The stars were all aligned for the Sacramento Kings to piece together a solid win streak heading into today’s matchup against the Houston Rockets. They had beaten the Lakers and had already taken care of the Rockets a few nights ago after big performances from De’Aaron Fox, Marvin Bagley III, and Tyrese Haliburton. All that stood between them and a three-game win streak was to tackle the 15th seeded Rockets once again. And then Marvin Bagley III went out with shoulder soreness. And then Tyrese Haliburton entered health and safety protocols. And then, as a result, my life was ruined. So the stars became less aligned before tip-off, but the Kings still had the odds in their favor against the worst team in the West. Let’s see how they did:
Quick Stats
Outcome: Kings lose, 118-112
Sacramento Kings: 112 pts, 45.1% fg, 31.6% 3 pt, 75.0% ft, 26 ast, 37 reb, 12 to
Houston Rockets: 118 pts, 53.9% fg, 40.0% 3 pt, 83.3% ft, 22 ast, 47 reb, 23 to
Win streaks are overrated anyways, right? That’s what I’ll keep telling myself. The Kings got out to another rough start but found their way back to make this a game worth stressing over. They traded baskets and lead changes with the Rockets down the stretch of the second half, but ultimately fell short in final possessions as they failed to get defensive stops.
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
The Good
- Transition Play: Things looked bleak to start as the Rockets jumped out to a 9-0 lead to start the game. It took the Kings over three minutes to score and over seven minutes to crack double digits. Without Tyrese Haliburton, the offense looked disjointed and lacked the connective synergy he brings by getting all of his teammates involved. The Kings eventually brought things back down to the basics and started on the defensive end. They ended up forcing 23 total turnovers and converting these into 34 points. Davion Mitchell, Terence Davis, and Buddy Hield led the charge by grabbing four steals each and pushing the ball to capitalize with the Rockets on their heels.
The BAd
- Shot Distribution: Without Tyrese Haliburton, and after De’Aaron Fox was ejected with eight minutes remaining in the final period for a questionable soft and overreactive Flagrant 2 call, it could be expected to see a skewed shot distribution for this team. Fox left with 14 points on 6-12 from the field, and it is expected that he would have gotten a handful of additional looks had he been able to play in the final minutes. Buddy Hield took advantage of the opportunity and finished 9-16 from the field, including 5-9 from 3-point land, and totaled 27 points. While Buddy was able to turn these extra attempts into productive points, it was disappointing to see Harrison Barnes fail to exude the same confidence. Although he was a perfect 7-7 from the line, Barnes finished with just 12 points on 2-7 from the field. Meanwhile, Chimezie Metu and Terence Davis had no problem finding themselves 14 attempts each. Credit is due to Davis for converting these into 17 points, but overall, the Kings needed Harrison Barnes to be more demonstrative in taking over the offense.
The Ugly
- Defending the Distance: The Rockets got up 40 3-point attempts and my memory recalls about 39.5 of them were wide open. Luckily for the Kings, the Rockets started out cold, shooting 3-13 from deep. Had they found their groove earlier, this game could have been well out of reach very early. Regardless, the Rockets were still able to connect on 16 total 3-point attempts, with five coming from Kevin Porter Jr. and four from Garrison Mathews.
The King of Kings
Davion Mitchell provided numerous sparks for the Kings tonight to keep them fighting back. He provided defensive pressure and continued to show the consistency of his left-handed attack at the rim. Mitchell finished with 16 points and a career-high seven assists to go along with four steals.
Up Next
Wednesday, January 19th vs. Detroit Pistons – 7:00 P.M. (PT)
Blast off – three in a r…
Your Sacramento Kings are ready for blasting off!
Yes! Lose lose and lose some more. The worst thing for this team are win streaks. Vivek will point to them as more reason they are only a tweak away.
And of course Bags has injury. It’s inevitable. Bags, like Kings, are fatally flawed. He can’t play D, shoot 3 amd gets injured. That’s not a player who will/can start for a playoff/winning team. And Kings as constituted are fatally flawed.
So lose and don’t get distracted by a 1/2 game w Bags putting up points or a game where Fox hits his 3s or a win streak.
It’s all bullshit. The only way out is massive change which may only come with massive losing.
Oh, and why rebuild and do something like give Davion more time on floor to develop? Morons
Who/why the F was my comment flagged?
I think Vivek is onto you
Ha. Or Aneel. Maybe Marina?
