Go Kings!
Dec 14, 2023; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis (10) dribbles against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) during the second quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
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Go Sacramento Spray Threes!!!
Watching the Kings start off this hot shooting from deep and still struggling to create separation from OKC makes me very, very nervous.
Yep. First quarter feels like fool’s gold. Curious to see when the real game starts.
Fortunately the defense is bothering the Thunder, particularly in the lane and around the basket.
flying knee to the chest from Jaylin Williams – spaz
and OKC challenged it?! it was their own dirty move
So this is time to go in for 2. Stop launching 3s, please.
The way Fox did for his last basket
How’s this for a crazy first-quarter stat?
Kings are 8 for 18 from three.
Kings are 1 for 9 from two.
Davion is playing fearlessly
There ya go Mitchell!
Keon, davion, jones, fox. SGA gonna have to work tonight.
HB is just gone.
Keegan been snatching boards tonight
The Thunder just keep leaving the Kings open. For virtually everything unrelated to Domas
I worry that every teams game plan is to clog the paint and clobber Domas. He’s been completely taken out of games recently. Of course it’s on the other guys to make their open shots, but we’ve seen how they live and die by the three.
How about Keon Ellis.
Barnes is AWOL.
getting to the line
That move by Fox was absolutely sick.
I’m hearing boos from the crowd.
Keon/Fox/Davion are doing a great job at the point of attack on SGA, and Lyles/Murray have been helping when he attacks the lane. Good game plan. He has been getting swarmed playing his usual game.
yeah, there’s no single Kings defender that can shut down SGA so it’s a good idea to put different guys on him, each who guards slightly different. Colby Jones did a decent job defending him also.
I’m guessing that Domas would happily give up his double-double streak if it means the Kings take this one.
Keon with 20 at the half. Wow.
OT: Looks like Giannis got a non-contact injury. Wonder if it’s the achilles or just a calf cramp.
Keep your foot on their necks…and don’t let up. Possibly the 5th seed? Still?
I bet Klam already knows the answer to that, considering how quickly Klam broke down what the Kings need to do to get #6.
SMFH
Alright, boys…just don’t lose the next 24 minutes by 20 points.
They appear to be trying to do just that.
How about the first 2 by 9?
early 3rd again … 20 point lead down to 10
Third quarter collapse?
I wonder what the asking price was for the #2 pick that became Chet. Or do you think the Thunder were always going to take him?
Sabonis could end up with a quadruple double, of the ugly kind. Lots of fives in his box score.
Dame Domas, hang on to the fucking ball.
Damn
Pathetic.
Why can’t we stop these runs? Damn!
Murray in attack mode. Love to see it.
Nice run to answer. Feels like we might have to rock with Len/Lyles over Domas for most of this one.
I love how quickly the crowd got quiet.
Good ol’ Loud City
That’s the way to respond.
Holmgren sets screens the way Len did when he got fouled there, every time. he even tripped HB in the 1st quarter doing it.
Leading with chest drinking game?
When Fox gets fouls on minimal contact, he’s a generational seller, but when Shai does it he’s crafty and skilled (according to the OKC color guy)
Fox gets fouled in the key. Thunders color commentator talks about how much Fox sold it.
Shai gets sells a foul on the next play. Thunders color commentator talks about how Shai is clever.
It’s said all the time but there is an entirely different rulebook for officiating superstars and SGA is one of em
OKC big time favorites to win now
I’d hate watching it but Fox should work on drawing fouls. Don’t avoid contact, seek it. Be “clever.” SGA gets so many favorable calls.
Refs simply don’t call it for him and Domas. Period.
We get 4 open looks at 3. Nada. Okc hits the next step back 3. Classic.
Blowing a 19 point lead in a crucial game.
No courage.
same as against Dallas and the Knicks.
Goddamn, these Thunder commentators whine harder than the Suns’.
OKC color guy makes his points in 1/2 a possession, that should be part of the Kings broadcast some day.
