has a job? We’ll have our answer.
Absolute. Trainwreck.
Everyone in the organization should be thoroughly embarrassed.
But they won’t be.
And that, ladies and gentleman, is the entire problem.
I’m feeling really stupid for taking the Kings on the over at 21.5 wins on the season. On the bright side it was only a $10 bet. We’re gonna be historically bad. Glad I’m no longer a season ticket holder.
Heh, I made a non-monetary bet with my Warriors fan co-worker that the Kings would end up bottom 3 in the league (not West, the whole league), and he was feeling confident he’d be able to win. I think I like my chances.
Yeah I put $100 on that…already not feeling great about it lol
Small market + Grossly incompetent ownership + Clueless GM + Inept coaching + Mishmash roster devoid of talent other than 20 year olds = Kangz
Welcome back for another year fellas, nothing has changed.
Expectation met. More embarrassment please.
Post-blowout Kangz graphic makes a comeback on TKH! Might as well just leave it up all year long.
Welcome back to basketball hell.
Losing Ben Simmons meant the loss of the only hope of semi decent defense.
they are fucking horrible. Doug is a joke. It is quite disheartening to think that it’s just another year of horrid basketball and a train wreck and it’s only game one.
maybe we’ll get some fun Acuff here there but. And unless they stop playing that Reed react offense Keegan is never gonna be good.
If your star rookie doesn’t seem to give any shit about defending and rebvounding, you need to teach him, coach. Oh, never mind.
Keegan needs to find Dorothy in Oz, so she can help him find a soul and toughness. And maybe even a shooting stroke?
One down, 81 to go.
They may surprise an overconfident Blazer team and lose by less than 20.
Tough watch. Similar to last season, it didn’t feel like the Kings had any kind of cohesive concept at either end of the floor.
Acuff looked, well, terrible. But he’s 19, and playing for a coach that doesn’t really know how to put guys in the best position for success.
Hopefully Christie figures out his job or Acuff has enough talent to overcome the local disadvantages. Otherwise, they aren’t meeting last year’s win total.
It was ugly basketball
I couldn’t even make it through the first quarter, it was the most un aesthetically unpleasing stuff I’ve seen. Now in all fairness I am on the East Coast. The game started at 10:30 and I did take my sleep aids at 10, so I probably wouldn’t have made it through the game but I didn’t even try. I’m glad I made the decision not to invest in league pass
I’m in the central time zone. I stayed up during the beam team season, and the following season, to watch the games that started at 9pm for me. Last season, and now this one??? Nope. Just going to head to bed instead.
Lavine and Sabonis the 2 best Kings last night and Lavine won’t be here next year and Sabonis the next year is either aren’t traded which I don;t think it possible
If Keegan Murray doesn’t show up in the next 5 or 6 games then Perry should think about trading him.
Acuff had a terrible start as our franchise point guard but it happens sometime. Sometime not normally time.
I love Christie as a player and person but are having my doubts as a head coach. I know he has be given a team that has no identity or chemistry but IMO he can still do better.
Looking for positives found one or two but that’s about it.
GO KINGS!
Yes, the franchise should definitely lean into its strength which would be the front office making trades.
I think I said out loud in my living room, “I probably shouldn’t have watched that Sixers game before the Kings game.”
Observations:
1) Domas did what Domas does. Rebounds, assists, and doesn’t shoot enough. Dude was 5-5. Shoot more!
2) LaVine did what LaVine does. Gets buckets….and that is about it.
3) Keegan’s shot looked flat and rushed. Doug put him on Garland all night (because there is no one else who can guard) and it was a hard cover for him. Putting your PF on the perimeter on a speedy PG isn’t going to work. Clips went on a run every time Keegan sat. Guards are supposed to guard. It’s literally in their fucking name.
4) I think we saw the Acuff we are gonna get. He’s going to lead the team in FGA, and likely have one of the worst percentages. An undersized scoring PG that you have to hide on defense is like having a smaller LaVine. Marc Jones kept calling Darius Garland Darius Acuff and I couldn’t help but think…is that who Acuff is gong to become?
5) There is no defensive or offensive identity/scheme/game plan. Doug is in way over his head. It just has to a joke amongst the league that he’s a head coach.
6) Keaton Wagler is going to be good. There is a reason he went two spots before Acuff.
Keegan is broken. 5 FGA for Domas is okay if he’s making Hartenstein money, at 45+ mil its unacceptable.
Doug needs to go, the sooner the better.
That was ugly. Not sure how many more of these I’m going to watch.
I don’t think we’ve seen real ugly yet. The defense is beyond bad. That Clips team has no offensive firepower and they still scored 121 on 50% shooting and 40% from 3. What’s going to happen when the Kings face a team with elite scorers?
Kings were also 16-28 from the line. 57% WTF?
We don’t look like a team, which makes not playing our “best” players in preseason even more absurd. I think our “easy” early schedule (LAC, POR, MEM x2, NOP & DAL in the first 7 games) will end up being a problem.
If we had come out of preseason ready to play we could pick up some wins, gain confidence and momentum. We squander that opportunity trying trying to come together and it’s going to be a disaster.
There won’t be a bunch of easy wins late in the season against tanking teams like we had last year either.
With Keegan, I think the focus has been bulking up, focusing on defense, and trying to become some sort of poor man’s version of Paul George….
I think the bulking up has ruined his shot mechanics. Also, the team is not using him like they did his rookie season. Spot up 3pt shooter, maybe some 3s off of a screen. That was basically it. I hope he is traded soon to a place that will use him correctly, and help to create a better career for him.
As much as I really like Keegan for his sake should be traded where that team would use him correctly.
Badge Legend