Marvin’s Daddy
Yep, we need the losses. The more embarrassing, the better. The idiots running this franchise need to be embarrassed so badly they’ll be ashamed to be seen in public.
Is “UnFun” a word?
because this team is that
If it’s not, then this team has made it one
I really hope Monte McNair has the power to break this thing apart. That’s the big picture part. I suspect he does.
Man, that Flagrant 2 on Fox was bullshit. Really the officiating was heavily tilted in the Rockets favor all game. And there were a really high number of questionable calls.
Terence Davis had a tale of two halves. And if you look at the boxscore, you’ll notice which half was the bad one. His 2nd half outside of that And1 in the open court was horrendous.
Chimezie Metu needs to shoot less shots.
Damion Jones and Richaun Holmes were non factors. Alex Len wasn’t much better.
Davion had a very good game, and at least shows signs that he can figure it out on the offensive end.
Buddy had his best game since the Spurs W in December.
The Kings missed Marvin Bagley both on the boards and defending Christian Wood. Huh?
Another frustrating loss for a frustrating team in a frustrating season. And so it goes, detective lieutenant.
If you are a season ticket holder just look on the positive side ! Kings have played 27 home games ( several more than any other western team ) so just 14 more to endure !😂
I would be pissed if i was a season ticket holder
Or in England-
You’d have to be pissed to be a season ticket holder.
Well at this point, you need to be pissed to watch the kangZ game. Just make sure you don’t puke on the floor 🤮
Why not?
A. The team craps all over the floor itself;
B. The puke game will probably go down as one of the top 10 Kings moments of this season.
well in that case….how cheap are court side seats now? Lol
you really meant this
I am and I am.
Started the sell off though. There are some “other team” fans that can now get some good tickets: LAL, Celts, duds and NYK. Can’t give away the bad team tickets though.
I can’t believe Fox was ejected for that play, that was a clean block. There were countless harder fouls than that in the same game and I don’t think that that was even a foul. The follow through on the elbow came after knocking the ball out of his hands.
I think it was a Flagrant 1. There was a pretty clear wind up and contact was made above the neck. Black and white to me. I’m just not sure how they got to Flagrant 2.
If that’s the case, you can’t swing at anything then like Fox did. Fox MADE a play on the ball. But his hand bounced off the ball. It was clearly a foul, but not a flagrant IMO. The windup is irrelevant because he made a play on the ball. But after that, Matthews goes sideways and lands on his back. If he doesn’t, I don’t even think they review it.
It was the reaction to Matthews being on the ground that got Fox that flagrant, not the play itself IMO. They justified the decision by saying Fox’s windup is what caused Matthews to land on the ground like that.
Will never agree on that being a F1 let alone a F2. But it is what it is. The NBA is a non-contact contact league now.
Basketball is a non contact sport by definition. If Fox did not windup he would not have been tagged with the F2. He has not earned his bones.
I’m with you. The wind up pretty much guaranteed it was going to be a flagrant 1. Mark Jones said he thought the wind up was because Fox was anticipating a different type of shot but I don’t know about that. The flagrant 2 came out of nowhere.
McNair two days ago: “…I see talents here…..playoff remains our goal…bottom out is not an option…”
Let that sink in kings fans because we clearly are gonna ride this dumb strategy out for as long as Vivek owns this team.
Did he say that? Where ?
According to a tweet from CarmichaelKnave, he did say that.
Two home games against worst team in the West and split ! Seems to summarize the talent potential !
Summary: garbage team cannot close out another garbage team with 20+ turnovers…..but yes, definitely referees were at fault /s
That’s because, we had a better team 2 days ago….. GOT ‘EM!!!
Great! We get to watch this team play its heart out to battle for the spot below the play-in tournament cutoff.
I see some talent there- C. Wood and J. Green etc.
Not sure what there is to say that hasn’t been said already. No one in their right mind would think this team has a snowball’s chance in hell of making the playoffs. Unfortunately, this team isn’t run by people in their right minds.
Why do you have to torture us with their faces Dutchman? I mean, that’s just mean man. That’s just mean.
So you can thank them for saving the franchise when you see them walking down the street.
. This is true. I don’t think anyone in the front office is left handed.
Well folks, it looks like us fans were not sufficiently positive tonight to will the Kings to victory. Let’s be more supportive next time.
seems Like the SNL skit was spot on.
I think they missed a lot of opportunities to take shots at this team’s endless ineptitude. There definitely was room for some jokes about the fan team being better than the real team, among others.