Just get Domas outta there tbh
Let’s go Kings! 👏👏👏👏👏
No call on the obvious hook by Holmgren because of course not. (Kings are getting an unfair whistle down the stretch btw)
(According to OKC color)
His entire arm wrapped twice around Domas and then they call Domas for a foul while going straight up lmaoooo sure why tf not
Lol Thunder broadcast didn’t want to show the part of the replay where he hooked, these guys are pathetic.
What a way for Domas to break his streak: getting bodied by a 21 year old twig
Exactly! How is he not putting his shoulder straight through his chest and going through that contact?!
I hate to say it but Sabonis is not there in big games at end of games
when you need him. He disappears. But I think some of that is Brown refusing to run plays for him.
Drive to the basket Fox ,
SGA travelled
wow. so, SGA travels on the go-ahead bucket – no call. then gets cleanly blocked by Davion on the next possession and they call a foul on Davion.
Both teams getting really dubious calls down the stretch, Kings not capitalizing while the Thunder do
What a waste
No stress here. You can’t win when you jack threes like this. 32 attempts from three by your starting PG and SG is just idiotic.
Ellis, dude. Take the layup.
Trade fox, blow this team way way up
I agree. Fox is entering his prime and this is it. A play-in team.
How many TOs did Keon, Fox, and Domas have today? Feels like 15
…
Domas had 6, Keon 4, Fox only 2
Up by 19 at the half, then lose. This team is like a broken record.
Sabonis is not a skilled offensive player. There are at least 10 centers in the league I’d take over him. Tired of watching him just throw up prayers at the rim after barreling into people.
Develop a jumper.
He hasn’t done it yet, he never will.
He needs more than 7 shot attempts in his sweet spots down low.
That’s on him also. If he was any type of leader he would say get me the ball! But nah, just let the guards jack up 3s all under 3 mins to go in the game when the game was tied for multiple possessions. Stupid basketball. SGA attacks and gets to line. I’m not surprised they lost. I never felt like they would actually win.
Brown needs to use him better too but Sabonis as the 2nd best player? Need more from him.
That’s the problem. He just not a threat offensively. I don’t believe he is bad basketball player. Great rebounder and gives effort, but he can’t score at all without bully ball.
I am very glad you are not the Kings GM… You’re running on emotion here dude. Your opinions aren’t based on facts.
Done
Not upset any longer. This team plays stupid basketball.
it’s becoming a trend now. Kings tighten up in the 2nd half. blow leads.
How many 20pt leads evaporated this season? Unbelievable
We have to lead the league in these.
Lucy pulled the football on me again. I should know better, but this loss feels worse than any other this season.
It’s what the Kings do now because they’ve never figured out how to play 1/2 court O. Frustrating watching them.
58 3s?! MB must be stoked.
Really fucking ridiculous. At end of games, this is not what you do to win. Fox should do like last year. Mid range. Adjust MB! WTF.
Yet another example of the Kings regressing this year on O/in general-
Going away from their strengths. Like Fox being encouraged to shoot 3s at end of games. Fools errand. Mid range. Like he did last year.
Yhis is disturbing to watch the coaches go backwards. Just 3s doesn’t win in playoffs unless you are Steph -GS. And now they’ve taken any Sabonis good out of 1/2 court O too.
Maybe Harding was the glue keeping the coaching staff sane
I don’t know but they seem to have regressed on O badly. D is better-that’s good but thiS O needs diff pieces.
At what point do you hold the players accountable?
I do hold them accountable too. Fox should know better. Domas needs to play better for sure. But this coaching staff is encouraging 3s and that’s it. And that is not what they should be doing. Wrong personnel for that
Truth is, ever since trading Hali I’ve had a bad feeling that Fox and Sabonis aren’t playoff winning types. But last year, Fox was playing that way. Now it’s shit
Give me Jokic, Embiid, Victor, Chet, Sengen, Jaren Jackson, and Bam all over Sabonis. Couple others that have potential as well, but those 7 are absolutes.
Either the Kings have to change or get different players to fit the system.
The concern with Sabonis has always been that he’s not a playoff performer. Can’t shoot/hit free throws etc.
