Go Kings!
NBA: Atlanta Hawks at Sacramento Kings
Jan 4, 2023; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Kevin Huerter (9) dribbles the ball next to Atlanta Hawks forward Onyeka Okongwu (17) in the third quarter at the Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
The Kings Herald Newsletter
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…and we’re picking up where we left off.
Yo Coach Brown, this ain’t working.
Coach Brown: just keep shooting 3s even if you miss every one of them.
This game will be over soon if the Kings don’t find a 3-point shooter.
just don’t know how much I can continue to watch huerter and barnes, and I blame Monte for not getting them out before being negative contracts. you dont wait
Who subs in?
Atlanta picking on Huerter on defense. Beyond that, another really ugly start by the Kings. They look a good step or 2 slower than the Hawks out here right now. You’d think they’d come out better than this after a bad Blazers team showed more hustle and effort than them last game
this team is about to be blown out again, that is not acceptable in any way. you dont lose like that
We’re close to the team’s magic “pack it in for the night” mark of -20
Kangz are back. This game is over.
not quite!
Welp, this game is effectively over. They’ve already shut it down from displaying any fight or effort.
premature estimation, I think
“You’ve got to think it’s going to turn around for them [the Kings.” -Kayte (or not!)
Trey Lyles with his patented “spot the shooter 6 feet of space” defense.
Nothing is wrong with the roster, effort, or coaching. Everything is fine. Just trust………………
Well, Monte wanted to see what some continuity with the roster would look like after last year and the answer seems to be that they’re overall a worse team. The bench has really fallen off compared to last year as it’s pretty much all Monk and not much else. Huerter and Barnes are simply not good enough players to be starters for a team that wants to be a legit contender. The defense still isn’t good as expected, but the offense has regressed from elite to around 12th I think? That kind of drop won’t work with the level of defense this team plays
Monte has some work to do on trying to get this roster to another level because as it stands, they’re a 5th-8th seed type team and a 1st rd exit again. Windows don’t stay open long, but I also didn’t expect them to jump into a true contender after finally making the playoffs last year. They have a few years here to find the right pieces and hope things click. Obviously, next year you’d hope to see them start to close the gap a bit on being in the same realm as teams like the Celtics/Nuggets/Bucks etc
Atlanta must be licking their chops with Duarte and Lyles on the floor. That means 3 on 5 on both sides of the floor.
have they subbed in Vezenkov yet? I’m no longer watching
Yes!
I thought as soon as HB missed two in a row, they should have subbed him out for Vezenkov or Lyles.
Fox has been terrible in end of clock plays this season.
Just checked the score and holy moly, I gonna turn it off and hope they come back with more effort. This is quite a concerning pattern we’re seeing lately.
I’d rather have back the 2 seconds we gave up for Duarte.
Not Lyles or Monk
It’s really disappointing that our stars can’t hit free throws.
Lyles if you’re not set don’t shoot the three ????
This is ending like it started. We suck..period!
Bad play again by Fox to end a quarter.
I miss the days when we were convincing ourselves he made the jump to “elite”. ????
just don’t want him making the Supermax. cant have him all nba teamed
not talking about huerter/barnes anymore, they shouldve been out of here before being negative, but Keegan would be out of here as well in the right deal while his value is still high. In the centerpiece for Lauri? Absolutely
Agreed. Lauri would be nice.
Keegan and our junk isn’t enough to get Lauri. Will need 2-3 1sts too.
2 firsts might be fine, if Utah takes some of our contracts so we can renogitate/extend. I go back and forth on if I would add to Keegan straight up
. Lauri’s ending contract next year would need to be solved though
On the bright side, Huerter and Barnes may hopefully be done for the night. Unfortunately, that means more Duarte for some insane and unknown reason.
Also, if we’re just going to heavy terrible 3PT looks, may as well free Sasha.
I highly doubt Huerter and HB are done for the night. I bet they start the 2nd half.
Hey, a guy can dream!
Yeah, they’ll start the 2nd.
Incredibly lazy body language from the Kings. Fox having a forgettable half and the team defense continues to excel at making life easy for opposing offenses.
Davion got some minutes.
I gotta come home from work to this shit? Thanks Kangz. Time for Monty to get to work. At this point Fox and Sabonis are the only untradeables.
