The Phoenix Suns defeated the Sacramento Kings Monday night 109-104. The game was defined by probably the worst quarter of basketball the team has played all season in the third. In the turnover-riddled quarter, in which the crowd shared its displeasure with boos, the Suns outscored the Kings 31-12.
The Kings came storming back in the fourth thanks to strong efforts by some of the bench guys, specifically Damian Jones and Chimezie Metu, but things unraveled in the final moments. With 5.8 seconds left and down by three, De’Aaron Fox threw an inbound pass to Metu, who was open under the basket.
The turnover here sealed the victory for the Suns. Following the game, Walton broke down what the play call was, saying it was a designed play intended to get the ball to Metu at the rim.
“We had another timeout; we’ll take a quick two in that situation and play the foul game. We ran the play, we executed it. By the time we recognized it was open, we turned it over, but we got a back pick to the rim for a quick two, and we’ve got two shooters coming – Buddy and Harrison was getting ready to come to the ball too,” Walton said.
Fox took the blame for the off-target pass and said a lob to Metu was the first option.
“I didn’t think I had him on the lob, that’s the first option. But then he was there, and no one was coming so I just tried to throw it to where he was. Instead, he was coming out and for us it was just a miscommunication. I told him that’s my fault making that pass because if we get that wide-open layup then it could be a totally different game,” Fox said. “I think I saw it too late and then thinking that he would stay there, but he came out, that was on me on the pass.”
Walton, Fox and Davion Mitchell all spoke postgame, here are some comments about the third quarter collapse, the bench play in the second half that got the Kings back in the game and not having Tyrese Haliburton due to back tightness.
Third Quarter Issue
Luke Walton: “What I’m most disappointed in is wasted opportunities. We let Phoenix take us out of what we’re doing, and we gave in. So, at that point we might as well just not even play and sit here and have a practice with how we came out in that that third quarter. So, that’s what I’m most disappointed in was we’re trying to grow, we’re trying to push and get somewhere, and we gave in tonight.”
“That third quarter was disgusting, and we’ve got to take care of the ball.”
“They [Suns] didn’t make any adjustments. They guarded us the same way in Phoenix, it stalled us out in the first half in Phoenix and we found our rhythm in the second half. They guarded us that way in the first half tonight, we made a lot of shots that covered up for some of it, but we gave into it. It was like a soft mentality we started the third quarter with on both ends. That’s unacceptable for where we’re trying to get to. We know how they’re going to guard us and then we let them take us out of our rhythm with it. So, we have to be mentally and physically tougher than that.”
Davion Mitchell: “We just can’t get down like that, it’s kind of hard to come back from that, especially with a team like that – it’s a really good team.” “I think they had like 38 points off our turnovers so a lot of turnovers that we’ve got to do a better job at.”
De’Aaron Fox: “Just turnovers, not getting back, it was just really easy for them in the third quarter. I think that’s where we really lost the game right there.”
Bench Play In The Second Half
Luke Walton: “A lot of love to our guys who haven’t been playing that came in and got us back in that game, that’s a great learning lesson for our team is that these NBA games are never over.”
“We went to guys early, D[amian] Jones, Mezi [Chimezie Metu], Davion and they started playing with that fire that we’ve been playing with most of the season, and it was fun. Look, I knew the game wasn’t over so when I put De’Aaron and Harrison back in the message was to the group: cut it to 10.”
No Tyrese
Luke Walton: “[We missed him] a lot. Where Tyrese has been great for us more so this year, is when we do get down 6 or 8 points, where in previous years that’s kind of been like a tough turning point for us, he’s done a nice job of picking up the energy and the spirit when it’s not there. And we definitely missed that out there tonight. We’re hopeful to get him back soon, but it’s a back. We don’t know when he’s going to be back, and we can’t just wait for him. We need our guys that are out here ready to play to step up and keep us playing at a level that we’ve gotten accustomed to playing at this season.”
On if Haliburton could be out a long period of time: “No not from that. It’s a back, sometimes your back goes out and it goes for a day, sometimes it goes longer, but there’s no injury that we’re concerned about, you just can’t play until the back is loose.”
