Until the Sacramento Kings learn to play a lick of defense, fans are likely to become all too familiar with performances like Wednesday evening. After building and blowing a 20-point lead in the second quarter, and after building and blowing a 19-point lead in the third quarter, the Kings fell to the Portland Trailblazers 132-126, losing their sixth game in eight tries, having allowed an average of 126 points per game over that span.
Damian Lillard led the way for the Blazers, scoring 40 points and dishing out 13 assists, while CJ McCollum flirted with a triple-double, putting up 28, 7, and 10. Buddy Hield looked like his old self for his second consecutive game, posting his first 20-point performance since opening night, ending the evening with 26 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists, while knocking down 8 of his 18 long-balls. De'Aaron Fox was also highly impressive on the offensive end, nearly matching Hield's line with 29 points, 6 boards, and 6 assists of his own, including five made three-pointers. Not to be forgotten, Kings rookie Tyrese Haliburton once again showed his potential start power, scoring 17 points, grabbing five boards, and dishing out 9 assists in 31 minutes of play.
Game Summary
The Kings enjoyed perhaps their hottest shooting start to the season, sinking eight of their first nine shots, including all three of their three-pointers, and that trend continued throughout the first twelve minutes, as Sacramento finished at 68% from the floor and 64% from deep. After Marvin Bagley picked up his second foul, Luke Walton chose to roll with a smaller lineup, and that decision seemed to truly open up the offensive flow for Sacramento. De'Aaron Fox impacted the game at all levels, scoring 15 points in the quarter while also dishing out four assists, and Tyrese Haliburton showed out as well, scoring six points and recording three dimes in just a few minutes on the floor. After allowing a 10-1 run to fall behind 22-20, the Kings closed the period with a 23-11 stint of their own to take a 10 point lead after one.
For whatever reason, the Kings decided to get their horrific third quarter collapse out of the way a little early in this one. Marvin Bagley's Hali-oop pushed Sacramento's lead all the way to 20 points with 7:20 remaining in the second period, but that bucket also seemed to help the Trail Blazers realize that Bagley was available on the opposite end of the floor as well. Portland's guards regularly targeted Marvin in the pick-and-roll, and while the collapse can by no means be placed solely on his shoulders, his lack of defensive acumen killed the Kings until he headed to the bench with his third foul. Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum were the primary culprits behind the Blazers' 20-4 run late in the quarter, combining for 25 points in the period, while De'Aaron Fox was virtually invisible after his bubble-esque start, scoring just one point on three shots.
As Edmund Burke once said, those who don't know history are destined to repeat it, and the Kings sure didn't learn their history in the locker room at halftime. In a story that now seems as old as time, Sacramento stormed into the third quarter with a purpose, building a 19 point lead before allowing another massive Portland offensive flurry. The Blazers guard core once again punished the Kings on the perimeter and in the paint, and Sacramento had no answer for McCollum or Lillard.They entered the final period with just a five-point lead.
After their charge to end the third quarter, it was obvious that the battle-hardened Blazers smelled blood in the water in the final period. Portland continued to nip at the Kings heels, even when Sacramento was able to build a couple of double-digits leads, and the Blazers led the final six minutes of the fourth quarter. Sacramento will get one night off before taking on the 8-4 Los Angeles Clippers on Friday evening.
Player of the Game
De'Aaron Fox: 29 points (9/18 FG, 5/8 3P), 6 rebounds, 6 assists
Game Notes
- Nemanja Bjelica seems to officially have lost place in the rotation, receiving his second consecutive DNP-CD.
- Chimezie Metu actually saw some non-garbage time minutes after Hassan Whiteside failed to impress in his short time on the floor. Metu recorded 2 points and a turnover in a little over three minutes.
- The Kings hit a season-high 19 three-pointers.
- Four Kings players ended the night with at least 5 assists: Buddy Hield, De'Aaron Fox, Tyres Haliburton, and Richaun Holmes.
F Sacramento Kangs!
Done with this team sick of this 15 years of sucking balls.
Done? This season is what finally did it for you? This is actually the time to start watching the Kings as crappy as our coach is.
Hahaha, this game was a highpoint considering the s-show we’ve been watching the last 15 years!