Nah, give them a chance to run it back. They earned it.
Fox has the paint on a fast break and he pulls up for a three.
I liked his game better last year when he got to the hoop aggressively.
Fox is single handedly killing my fantasy FG%, FT%, threes, and points. Bey has more points than Fox.
His 3pt shooting is a bit of a curse. He seems to be starting to fall in love with it and foregoing his best asset: his ability to drive for points, which creates contact, and collapses defenses.
All the starters are a negative +/- this game. Trash
Keegan is missing shots. Why not sub him out?
As soon as I said that, Keegan picks up the ball handler in the backcourt, pressure D, leading to a steal by Fox.
Running down the floor to get a Keegan fadeaway three is just dumb basketball.
Lookie there Fox starts driving, good things happen. Never forget your roots De’Aaron
I thought the purpose of fast breaks was to shoot threes.
Did Foxy just wake up?
Making a little comeback. See if they can sustain it.
Fox is going to smoke a FT.
There’s Davion
Love Monk, but sometimes his passes are just terrible.
He’s throwing away a chance at a comeback
Kings get like 25% of 50/50 balls.
Monk is going for a record on turnovers
Trey Young might be the worst defender in basketball. Why are the kings not hunting him
Because threes.
Sweet footwork by Fox at that 3
Davion is giving up free free throws when we are trying to get in the game
Then he draws a second offensive foul.
Fox’s 15 points is nothing to sneeze at? Lol. Ok Kayte.
Absolutely terrible call.
Just checking the score. Looks like we went back to the shoot-and-miss-too-many-threes game plan we’ve been using for the past several games. Score’s tighter now but I don’t have a good feeling that they can catch up – they almost never do.
Yep, back down by double digits again. Wholly expected. This game was basically lost in Q1.
Derp, wish I had this game on rather than checking scores on nba.com. Somehow we’re on top now. Let’s keep this up!
Duarte is terrible.
Kings are going to trade baskets at best for the rest.
Duarte…. just a total let down of a player
TD was better.
Why is Duarte getting minutes over Keon Ellis? Is Ellis hurt or something?
Dang Foxy! ????
These 2nd chance opportunities for Atlanta. Come on Kings….
You shouldn’t be able to move backwards like Tre and get the call.
Fox doing his thing
Duarte may have just made me forgive his stint here with one shot. That three….
Two Our Fathers and Three Hail Mary’s and sin no more.
Duarte MVP
This missing free throws stuff has to stop.
Ugh Domas gotta finish that and 1 situation
Tre shouldn’t get that call. That’s garbage.
Great challenge by Brown!
That should be overturned
Looks like Duarte fouled him.
Watch it again. Tre Young pulls Duarte into him.
Wow. I missed that. I’m glad.
I thought Fox had a good looking shot and figured he’d become a midrange sniper, but I never figured he’d get to THIS level from 3PT….and the fact he made such a leap in one year is even crazier.
I can’t believe Brown actually won a challenge!
Ninja, earlier in the game they almost used a challenge on a could called on Kegan on a non touch, glad Brown had patience. The challenges are valuable.
I was worried they were going to challenge it. Tough call, but not enough evidence for them to make them overturn it.
I am right there with you on that. Saving the challenge for that foul by Young was the tipping point of the game. Tied with the 3 by Duarte.
*on a foul called on Keegan….
Damn proud of this team. What a comeback. What resilience.
Didn’t expect this comeback. Duarte DPOG.
Tale of 2 halves. This is the type of fight we saw routinely last season that hadn’t really been there with the team this year. These types of games been turning into blowout losses. That’s all we ask as fans to see them bring this effort consistently
Well, after the horrendous first half, I certainly didn’t expect a comeback, but props to the guys for fighting back. Shoutout to Chris Duarte too…just goes to show that always be ready to play even if you rack up multiple DNP-CD’s.
We take wins no matter how ugly, light the beam.
Two unsung Heroes Of The Beam tonight are Trey Lyles and Alex Len who both played very well in different ways while on the court.
Agreed, they and even Duarte helped turn the game.
Davion as well getting a couple of charges and driving the hoop for 2 when he could have shot a corner 3.
You are right. Three big plays by Davion. Right when they were needed most.