Clearly the SNL writers have never watched an actual Kings game.
Can’t really say I blame them. I sometimes wonder why I do.
We all do.
I just hope it embarrassed Vivek.
All I know is Mitchell needs more playing time.
and also Queta.
We don’t have time to try to develop promising rookies. We’re chasing a playoff spot!
Play in tournament you meant?
ummmm… hell yeah!! Play in, that is the playoffs!! No better way to prove how great this front office is then by barely making the play in. I’m so excited!!!
trying to be funny with that comment. Instead, I feel sad.
Thank you!!!
Emphasis was on the sarcasm font
there is one spot#10 that might be open. Never, ever catch LAC or LAL or even T wolves. Never.
Play-in is not playoffs. Just a way for Minnesota to get another home game
I was puzzled that Queta didn’t get any playing time. Gentry was subbing players in to see if he could change things up and Queta played well in the prior Rockets game.
Is Jerami Grant and Saddiq Bey for Fox a trade that both teams are okay with? I feel like it helps us out more so maybe we have to add to it? Take Olynyk salary and throw in Bagley and Jones?
Hali, Davion
Buddy, Davis
Barnes, Bey
Grant, Metu
Holmes, Olynyk/Len
Probably the Kings said NO.
As McNair face Bagley <=> Bey is a fair trade.
Which means Fox for one Grant and one Bagley.
I doubt the FO said yes, at least throw in or more 1st round pick.
I’d hope after being obviously rebuffed that he doesn’t still think Bagley and Bey are of the same value haha
Pistons say no ! Their last two lottery picks were guards ( Killian Hayes and Cade Cunningham ) !
Cade is point forward, Fox is fine pairing with that…I’d think they don’t let Hayes prevent them from getting Fox, maybe so though
I think the Pistons would have to include a 1st round pick in that deal to make it work from Sac’s end, and even then it might not be enough.
To be honest, it feels like a change for change’s sake type of move rather than an actual needle mover type of trade. Which is what this team really needs at this point IMO.
I’d highly disagree that it’s change for change’s sake, that to me is fox for another guard, this is Fox for a really solid wing and another young wing that is playing really well and tons of upside.
The photo you chose for this recap, is just…perfection. Well done Mirann (as always)
If this team is going to suck for the next 10 years anyways, throw all picks at this
Wouldn’t it be funny if monte goes all in on Simmons, philly forces him to take the Harris contract, we get 70 million/year tied up in 2 players (that haven’t done much for philly – this season) and still miss the play-in????????? Classic kangZ
As opposed to 70 million tied up in Barnes, Heild, and Fox that have done squat towards playoffs !
we can’t change Kangz destiny but we can change the viewing experience 😃
The 76ers seem to realiize they are NOT getting a player off their Top 25 for Simmons. And they also have to realize the East is wide open and Embiid is playing the best basketball of his career, so why not try to make a legitimate title run with a few refining moves before the deadline?
Since the former is not going to happen, Beal or Lillard to PHI, their thinking goes, let’s at least unload Harris and the 76M hes owed (37.6 + 39.2) after this season, then we will use the space to attract a top free agent. (Harden and Beal have player options this summer).
This is a postive development for us. Morey has to walk a fine line in terms of competing now, going for the Chip, respecting the prime of Embiid, along with a legitimate plan to get one more superstar to go with him.
How many teams are willing to absorb Harris and Simmons into their cap (35 +33), and have the matching salary to send out, and include good to great assets in return? Morey is delusional to insist teams take Harris with Simmons AND also give him top flight assets. No, man, you don’t get both.
Ben and Tobias add up to 69 million in salary this year. HB, Buddy, Marvin and TT add up to 64 million Boom! Right there, this trade works. Then it is a matter of deciding on sweetners if any. PHI gets two expirings, and if they want to keep Buddy or flip him to LAL for THT and Dunn, if LAL is desperate enough to do this, they can. HB would seem a perfect fit as cheaper version of Harris. I presume PHI would love to have HB and he would thrive there.
PHI is going to want Haliburton. Haliburton value is soaring because he has shown he can make shots off the bounce. This is the revelation to his game. He’s not just a spot shooter from deep with a floater. He is attacking closeouts and creating separation. His accuracy from deep is proving not to be a rookie season fluke. It is easy to project him as 18 PPG 10 APG (Top 5 in the NBA) and 2 SPG (Top 10 in the NBA) on high effeciency.