This was a fair effort, all things considered. We have seen a lot of truly awful basketball over the years, this was not it.
Would have liked to see more zone defense to nite ! May have eliminated some of the straight line drives by Dame and CJ ! Offense by Kings is good enough and defense near league bottom !
OPP PPG: 122.1
. Ranked Dead Last in The NBA 30Th.
on the bright side, they’re 8th in scoring at ~115 points per game. Hopefully, they have had some bad luck. It does seem like teams have been making shots at a bit higher percentage than they would on average.
also tonight they lost a lot of those 50/50 situations. Maybe that’s because they’re not scrappy. Or, maybe they just missed it.
moral of the story: this wasn’t a bad loss. Sometimes shit just happens. With a mediocre team, the ball needs to bounce the right way sometimes when playing good teams.
I kind of agree. Yes they suck something bad on defense…at the same time it felt like tonight there 4-5 times the the Blazers (McCollum) hit shots where it was just throw your hands up “what can you do” kind of thing.
Close game bounces go either way and if they won, majority of us would all be singing a different tune with dance GIFS…eventhough the effort and execution wouldn’t have been dramatically different.
Teams usually make shots at a slightly higher percentage when facing trash defensive teams
I’m not arguing that bad defensives all just have bad luck. I’m saying sometimes luck can play a part, and that tends to be overlooked.
It’s like Buddy Hield. He’s one of the best shooters in the history of the NBA. Sometimes he accidentally banks a shot in, sometimes the ball is in then out. Over time, those little nuances even out. But sometimes a player (or team) is just unlucky. For a team like the Kings, luck can play a huge role in determining if they’re a 26 win team or if they’re a 36 win team.
I agree 100%, until the sample size is large enough I’ll attribute our bad luck to simply shitty defense haha
I don’t know man. The kings essentially gave up a 39 pt lead when you combine the 1st and 2nd half leads. That’s not bad luck or bounces, that’s trash defense by a bad team/coach.
And all too often Buddy can’t buy a bucket.
Right, the Blazers hit a 3 as time was expiring in the 1st, a 3 as time was expiring in the 2nd, and 2 when time was expiring in the 3rd. That’s 8 points, more than the margin of victory. Richaun Holmes hit a 3 at the end of the first half against Indiana and the Kings won that game.
To your point, we got those 50/50 balls against Denver, twice.
Yup. Our +/- for the season doesn’t show that we’ve been unlucky so far this season. We’ve won a few scrappy, ‘effort’ games. Our record is probably right where it should be, if not a little worse.
Yeah, depending on whether you want to look at B-R pythag wins or ESPN’s EWL, the performance so far says the Kings record should be a game or two worse than it is. Now, SSS and a tendency to lose big when they lose obviously skews that.
The 4th quarter rotation was BAD.
Your Sacramento Kings: Zero Stops Given.
Those Kings leads…
Blowing two 20 point leads in a game is so on brand with Kangz.
Just an extreme case of the
runsslippage.That’s elite tanking. The Kings are well trained at this game.
By game 20-25, I am hoping Monte has seen enough and starts the tear down.
I think we can say the offense was satisfactory today.
Apparently defense and COVID-19 are one in the same for this team, so we avoid it at all costs.
New coach when?
Buddy channeling his inner Marvin at the worst time in the game. I don’t understand how the best shooter, passer and playmaker on the team gets no touches in crunch time.
Opponents just bully them and take no shit in return. Most evident against Raptors but happened again tonight. Bring back Shumpert to light a damn fire. I thought Whiteside would be the hired goon we needed but he’s playing offensive fulcrum at times? The fuck
Whiteside’s game is so hilarious. He just stands there gets a few blocks and a few garbage dunks. He moves with the ferocity of a slug. Whiteside plays the game for a paycheck and nothing else.
Here’s RORDOG’s Lukewarm Take of the Day: if you’re gonna give up 125 points a game regardless, just play Bagley. I don’t even like Bagley the player, and I still think that’s obvious.
Here’s a flaming hot take: I actually thought Bagley had some nice possessions on the defensive end in this game.
I also think he had some nice defensive possessions tonight.
He did, I recall him contesting to force a tough shot or two, sliding nicely once and forcing an awkward layup once, plus taking a charge
Bagley played the best that I’ve seen this year.