It’s pretty ridiculous that the 2nd best player is practically useless on O. But again, I know Kings could run sets to gelp
this.
sigh Sengun…I think about how we drafted Davion over Sengun at least once every 25 games…the hali trade probably never happens
Bibby and Drapes in shock at the number of 3s.
Why on the world did the Kings Brass decide jacking up 3s would win anything but regular season? It doesn’t. Just going backwards now.
It’s like all these people falling in love with running QBs and not paying attention to the fact that they rarely win playoffs. Never a bowl. Meanwhile, Matt Stafford. Win. Purdy/Goff go far.
Certain styles win in the playoffs on all sports. And how the Kings can’t figure this out is beyond me.
The ongoing horrific offensive game plan costs us another win.
Just another blown opportunity, like the Celtics game. They could legitimately be above the play in line, but they can’t close out games. Suns and Lakers could both lose tonight and will make up 0 ground because of terrible late game basketball. MB runs 0 sets. It’s just Chuck em up guards! Disgusting
He’s never had to install a real offense. In Cleveland it was give it to LeBron. In LA it was give it to Kobe. Here it’s let a bunch of average-to-below 3pt shooters throw them up like they’re Steph.
Kings are mediocre.
they don’t really have any offensive options besides 3s and Fox drives. Domas is a battler but has no offensive game. He just bangs and cleans up misses.
Brown should get some credit for having this good of a record with a +1 point differential.
Much more fun than during the drought for sure.
i don’t understand why they went away from Amy PnR-or DHO or Sabonis post up distribute.
Monk and sometimes KH did PnR with Domas.
Teams are game planning for the dho after the warriors eliminated it last year. Teams just fight over that screen to eliminate the three and it’s usually a broken play after that because sabonis’s man sags which eliminates the cut
Their record would probably be better if they didn’t continually jack of 3s when they’re not hitting them.
this and the past few games are earning points for me to see that Mike Brown might not be the one to carry the Kings over the hump when he can’t change his gameplan to more than just “paint touches and spray 3s”. Sure do that if you have Curry on your team but not when you have Fox. Also Domas need to develop a post game. With Fox just shooting 3’s now (maybe its a product of him not getting calls and the gameplan) and not getting to the rim anymore, we need somebody down low to help pad the leads the kings do get.
Naw. Can’t blame it on Coach Brown. This is on the King’s front office for not improving the front line during the off-season and/or at the trade deadline. We are seeing the impacts of that inaction now as playoff seeding is on the line, and as Sabonis is being pounded with double and triple teaming every time he touches the ball. We attempted 58 three pointers tonight. That’s because we have no inside game alongside Sabonis. While Monk’s shooting may have been a bandage on some of it, he’s out so it’s all there for our opponents to exploit at crunch time like we saw tonight.
It’s still confuses me why we don’t have one of gafford, bogi 2.0 or pj Washington
Man, Sabonis is not it. There’s just no world in which your highest paid player, a supposed all NBA center, can turn in this kind of performance in critical games and the team can be expected to be successful. A performance where he was too scared to even look at the rim. Yeah Fox took too many 3s, because that was literally the only shot available when there are no other playmakers on the team and the paint is packed due to Chet not needing to give Sabonis one iota of a thought on defense.
The entire team took too many threes. Except Keon…he was literally the only non-garbage player on the offensive side of the ball tonight.
We don’t have an “it” player. That’s something the front office needs to find if they have any hope of moving beyond the 1st round under this regime.
Don’t blame Sabonis, he needs help down low. He’s double and tripled teamed every time he touches the ball. Our starting 4 is a liability on both sides of the ball and no help to Sabonis. Sabonis gets the hell beat out of him all night long and our opponents wisely game plan for him and know if they shut him down they can beat our 3 point shooting. We saw it tonight.
Kings shoot a bunch of 3s because that causes the most variance in a game. They are just slightly better than average, but if they can have a hot night from 3 they can beat a better team.
I guess another coach could try to install a different offense, but I don’t see it being more successful. What are they going to do? Post up HB? Use Keegan in pick n roll?
Domas has to shoot the elbow jumper and Fox has to take more shots closer to the basket IMO.
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