De’Aaron Fox: “That’s another guy who can shoot the ball, play-make for us. Not just offensively, defensively he’s a guy who comes up with steals, blocks, gets deflections, he’s a very active defender. So obviously, we miss him, but we had a chance to win, and we just didn’t win.”
A Few Takeaways
- There’s an argument to be made that on that final play that resulted in a turnover that Metu probably shouldn’t be getting the ball in that situation due to a lack of experience. However, it is also nice to see a guy get rewarded for helping lead the team back into the game. It was unfortunate to see a second game in a row end with rough execution though.
- Damian Jones was a +17 in his 12 minutes, finishing with 4 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block. Metu was a +15 in 19 minutes, finishing with 2 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.
- Interesting Walton didn’t even attempt to play Marvin Bagley or Tristan Thompson as part of the push in the second half to get back into the game.
- Based on several comments Walton has made about Haliburton, specifically wanting his personality imprinted more within the team’s style of play, and now with mentioning how he is the one who helps get the team back into games with his energy, the second-year guard is clearly shouldering more of a leadership role this season.
- As much as two-straight losses at home is unfortunate, the fact that the Kings continue to be in games down the stretch is still a positive sign.
The Kings take on the 3-7 Spurs tomorrow in San Antonio.
De’Aaron Fox: “That’s another guy who can shoot the ball, play-make for us. Not just offensively, defensively he’s a guy who comes up with steals, blocks, gets deflections, he’s a very active defender. So obviously, we miss him, but we had a chance to win, and we just didn’t win.”
Oh, ok
Is there a particular issue that you take with this comment? Seems like straight facts.
Is there any comment that you don’t rebut, Mr Know-It-all?
Ones that make sense, primarily.
Me breaking down the last five and 1/8th seasons of Luke Walton’s head coaching:
Exactly what I was about to say.
And Walton talking about soft mentality, giving in etc is bullshit. The team runs into brick walls because your offense isn’t an offense. If shots aren’t falling it’s fucked. I really don’t like Walton. He’s been saying the same bullshit for two years.
Walton absolutely threw Fox under the bus last night. He was too busy congratulating himself for getting the fourth-string center open under the basket.
I hope that this knocks off some of Walton’s shine, from Fox’s perspective.
Fox screwed up on that play. It should’ve been an easy basket.
Metu was more open than the arena seating.
Ha. And as stated previously, shows why Haliburton is more valuable to this team then Fox or anyone on O. Fox is not a passer/playmaker.
Kings are currently 29th in Attendance ! 72000 in 6 games !
Not that it makes a huge difference, but ESPN shows the Kings at 26th in average home attendance:
http://www.espn.com/nba/attendance
Divide 72000 by 6 ! ESPN did and got 15000
Here’s a link to another website with the same total and average attendance figures as reported by ESPN, but for 5 games, not 6:
http://www.insidehoops.com/attendance.shtml
As reflected in the box scores on the basketball-ref site, the discrepancy seems to result from no attendance figure being reported for the game against the Pelicans.
Definitely. I was just surprised that Walton all but said that Fox screwed up his perfect play call. It’s indisputable, but you generally don’t hear coaches just dump it on one guy, even when it’s the truth.
What’s amazing is that Luke was able to offer that analysis without needing to go back and watch the tape!
He is progressing as a head coach!
If you had a play work for the first time, you’d remember it forever.
Fu@@ Puke Walton. He’s a bad coach who i only wish was gone.
With Fox entering his 5th season, without any noticeable improvement, I believe there’s big time cause for concern.
Trade outlook
Fox would be a sell-low proposition right now. Not sure if you could get great value. Has he been exposed? I’m doubting there is a ton of things Monte could do with him.
Looking at Kings salary situation, the trade value for Harrison Barnes is at an all-time high. He’s playing the best ball of his career. Almost any good team would love to add him. Next year is the last year on his contract so a team would be getting a full season after this one. Does he fit the Kings timeline to invest another big contract in him after the age of 30?
Do you sell high?