Bingo, just play Bagley. I mentioned that last night. Why don’t we just close with him. If we’re gonna lose, lose with Bagley.
I’d rather have Bagley in there late, instead of Barnes. I’m also not a big Bagley fan, but let’s go with our young core, and grow from there.
This is my thought process with Guy. The narrative is that Cojo is a defensive stopper but if we give up 125 a night, are we really stopping anyone? I think Guy’s effort alone could match what Cojo brings right now.
Yeah CoJo’s whole thing is defense which is really strange since he doesn’t seem that great at defense?
Yeah, they blew a couple of big leads, but it’s Same and CJ. They’re not letting you just “put em away”. This was there for the king’s to win, but the Blazers just showed that they’re the superior team.
No good team is going to blow leads of 19 and 20 pts. In 2 different qtrs of a game. Kings are mentally weak. Hali is easily the highest BBiQ player this team has had in 15 years.
Do you believe if all the kings players and coaches were mentally as strong as you, then they would’ve won tonight?
Way to stay classy and turn a non personal comment into one. Did that make you feel big and tough?
Rordog, you could make a jerk comment like that in response to 98%-100% of the comments on TKR.
Well I focus my jerk replies on the comments that accuse an entire professional basketball team of being mentally weak. It’s in the same mold as accusing athletes of not caring enough because they enjoy extracurricular activities such as making music or art.
So you do feel like a tough guy, good to know bud *thumbs up to you
what are you talking about? you’re acting like I said let’s meet in the Safeway parking lot for a battle of the minds.
Is there a Safeway in Temecula?
I think it’s called Von’s in SoCal
This is a horrible, horrible meme.
I thought “maybe it’s so old it’s back in style!”
That’s some positive spin right there.
It’s not like anybody got called a Jive Turkey.
Kinda disappointing really, if you think about it.
Because you launched the first insult over the internet like a clown, something all to common today, speaking to people in ways you never would in person.
Does that include calling someone a “clown?” Asking for a friend…
Yeah, but to be fair Carl, that was in response to someone making a comment he never would have made in person to a guy who made a comment about a guy he never would have made in person.
The math checks out here – RORDOG is clearly the bad guy, and the guys who are diagnosing mental weakness based on court performance are the unsung heroes.
God I miss the terrible Otis takes.
Is this the Internet tough guy thing? I’m getting confused as to what the actual principle in question is here. To be fair, I’m not that smart.
I don’t mind calling people being rude out in person, I doubt rodog would of said that to whomever it was.
Maybe the whole damn team IS mentally weak. Is that not possible? And what particular comment are you referring to?
It just rubs me the wrong way. I think there’s a way to discuss this stuff without questioning their collective mental fortitude.
Is that way to discuss by insulting individual people?
I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I mean, you did kind of call Bratz a clown.
See, I don’t agree with RORDOG’s approach to this, but I do get a bit surprised at people’s willingness to attack a player’s character like this. IMO, calling someone mentally weak is pretty well over the line. I think questioning their mental fortitude is a very different thing than questioning their basketball skills. The reality is these people are at the absolutely apex of what they do. Every single player in the NBA has worked their ass off to be there. The vast vast vast majority of them have exceptional work ethic to go along with their elite natural gifts. And not only have they work hard enough to be among the 500 or so best people in the world at what they do, they do it in full public view while receiving criticism at every turn. So, no, I don’t think it’s accurate to call any of these people mentally weak. And, I assume like RORDOG, it gets my goat a bit when people are seemingly blasé about making what I consider to be pretty serious personal insults.
I agree with you for the most part, but as fans, it’s kind of what they do analyzing and making all sorts of comments about the team and player on random blogs or in bars etc.
Now the internet tough guy schtick is old, and I’m at least somewhat impressed that not everyone on this site jumped in to defend rordog as he is part of the in crowd, just the typical Otis think tunnel
You calling RORDOG’s comment “internet tough guy schtick” tells me your probably surfing the net with your penis.
And I think I understood the last part of your comment, and I’m amused if you think he and I are in some sort of groupthink here – I’m not sure there’s anyone I argue with more on this site, outside of maybe Sims.