If you’re Morey it is not hard to talk yourself into Ty as consolation in lieu of not landing a guy off your Top 25 List, though you have a plan to do so this summer. Ty cannot defend like Simmons or rebound, but Ty is the better facilitator and shooter. He loves the moment instead of shrinking from it. Ty has a big city personality. I think Davion would be great for PHI too but he does not have the seasoning yet to be part of a title run.
Just because Ty would be nice there, so much upside yet very good now, devastating pick and roll with Embiid, easy fit aside Maxey, does not mean we should concede to include him. In fact I would not do it! It would not surprise me if this is the state of the negotiations. HB is due 18M after this season Harris is due 76M after this season. That is net difference of 58M dollars! And you want us to throw in Ty too, just so we can add a player to our team with ‘mental health issues’ and our playoff chances fading fast?
Simmons is going to take 3-4 weeks to regain his rhythm and comfort, if not longer. Not to mention we have a interim booze hounding coach not skilled at talent assimilation. He will be overwhelmed and confused, just like when he surveys his liquor cabinet after another humiliating defeat, and has so many high proof bottle choices and so few brain cells with with which to choose.
Fox is not seriously part of these trade talks in my view. Fox for Simmons is a nonstarter.
Boom! There it is right there. I have been saying for weeks Fox’s best position is SG, offensively and defensively, and this statement helps to confirm that. Fox can and should move over to make room for Davion, Ty sliding to the 3, only inhibited by a lousy myopic minded coach. This comment from Fox likely reflects the perception of him is by our Front Office too, communicated in no uncertain terms, and reflects how we are likely to proceed at the deadline.
Fox is not going to be a 20/10 player in the league. He is going to be a 25/5 player. Think of Fox like Harden, a pseudo PG, initiating from top of the key. or from the side angle, looking to attack, but looking to score more than pass. Fox does not have the step back like Harden, of course, but Harden does not have speed or elevation in traffic of Fox. Both are adept at getting to the line when the refs do not show the disrespect to our franchise player.
If you see Fox as a scorer, fundamentally, aligned with his talent and evolution as a player, not a primary orchestrator of offense, it changes everything.
Fox and Simmons ARE a complementary fit. This can work. So can Fox and Ty if a trade does not materialize. Again, scorer and facilitator. Simmons and Ty are NOT complementary. In this case you have two pass first facilitators, even with Ty’s burgeoning offense.
Trading Fox for Simmons straight up is NOT happening for this reason (and others).
Even if you could work out parameters you would have awkward fit with Ty and Simmons trying to set up teammates. Too many creators not enough finishers. If Fox were to be on the move, conceptually, part of a Simmon trade, it would have to be a three team version. You would need to bring back a primary scorer to replace Fox. You would need Jalen Brown or Ingram, with Simmons going to NOP or BOS, and I don’t envision this happening.
The lineup I want to see is Davion Fox and Ty as starters regardless of what you do with your bigs. Davion Fox and Simmons would be better and special defensively, perfect in fact. Then you could roll with Harris and Queta at 4 and 5, under new coach who would recognize what Queta can do. Just like Morey could talk himself into Ty as a consolation, the Kings could talk themselves into a dramatic makeover, the quantum shakeup weve been waiting for, without Ty (sadly).
My main point is this could be sticking point in the negotiations with front offices engaged in a game of staredown and chicken. McGenius could hold firm and say “NO!”, you are not getting Ty (or pick from us) because I do not think any other suitors can offer to you more than we are, willingness to take Harris, and Morey will say “NO!,” you are not getting an All-NBA defender, warts and all, without giving me something back, more than HB and Buddy, that I can sell to my fan base. “Ty or NO deal!”
Buddy and Marvin off the team is addition by subtraction, regardless of their recent uptick. They are losers, feasting on lightweights about to wilt when competition gets real. Setting aside their salaries, Harris in place of HB is pretty good for us, a wash or slight upgrade. So then you add Simmons to this, absent of salary considerations, cost-free relative to talent expenditure. This is the beauty of it if we can pull it off!
Maybe this is a pipe dream and Morey remains stubborn and delusional. Or he cedes with the knowing he can likely get Beal or Harden this summer as an UFA. Or we get desperate (unlikely) and generous and include Ty to seal the deal or throw in a pick. You could reluctantly send Halibuton to PHI, then put Fox and Simmons “on ice”. Simmons needs more time to get his “head right” and Fox comes down with a phantom injury, the infamous back strain.