I may prefer Fox not getting a Supermax, that doesn’t mean he may not be worth it.
It used to be Young over Fox by quite a bit, how that has changed..
He is going to absolutely get a Supermax.
No doubt about it!
Unbelievable win!
Wow. What a comeback! character game.
Huge win. needed that.
Wow. Game turned around when huerter and Barnes stopped playing.
Huerter left the game with an injury to his left hand.
I think that was to save face, knowing Brown wasn’t going to give him too much more run in front of his former Atlanta teammates/fans. Did anyone see a live play of the injury?
The replay on TV showed him grimace hard in the middle of the key, I hope your right that it is nothing more than hurt pride. A key to the Kings winning is depth that contributes and they are working through getting more from players that need to give more. Heurter is one of those.
Well said.
Well that helped the team win the game. He was bad. So was Barnes.
64-39 2nd half for the Kings
Keegan guarded Young tight as soon as he stepped across the mid court line in the second half and was solid against him. It made a difference.
Keegan got 3 steals and 2 blocks! When did that happen?
He almost had a fourth steal with about forty or so seconds left scrapping with Young and interrupting his dribble and using up a lot of precious seconds and forcing Young back to the mid court line. Really good defense by him tonight. Fun to watch him take on the other teams shooters and get up on them.
Eventually, I believe he’ll get the hang of defending without the touch fouls. His overall improvement (while somewhat surprising) looks natural and unforced. I have high hopes for his continued improvement in many areas of the game.
Agree totally. Really fun to watch. Unforced is an excellent way to describe his improvement.
Man, 75% of these comments tonight did not age well, not even the length of a game.
I’m just thankful the Kings horrendous first half play didn’t age well, that’s for sure.
I think you’re the Kings’ good luck charm lol
This is what I keep telling myself. The more I criticize them, the harder they play for me.
I’m just kiddin’ anyway…the in-games comments are a roller-coaster and some people like it, not really my thing but I do get a kick out of the in-the-moment overreactions.
Exactly. The reactions are gold.
If the in-game comments had GM power, the Kings would have traded half the time by halftime, then resigned those players to five-year extensions by game’s end.
These comments plus Twitter plus the game itself are great entertainment.
half the players*
Doomers gonna doom. Some legitimately disappointed. Memories of the Ghost of Kangzmas Past.
There’s one dude who, when he calls a Kings game over, has resulted in a Kings win 100% of the time.
The comments make the game more fun.
a lot of the comments were on huerter/barnes and the defense, which are issues that aren’t going anywhere
that’s for sure
I mentioned the roster, coaching, and effort being a problem early. It most assuredly was too. It took a long time for the players to wake up, coach to change strategy, and the effort to pick up.
Duarte in particular brought the energy, and they finally decided to pick-up Trae in the 2nd half.
Indeed.
The percentage is much higher.
I want to see that one again. This is the kind of game that is so much more fun to watch when you know the outcome. Anyone know when the NBA app will make it available?
I believe it is 3 hours after the game. I’ll see if I can find out when it’s available.
Thanks. I’ll check it out in a few hours then, or tomorrow.
If you subscribe to League Pass it is available “a few hours after the game” under the “Game Details” tab which is under the final score of the game. There is a complete replay and a condensed version with the commercials and time outs cut out.
Thanks a lot!
For the record I got home at halftime. Didn’t see any of the first half but all the second half so I’m gonna take some credit for this win!!
Credit given
You are lucky, I feel certain my memory is exaggerating reality but the Kings had something like 8 points in the first quarter with only 3+ minutes left in the 1st quarter. I made a pastrami on toasted rye with sauerkraut at the end of the 3rd and Fox went thermonuclear on 3’s.
Do it again on New Year’s Eve!
With a Grolsch added in for a few four point plays.
Definitely happy for the win but 8-15 from the FT line???
Take those wins on the road any way you can get them!
Kings would blow people out by 35 a night with consistent defensive effort for four quarters and their shots falling.
Why on earth do they not have mics where the reporters are in the post game pressers? All i hear is mumble mumble mumble and have to guess what the question was by the player’s responses
Right. Why can’t they just pass a mic around or have a King’s media intern hold it for whoever is asking a Q.
I have to decipher what the question was based on the answer.
Badge Legend