I want to know more about this think tunnel. I have more of a think hole, or a thought vacuum.
people need to check out some threads from the Cousins/Karl days. They’d think we’re all mortal enemies.
(also, fuck George Karl)
Not a chance in hell I’m reading that shit ever again. It was bad enough to have gone through it once let alone having to rehash any of it again.
I wouldn’t either if I lost all those args to someone as swarthy as the rordog
You’ll keep saying you won the argument when Karl’s in the Hall of Fame and Walton’s working for Vlade, teaching hoops to grade school Serbian children. 🙂
I’ll admit I could have addressed my issue with the original comment without the extracurriculars. There’s just a certain category of criticisms of professional athletes that chaps my hide.
Well it’s a good thing they are not a good team then! If you thought they were coming into the season then that’s on you
This is where I am at. I am looking at this as the start of new core that looks like it will be built around Fox/Hali (as it should).
In that case, hopefully Fox and Hali (or whoever our backcourt duo will be when Kings are a mature team like Blazers w Dame & CJ), will also win these games when they are in a position like the Blazers.
So I am enjoying seeing more close, high energy games, no matter the inconsistency. Inconsistency is probably the only consistency with this current team, and that is fine with me, because I am expecting this to be far from the finished product.
I thought something similar. I’m starting to wonder if this team has an ingrained losing mentality, necessitating a major roster turnover, but there is an admittedly significant talent deficiency, too. Not a lot of defenders and players with high BBIQ other than Haliburton. I’m not a big Bagley fan, but trying to develop him on the floor with other players who don’t consistently play defense and don’t move the ball well is a challenge. He plays so much better when Hali is out there with him. Shockingly, I’m starting to understand why his father demanded a trade.
I think it’s probably viewed as a career stop for many players, to be honest. I don’t think that’s unusual in professional sports but in Sacramento’s case it could be the norm.
I don’t know if they are mentally weak, so much as a bad defensive team is going to blow leads more frequently than a good one.
I’ve seen guys on here upset that Metu and Guy don’t get more minutes. Well, Metu got some run which coincided with losing one of the leads. There you have it.
He had a bad game. I don’t really see why this game is definitive proof Metu is incapable of earning minutes.
He got thrown into the game with a stupid lineup for like three minutes…
Yep. 100%. Metu and 4 guards was beyond stupid.
Yeah, I didn’t mean my comment as “Metu sucks”, I just thought the rotation was funky and probably not the time to get cheeky playing him such an extended stretch. I thought he’d get a couple minutes to help keep Holmes out of foul trouble, then Walton trotted him out to start the 4th… Not Metu’s fault.
I like Metu and a lot of us want to see him play. Walton had ample opportunity to play him in the last few blowouts more than he did.
Metu was awful in his three minutes. But I’d also say that some players not to be named have been awful for much longer stretches but have been allowed to grow. And he did have that monster dunk at least. I’d give him more looks.
Your comment does lack context.
Fun game to watch, Kings almost pissed me off and won (please stop finishing just outside the playoffs and tank Kings).
Right. This is exactly what many fans want: The team barely lost, the core (?) had decent numbers, and Buddy increased his trade value.
Dame and CJ just too good tonight. Clippers next? You never know, either we are tanking or we can beat anyone 😁
Kings tied for the 8th worst record with the 2nd worst point differential. Right on track for a high pick. Honestly just knowing that Haliburton is going to be awesome makes this season a win for me. Get a high pick and grab a stud in next years draft and move forward with Fox/Haliburton/Lottery pick and we may have something.
+ Holmes if possible, please!
Yeah I’d be happy with them finding a way to keep Holmes. I love watching him play.
The good news is the Kings have options to resign Richaun. Unfortunately any of them exceeding 10 million means opening up cap room.
Yeah I could actually see him sticking around for awhile if he’s willing to do a 4/40 type deal (assuming that’s possible, I am not the cap expert).
Can we add hiring a better/more likable coach to the list of things that would make this season successful? I realllly hope we aren’t forced to endure another season of Walton coaching next year. I find myself satisfied with the losses not only for draft purposes but also with the hope that we may be able to justify moving on from this HC.
Given that this was always going to be a transition year, I would guess he’ll be gone at the end of the season. If things really go south he might be gone by mid season.