You turn over the team to Davion, Queta and Louie King and let the losses pile up. You tank to add a Top 5 pick to this group, a talent to replace the talent loss in Ty. You don’t have a real coach anyway, no intention of him returning, so prepare the next season the best way you know how. This course of action all becomes possible because of our willingess to take on Harris’s 76 million with outgoing salary to match. This is our edge and I pray we exploit it.
You are nothing if not original K4E.
Also, Philly would have to likely throw in Isaiah Joe or Paul Reed to make the roster requirements work.
Actually both Joe and Reed would have to be throw in to make that deal work. Philly has a 15 man roster, as does Sac, so it would need to be a 4 for 4 trade if the Kings are trading Hield, Barnes, Bagley and Thompson for Simmons and Harris.
Doable, but not by any means that simple to do especially with health and safety protocols constantly rearing their ugly head.
That said, I think there are reasons to both do a deal, and not do a deal. But I don’t see a 4 or 5 person trade necessarily happening during the season. Possible, but just doesn’t seem very likely.
Sorry, but if you build a team with the core of Fox, Simmons, Mitchell, and Harris, teams are just pack the paint, go under every screen, and dare the Kings to shoot. They would be the worst shooting team in basketball. If the Kings were in fact trying to land Simmons, you’d want shooters and floor spreaders, just like Hali, Buddy, and/or Barnes, around him.
It would also be a team built on defense, so you’d want Mitchell and Hali (for his off ball D anyway). Harris has been a good shooter for his career.
I definitely believe this has been his thinking all-along, and a Harden/Embiid pairing would be quite a thing to behold. Fans don’t like to hear “We’ll wait all year if we have to”, but there is a damn good reason for him to do just that. I can’t think of a better player to pair with Embiid than Harden.
Tank options: 4 teams with significant head start. and, if finish 5th, someone will jump. Hence, unless lose all games to catch the top 4, a 6th pick is most-best option. I think that was Giddy last year. Will not move needle.
One of the top 2 might. But then again we had a #2 previously and…………………….
Aren’t you the guy that Franz Wagner would be a bad NBA player?
Yes he is, was very adamant about it too
He’s very adamant about everything. I’m guessing he’s also never admitted to a mistake, though I can never get more than a paragraph or two in before I quit, so it’s entirely possible a tree fell in the forest and it didn’t make a sound.
You’re just a lazy no good groundskeeper Spackler. I mean, why don’t you want to read 3000 words of entertainment? 😊
We got a chance to win the game…but I just don’t understand the below play.
Why Mitchell goes under the screen, but not fight through the screen like what he usual does ?
and that’s leave KPJ hit a open 3….
It may have been the game plan to let KPJ shoot from distance. He’s not very good from 3 and is better at getting to the rim. He’s much like Fox in that way. It looks like Metu also sagged off considerably to allow both Mitchel to go under the screen and to deny KPJ path to the rim.
Porter was 1-7 from 3 Friday night, FWIW.
How did the Kings lose to the Rockets?
Shot distribution have been skewed to the Kings g-leaguers. The Kings are unwatchable. Waive all of ’em g-leaguers, especially Metu, Davis, Hield, and Bagley. Harrison Barnes only attempted 7 shots, while these dumb g-leaguers thinks they are better.
are you being serious when you say Hield is a G-Leaguer?
No, it’s just my hatred of him doing nothing but chucking threes and we traded Cousins for him. He was the three point champion at one point, but seriously! I hate him.
Indiana gets – Fox, Robert Williams, Boston 2022 first round pick, Kings 2022 first round pick, Kings 2023 second round pick.
Houston gets – Nesmith, Holmes, Bagley, Langford, Indiana first round pick 2022, Boston 2023 first, Kings 2022 second round pick, Thompson
Boston gets – Buddy, Barnes, Myles Turner, Harkless
Kings get – Wood, LaVert, Sabonis, Horford, Pritchard, Gordon
Beyond words…………….
I am not even angry anymore. Other teams are missing 1-5 starters and the Kings still lose, so not having the backcourt is flimsy.
Kings might get play-in by default, but they do not deserve that.
The draft will not solve this-
FA will not solve this
Trades won’t solve this-
Maybe 41 years like the Bengals.
Actually, drafting Burrow and Chase did solve that. And Paul/Mike Brown are just as bad as Vivek. Doesn’t mean Vivek will get that lucky, though. Also, I might be dead in 41 years.
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