Happy Halloween, Kings fans! Before you take the little ones trick-or-treating, or start your pregame for your party later tonight, or do whatever it is that I, a child-less and 29 year-old grandmother at heart, will not be participating in, we had some Kings basketball to enjoy! In the spirit of Halloween, what better way to get spooky than to face Sacramento’s very own ghost of the NBA draft’s past in Luka Doncic? The Kings exorcised this demon last season by defeating the Mavericks in all of their three matchups. But we are in a new season and this afternoon was the first of four spooky spectacles the Kings will have of Luka Doncic this go around. Did they once again cast out the ghost of regret, or did they get haunted by mistakes of the past? Let’s see how they did:
Quick Stats
Outcome: Kings lose, 99-105
Sacramento Kings: 99 pts, 39.6% fg, 19.4% 3pt, 80% ft, 20 ast, 12 to
Dallas Mavericks: 105 pts, 44.4% fg, 32.4% 3 pt, 65% ft, 24 ast, 9 to
It is a spooky Halloween indeed. Despite another slow start, the Kings battled back from trailing by as many as 15 points to keep this game interesting for 48 minutes. But in the end, they weren’t able to outrun the ghosts of their past.
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
The Good:
- Bench Boost: The bench unit got an earlier start this afternoon as Luke Walton pulled four of his starters just a little over halfway through the first quarter. The starting unit took a punch to the gut and allowed the Mavs to take an early 22-9 lead. Immediately upon entering, the bench unit, led by Tristan Thompson and Terence Davis, brought a boost of energy, movement, and attitude. Davis injected a faster pace into the offense, while Thompson provided some physicality and was leading in both words and actions. This bench unit brought the Kings within nine points to end the first quarter and continued to bridge the gap into the second.
- Minor Adjustments: The Kings struggled tremendously on both sides of the ball throughout the first half. Luka Doncic was flashing villainous smiles midway through the second quarter, demonstrating his comfort and confidence in cutting up the Kings’ defense. On the other end, we saw the Kings struggle to find any sustainable shooting success. In the second half, the Kings showed some awareness and correction to these struggles. There were more mixed coverages on Luka – I especially liked seeing Harrison Barnes assume that responsibility, as he provided more strength and resistance on Luka by not allowing him to just walk into his sweet spots. They also threw some blitz coverages on him to force the ball out of his hands and even got a few tipped balls out of it. On the offensive end, there was a more concerted effort to not settle for the 3-point look that hadn’t been falling in the first half, and the Kings were able to find more success in the mid range by attacking the paint. I also want to highlight Buddy Hield’s individual adjustments. As the Mavericks hounded him all game, he recognized a better way to combat this coverage by giving the ball up early, hunting for off ball screens, and letting looks come to him.
The bad:
- Spooky Start: It was quite frightening to see the Kings’ starting unit have another slow start this afternoon. Once again, they came out a step behind on every play and allowed the Mavericks to have one of their best first quarters this season. For some context, the Mavericks had been struggling to start games, averaging just 20.2 points in the first quarter. This afternoon, the Kings allowed the Mavericks to score 20 points in the first five minutes, and finish with 31 points by the end of the quarter. In gams that are determined by a margin of six points, the Kings really get haunted by these poor starts.
- Luka Coverage: Luka Doncic is good or whatever. He finished with 23 points, 10 assists, and eight rebounds. Although the Kings made some adjustments to provide better coverage on Luka later in the game, he did most of his damage in the first half where he scored 16 of his points. The Kings failed to make things hard on him. Luka was able to use his bigger body and that nuanced European pace with the ball to get all the looks he wanted. Off of ball screens, he took advantage of any space the Kings gave him and found a way to either score or distribute for open looks for his teammates. He completed his haunting with a late fourth quarter dagger from the logo that hammered in the first nail of the Kings’ coffin.
The Ugly:
- Distance Drought: Probably the scariest thing about this Kings game was how many missed 3-point attempts we had to watch over and over again. The Kings shot an alarming 7-36 from behind the arc and it hurt them throughout the entire game. Through three quarters, they made only two out of 19 attempts and it prevented the Kings from finding any flow or momentum in their offense. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that Buddy Hield found some success from deep, but it proved to be too little too late.
The King of Kings
Here’s one of those games where we all need that silver lining to grasp on to. Today’s King of Kings goes to Tristan Thompson for his visible leadership and energy off the bench. He came in as the house was beginning to fall and provided the tools the Kings needed to hold it all together. Thompson was vocal, aggressive, and finished with 13 points and five rebounds. You may not want to follow through on your Halloween plans after that loss, but just think, “what would Tristan Thompson do?” He would likely punch a hole in the wall and yell some profanities at you to get you hyped and ready to go. So just channel that energy and go enjoy your Halloween, friends. We still have 76 more games of this!
Up Next
Tuesday, November 2nd @ Utah Jazz – 6:00 P.M. (PT)
A horror game at Halloween.
We were beaten by Luka and a bunch of ghosts, coached by Jason Kidd, who didn’t even need to spill his drink.