Right now this team is giving off very 2019 Wizards vibes. They can definitely score and I have a feeling the offense will be pretty good with Haliburton on the court but the defense is just terrible. I do think the opponents shooting is a tiny bit flukey. Some of the shots the Blazers made tonight were well contested. But generally this is a bad team.
There will always be some contested shots going in.
It’s impossible to ignore the overall trend.
It felt like Portland made more contested shots than a team would usually make (though most of those contested shots were made by Lillard & CJ, who are great players).
Portland has the best backcourt in the NBA. But, they don’t play any D either. It’s not one game. It’s these first 12. Kings give up more pts then any team in the league. Tonite, was like every almost every other game, so far this season. This Defense is bad. Real bad. Defense is more about effort than anything else.
Thats mostly bullshit. The majority of the guys are trying their best and giving effort most of the time. Half of them just have poor defensive instincts, experience or scheme.
And half is too many
This. I’m not sure exactly when the “defense is all about effort” thing took hold, but at the NBA level that’s just nonsense. Playing high level defense takes defensive talent, understanding, and execution just like offense.
Amen BHE.
Yeah I don’t see a bunch of guys out there who aren’t playing hard personally. I see a bunch of guys who have low basketball IQ and marginal lateral quickness who can’t stay in front of the opposing players and don’t put themselves in good positions to defend 2 or three passes ahead. That’s just a lack of skill and talent.
I see Gentry taking over the team after the ASB and improving Bagley’s game, like he did with Ingram. I just don’t want Gentry as the coach long term.
If he improves Bagleys game to Ingram levels of improvement then he deserves a multi year contract to coach even if a bad coach (no idea). Because that asset either on the team or traded would be gold.
Bagley and Ingram are entirely different players with entirely different skillsets. And Ingram’s breakout really started during his last season in LA. He was playing at a really high level for the month or so before getting injured that season.
Am I wrong to feel like Walton does nothing to help this team win?
That either 3rd or 4th quarter possession when Fox was out and CoJo and Halliburton were in, CoJo struggling to get the ball up the floor I was screaming at the TV for Walton to let Hali take it up. Instead we got a forced, blocked CoJo attempt at the rim. Wasn’t even mad at Cory. It was a stupid coaching decision.
Why in God’s name did Walton play Metu with 4 guards in the 4th? It always seems like, and this is based on his postgame comments as well, that he’s always trying to figure stuff he should already know out. And also, that he ridiculously over thinks stuff.
Man. There was a couple Kings runs tonight where I couldn’t (against all logic and all personal experience) help but think- wow, this team can make some noise. Beautiful transition breaks, leading to layups and when those weren’t available, open wing/corner 3s. A sight to behold. But we should know better. Same old Kings. Need to do it for 48 minutes. As much of a Fox fan as I am, he can’t be a number 1 in this organization. He played well tonight, but your leader needs to hold people accountable, and I don’t think that’s in his DNA. Couple it with a bad coach, and you’re going to underperform
Fox put up a lot of empty points. He played well, except when he was really needed at the end, which is where a top flight PG really earns his money. Kind of mystifying how he was selected as the Player of the Game.
My favorite part of tonight’s game, aside from blowing two giant leads, was Doug trying to justify Luke not taking a timeout when the Blazers were erasing our second giant lead.
Yeah, I was like.. OKKAAY Doug. But then I realized we only had 2 timeouts and I believe 1 throughout the majority of the 4th quarter. (I think they wanted to just save them for the end)
I set alarm for 3am to watch this match and it was worth it. I don’t know the game well enough to decipher why the Defence is so poor but everyone looks to be giving 100% effort, we have no ‘wife beaters’ on the team, Tye is a silent assassin, stat stuffing, absolute steal. Holmes is a beast and the tank rolled on. That’s a win in my books.
This was, as others have said a fun game to watch. Fun, that is, until the fourth quarter when the wheels fell off.
This type of criticism seems to be reflexive at this point, rather than reality based. The Kings entered the third quarter up three, and when Bagley sat with around four minutes left in the quarter, the Kings were up (checks notes) 12 points.
I agree.
If Bagley is doing his part and trying, then he may not deserve that kind of write up. It may be tough love that teams are focusing in on him, however it could be a blessing in disguise. I am on the fence with Bags, as in I am not holding my breathe, however I have seen some fine wine that started off as vinegar too.