I still think that Fox’s trade value is roughly what it was at the beginning of the season. By and large, NBA GMs are not day traders, and they do not manage their NBA rosters in the same manner that we would manage our fantasy teams. I think that this applies to Barnes as well – if he manages to sustain this level of play for another month perhaps that changes.
Davion Mitchell may have a little more value than he did when the season began, based on him being an NBA regular season unknown. But I doubt that the needle has moved much one way or the other for the balance of the roster.
The idea that two dozen teams would hang up on McNair if he put Fox on the table is mind-numbingly daft.
Might even take on Bagley if they get Fox with him.
What teams would want to take those two and over 40 million in salary ?
I bet the Cavs would happily give the Kings Kevin Love for those two, or Houston would give Wall, or Philly would give Harris, or Dallas would give ZInger.
The point is, plenty of teams would happily take on Bagley’s expiring deal if it came along with Fox.
GMs would answer phone, for sure. But he’s a sell low candidate right now.
Teams were chasing Barnes last season. He’s only upped his value.
The Kings should sell high on HB rn, but they won’t. The ultimate goal for this franchise is to make the play in or get the 8th seed.
Yeah, I don’t see how a ten game sample size moves the needle of a player that has been in the league for nine+ seasons. As I noted, if he can sustain this level of play for a solid month on top of what he has done so far, that changes the narrative. Otherwise, he is who he has always been in the eyes of NBA talent evaluators. This is not meant as a slight against Barnes. I think that his importance to this roster exceeds his market value. But I just don’t see NBA GMs suddenly changing their valuation of Harrison Barnes after a few early season games.
If that were remotely true Monte is at fault for not dealing him every day he can
Unfortunately at this point, after the start, hes a neutral non positive contract
Hes been hideous so far, and the past is why some teams might bite on his sizable contract at all
My guess is that GMs around the league have been well aware of Fox’s strengths and weaknesses, and that the start of this season hasn’t changed their thinking much, just exposed what they already knew. They will assume that Fox will recover toward the mean. The fact that Fox doesn’t defend, doesn’t shoot well from the perimeter and doesn’t distribute the ball at a high level aren’t secrets that suddenly became obvious during the start of this season.
That Kings coach is disgusting.
Why
His on court idiocy/lack of coaching and his alleged ofF court behavior.
Double disgusting.
If he was double disgusting he wouldn’t be employed as an NBA head coach, single disgusting on the other hand keeps you employed.
ha. That sounds correct.
grant is disgusting
I’m hot as balls. And yes, the carpet matches the drapes.
Why not?
There’s an interview with McNair in the Athletic today.
https://theathletic.com/2944581/2021/11/09/inside-the-kings-with-gm-monte-mcnair-his-journey-deaaron-foxs-struggles-very-special-davion-mitchell/
Can’t read it because groundskeeper salary, but the excerpt I saw doesn’t read well. It’s also likely I’m missing some context. The excerpt basically says they’re going to be patient and build through the draft. Certainly the fact that the Kings were 29th of 30 teams in offseason player movement bears that philosophy out. If building through the draft is actually the gist, I wonder what the front office staff actually does through the year.
Should you admire or admonish someone with the Kobe level confidence to believe they can build an NBA playoff team with #10 and later picks every year? Certainly they’ve hit rotation players and maybe better with the first two picks, but I’m not sure there has been anyone in any sport who hits in the draft every single year, especially with #10 picks.
This looks to me more like being passive than being patient, and I can’t say I’m happy about it. I’m good to roll with the results either way. The team is 5-6, which is better so far than most people would have predicted. If they improve ~5 games, it would validate the front office’s strategy, at least for for now. If they keep winning ~35 games, I think the fans are going to run out of patience real quick. There are probably a number of reasons for the poor attendance, and maybe the team isn’t at the top, but poor attendance could mean patience is running thinner than they realize. We’ll see.
I don’t think there is any reason to expect anything other than below average. Adjust your time and wallet appropriately. They’ll keep hoping for home runs later in the draft like so many other teams without superstars, just be careful building around ISO players because the game has moved on.
Building through the
draftdrought.🙁
Building through the draft –
Badge Legend