Fox needs to start get his shit together. He looks bad and for stretches of the game unengaged.
My Halloween costume is a ghost apparently, because I felt like BOO’ing
…Now, time for some booze.
That Fox-Bagley-Buddy, 2 first round lottery picks and 2 seconds for Simmons and Maxey be lookin’ quite good right about now.
No it doesn’t. And I’d take Simmons. Why give them all of that, though?
Last minute of the 3rd Q; Mavs bench is making a run, Fox is “defending” in transition (he only has one foul at that point).
The backpedalling without a sense of urgency, faking the defensive stance and jumping out of the way for an uncontested layup.
He’s not even raising his hands or trying to grab the ball (after Davion forced a jump ball less than two minutes prior).
Video and Shotcharts | Stats | NBA.com (The second clip shows it. How does one make gifs, btw?)
The clip at this link shows Hali on a very late close-out getting beat to the rim. The second clip seemed to be of a TD layup.
OK. I saw the second clip. You’re right, weak effort (?) by Fox.
Unfortunately, I have a tendency to see what I want to see. So I saw the good effort but “didn’t see” Fox’s weak effort on that play.
I noticed that as well. Thought he should have been pulled immediately. I’ve been a huge Fox fan but something isn’t right with him.
Perhaps its that there’s 17 point guards on the team and he’s trying to not be all about himself while the team figures it out?
Its not working real well, agreed.
Focusing on shutting down Buddy proved to be savvy scouting/game planning.
Kings letting Buddy bail them out as an offensive strategy was exposed a bit yesterday.
Yep. You have to give Kidd credit for that one. Buddy (and Barnes) shooting was keeping Kings in games. Eliminating one of them pays huge dividends for the opposition, because at this point, no one else on the team seems capable of stepping up consistently on offense.
The Kings did lots of things poorly, particularly on offense. What they did NOT do is QUIT!!
That should give us heart. On another night they will start better, and shots will fall. I did not see a lack of defensive effort, all the way to the end.
They did not QUIT taking crappy shots.
HB took shots that didn’t go in. Same with Hali and Fox and most of Buddy’s. If they go in, they’re good shots.
Hope springs eternal with Kings fans…
Glad they didn’t quit but what a low ceiling we have for this team.
I’m afraid the best this team can do with Puke at the helm is weasel into the playin and/or get run in round 1. I want him gone somehow.
There is no offense. Maybe McNair is gonna get rid of him.
Kings play decent D…shoot like crap. Deaaron still searching for it. End of analysis. Onto the next.
This.
The only thing I would add is that the Kings need an answer if the other teams decides to take away Buddy. They didn’t have one last night.
Of course you need counters. Who said you didn’t? I thought the Kings problems Sunday afternoon was simple: They shot the ball poorly. It happens.
Maybe Walton will nail down a rotation by game 40.
Came in looking for a sweet Halloween treat.
Wish they could shoot like The Rock.
The Fox Funk gonna get Walton’s ass fired before Thanksgiving.
Fox gonna get traded to Philly real soon.
We have one of the fastest guys in the league and he walks it up the floor.
Yeah, he doesn’t have any fire this year. He is just coasting all game pretty much.
On a team with three point guards why do we have to stick with Fox when he is not on his game?
I understand that his game relies on him driving to the basket because he is fast. The other teams have figured that out. Until he can shoot or pass it does not make sense to make him the center of the offense.
He can play off of the ball and see if a point guard that can shoot and pass will create opportunities for him.
In the off-season, I felt there was no way I’d trade Fox for Simmons. This season has changed my mine very quickly. He can’t shoot, is a below average passing pg, plays decent at best defense, doesn’t push the pace and now can’t get to the free throw line anymore. Simmons at least balances the roster. It may or may not be an upgrade in talent, but sometimes you have to swing for the fences.
Now Morey wouldnt make the trade
It had to be in the off season when I and others were calling for that swap
Fox would be in a better position in Philly cos he’s got space and a center that can get looks for him. Morey would gladly take Fox for Simmons right now.
Barnes, Holmes, TT, Tyrese did their part…..
The shots are just not falling……
Fox is pressing right now knowing that Mitchell is waiting in the wings and is already an NBA level defender that has proven he can also score. It wouldn’t surprise me if Mitchell wasn’t busting Fox’s behind in practice and it affecting Fox’s play in games.
He has? 8 pts or less in 5 of 6 games would make me guess otherwise. The advanced numbers are even worse.
I love Mitchell and what he brings, but I haven’t seen anything YET that suggests he could shoulder a higher usage and score 15+ a game. Maybe in time.
I blame myself. I’m not whammying enough, and my juju is hot garbage. I think we all should look inward.
Not to make excuses, but these early games on the road just suck.
Welp. Happy Halloween Kings fans. I guess now we move on to Christmas?
The iso player they’ve chosen to build around goes 5 of 16 with a -15 +/- and he’s not mentioned in the recap.
Crazy world ya got there.
Yup. Looks to me like Fox is, surprise, slower since he put on all that weight.
He spent the off season removing the one elite part of his gane-speed. Don’t even see him just running past people, to the rim from half court. Or he’s injured, which I don’t think he is.