Yeah, I suspect he’s not going to be a very good NBA player. I’d love to see him get about 30 minutes per game to know for sure.
Going to know for sure with an extra 5 minutes of court time? Just going to become a whole different player in those 5 minutes?
Exactly this.
He played 19 minutes last night, “tough guy”.
And to answer a dumb question sincerely, yes – I’ve always advocated for the young guys to get as many minutes as they can, so the team can evaluate them more quickly.
So while we might not know “for sure”, more data is better than less data.
Yeah, agreed. 20 minutes over 30 games is the same as 30 minutes over 20 games. It’s not like Bagley is crushing the competition in 20 minutes and we need to see what he can do against better players.
I don’t have a problem with him playing more, aside from him being mostly frustrating to watch, but I also don’t have a problem with him playing 20-25, because there’s not much indication he’s going to do anything with those extra few minutes that he’s not doing now.
It’s really not.
The team is soft.
The Coach sucks.
And for most of the players losing isn’t personal.
Positive: Bagley played within himself, tried hard on defense….and took less than 10 shots…
Negative: the Refs………and defensive rebound…
Ya. Somehow Leon Wood hates Sacramento. I cheered so hard for him back in the day.
The team collapsed / stalled / sputtered / imploded when Cory Joseph was on the floor. And if you cannot see this by now, I cannot help you. Joseph got slaughtered on defense and he cannot run an offense. He puts players like Buddy in a position to try to create their own offense. He forces teammates outside of their comfort zone, then turns his palms to the sky when the opponent goes on a 16-2 run.
Metu, who never should have been in the game in the first place, was left hanging on an island because the PG goes and hides in the corner.
You can hide Joseph as long as Haliburton and Fox are on the floor with him, then you have enough playmaking. But what is the point when he lacks the physical and athletic profile to be a defender?
And we have the far superior spot shooter in Kyle Guy as an option with playmakers in Fox and Hali.
It is comical allegiance this coach has to a washed up player. And when Walton is fired he can give a hat tip to Joseph as the primary catalyst.
First Fluke benches Whiteside and the team becomes an absolute joke defensively, puts Bagley at defensive center where he has no business being, then turns away from Whiteside again to start the 4th and our double digit lead evaporates in 3 minutes.
And since when is Joseph an all too willing three point shooter? He can’t shoot. Joseph is shooting under 30% from 3, 5% worse than Marvin.
Buddy Hield shot 18 3s and ZERO free throws……Unbelievable. You are telling me you cannot use your threat as marksman to get the defender off balance drive and get to the free throw line, not once?!?!
Buddy Hield is a bit of fraud because his work ethic and commitment to his craft is not reflected in an intention to attack the defense and get to the free throw line.
If you actually aspire to greatness, instead of just being a chucker in search of your next hot streak, then you are obviously looking for the highest percentage shot you can get, making the defense pay for overplaying you to shoot.
Instead Buddy just looks for 6 inches of space, the tracest amount of daylight, to launch his next bomb. His inferior discernment and inability or unwillingness to get to the free throw line means he will never be a component to an elite team.
Contrast him to McCollum and Lillard, they jack threes too at high rate too, but they are much better at mixing it up, using the threat of the drive and midrange to get better quality looks from behind the line.
And this is where Joseph compounds the issues of Buddy. You put him in a position to use his own inferior discernment, to try to create more than he should, and this is how you lose games you should win.
You are probably right about CoJo, if he cannot guard CJ/ Dame, then he is pretty useless on the court…(as he cannot hit consistent 3 and cannot run the offense)
Hopefully, Guy can see some minutes (just like Metu), to pair him up with Hali and Fox
I’m really beginning to see a negative in Buddy this season compared to past seasons. He doesn’t seem to have the spark to his game that we are used to seeing. I feel like at least once a game Buddy would crash the offensive board for an impressive putback or attempt. I don’t think I’ve seen that once this year.
I’ve mentioned that he physically looks different but I’m also seeing a difference in effort. He seems more inclined to roam the perimeter and wait for a catch and shoot (which is 100% his best strength) but I’m not seeing a more balanced game on