When I looked at the schedule at the beginning of the year, I would have been pretty happy with 3-4 after 7 games. Not ready to adjust my season prediction, but they not in a terrible place given the quality of teams they’ve faced and their likely preseason ceiling.
Not sure how to categorize the Portland game but we still haven’t beaten a team above 0.500, and I suspect any such wins this year will be few and fart in-between.
Well, it’s supposed to be “far in-between” but I’ll go with the phone’s auto-correct on this one.
Overall not worried, we’re still looking good. We’ll need to make tweaks along the way. I don’t see how Harkless is still starting. Last 3 games 1.33pts, 4.3 rebounds, 0.67assist. He provides versatility defensively, but he’s not a defensive stopper by any means. I think those minutes should be tweaked around a bit to find more minutes for TT, Bagley, or Metu. I think all 3 would produce more points scored, than scored against.
7 of 36 from 3pt range just ain’t going to cut it in the NBA. On to the next one.
This team is still fun to watch in the games they’ve lost
Harkless of course is not a defensive stopper, but at least he is not making any big mistake…he grab rebound, try to stick to his man…….
We need some guys know their roles, like TT and Harkless.
https://twitter.com/o_a_khan/status/1454910388219170817?s=21
That was annoying. More annoying than Luka complaining.
I also suspect that a part of the Kings fans who complain loudest about Luka were also the ones who understood that DMC had every right to complain.
I’m no fan of that part of Lukas’s game, but I think if he was our (super)star, our complaints would be mainly focused on the refs. But the league allows it and he’s certainly not the worst example.
Draper is likely the worst example for an announcer ! Wrong on Cuz !
I disagree. Luka’s incessant whining is far more annoying. And the bad calls that Kayte and Draper point out….are indeed bad calls, whereas Luka whines about non fouls, and good defense.
Draper whines about non calls all the time ! Fox jumping int defenders is not a defensive foul ! Agree on Luka !
whereas Luka whines
about non fouls, and good defenseconstantly.2-1 = games that Alex Len plays.
1-2 = games that Alex Len does not play.
The Kings swept the Mavs last year.
Bagley played in all those games (except when he was injured).
Bagley didn’t play last night.
Coincidence?
Just in case, this is sarcasm.
What is up with Bags? Is he on bench? Believe me, I’m ecstatic to no longer see him play but what are they doing with him?
Great job not trading him before last year, realizing what most did after year 1—-he isn’t an NBA starter and he isn’t getting better.
Simple: Bagley is an expiring contract until the deadline then he probably gets waived if he isn’t traded. Same as Jabari Parker last season.
There’s really not much more to it than that at this point.
If Tristan Thompson is your best player that night, hang the L.
3-3 for October, one game better than what I would have guessed. I had the team at 9-13 at the end of November before the season began, so let’s see what they do with a full month.
236 kids came by the house last night for their full size 3 Musketeers (come at me, candy snobs, but kids are fine with simple, there are no nut allergies to navigate, and the silver wrapper screams “big candy!”). One of my favorite nights of the year.
Um, where do you live? Asking for a child friend for next year.
That’s awesome that you give the big bars! You’re the hero of Halloween. 🙂
We live in between the grade school and middle school, so it is a very kid-centric neighborhood. The kids in the area are great and Halloween is my wife’s favorite “holiday,” so it’s no work at all for us. And really, the big bars cost us maybe 30-40 cents more per kid than a couple of the little candies. And the reaction from the kids when they get the big bars make it the best return on investment ever.
Ugly game with an even uglier offense. There is absolutely zero structure or plan to what the Kings are doing on offense. Walton sucks as a coach. Sure hope Monte does something before this season is completely blown.
Oh, there’s a plan, and it takes away almost every strength from the starting lineup.
This is not a playoff team. I bet it’s not even a play-in team looking at a 6 game sample size. Apparently, Jay Marz from KHTK thinks that if you are analyzing 6 games then you are “brain dead”. What a tool.
How dare we analyze 6 games! Jay and Dave are absolute tools and if you DARE disagree with them get ready for some shaming and passive aggressiveness.
I’m not sure how much of Fox’s struggles are due to something different about Fox vs. teams are just scheming better against him. Fox certainly has started cold, but teams are scheming much more deliberately to stop him. If he’s not hitting an outside shot I’m seeing 3 guys in the lane consistently. The big nights from Hield and Barnes are no coincidence, teams are picking their poison and hoping that the outside shooting isn’t there. The two proven shooters on the team are reaping the reward.
Part of the problem is all Fox does is drive in the lane, run into 2 or 3 guys, and throw a prayer up into the air. His shot is broken so all he does is drive but gets clobbered in the lane.
Yes, drives into defenders and creates the contact and expects calls ! Not this year regardless of begging from Broadcast team !
I know Haliburton hasn’t shot 3 ball well yet but he should always have more 3 attempts than Fox. He’s a much better shooter.
Dumb. Coaches could straighten this out but the Kings have a non coach.
But why did he muzzle Doug Christie?
Badge Legend