The Sacramento Kings came into tonight’s matchup having won 4 straight games and 7 of their last nine. The team was riding high following a nationally televised destruction of the Brooklyn Nets. Facing a struggling and young Spurs team missing leading scorer Keldon Johnson, it was the making of a classic trap game. Let’s see how the Kings did.
Quick Stats
Outcome: Kings win, 130-112
Sacramento Kings: 130 pts, 57.8% fg, 40.0% 3 pt, 91.7% ft, 28 ast, 37 reb, 12 to
San Antonio Spurs: 112 pts, 54.8% fg, 42.3% 3pt, 75.0% ft, 29 ast, 32 reb, 18 to
The Kings came out with a fire and established an early lead. The Spurs hung around most of the game thanks to some red-hot three point shooting and some favorable bounces and whistles. And yet the Kings never really felt like they were in trouble. The Spurs’ shooting cooled late in the game, the Kings dialed up the defensive intensity, and the Kings took care of business for their fifth straight win.
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
THE GOOD
- Late-Game Execution: As mentioned above, the Kings really turned up the intensity late in the game and removed any doubt that they were the superior team. It was a little frustrating earlier in the game when the Kings execution wasn’t on point, and it was a relief to see the Kings emphatically put the game away.
- The Bench: The Kings got a whopping 58 points from their bench. Malik Monk had 26 points and at times seemed to be the only one making shots. Trey Lyles had 14 in a revenge game against his former team. Chimezie Metu added 10 points and some versatile defense. And while Davion Mitchell’s stat line won’t jump off the page, his late game defense was giving the Spurs fits and led to several huge turnovers.
THE BAD
- The middle quarters: Although it didn’t come back to haunt them, it was really frustrating seeing the Kings allow the Spurs to hang around and remain in the game. After a really strong first quarter, the Kings settled into bad looks, sloppy execution, and lackluster defense.
THE UGLY
- Mike Brown’s Challenge: Mike Brown challenged a foul called on Sabonis against Jeremy Sochan (who had just thrown down a vicious dunk on Domas). It was very clearly a foul, with Sabonis hitting Sochan square in the face. Again, it didn’t end up hurting the Kings in the long run, but it was a baffling use of the team’s challenge.
The King of Kings
It couldn’t be anyone but De’Aaron Fox. Fox led the way with a team-high 28 points on 11-15 shooting. He also added 8 assists, 3 rebounds, a steal, and 0 turnovers. Fox was an incredible +36 in 32 minutes of action. It’s been a blast watching Fox thrive this season, and I can’t remember the last time he looked this happy playing basketball. He’s out here laughing and joking and hugging everybody as he casually rips the hearts out of his opponents’ chests. It’s lovely.
Up Next
Sunday, November 20th vs Detroit Pistons, 3:00 PM PT
For the sake of old shitty times, now we can tune up in Pistons game and root for Bagley against the Clippers
OK Beamer.
Spurs Dance!
.
Made me laugh but I have a hard time giving it a thumbs up!
Those aren’t thumbs!
A must-watch Thanksgiving classic this week.
Inappropriate Rik yet I can’t stop watching
The Kings last six game winning streak was in 2004-5.
I was in 8th grade at that time….
Kevin Martin was a rookie.
9th grade for me. I have 2 kids now…
Senior year for me. 3 kids now.
45 lbs ago for me.
90 lbs ago. I was like 135 in my freshman year.
9th Grade. In the interim, I have gotten an Eagle Scout award, served a 2 year LDS mission, went to college, went to graduate school gotten married, had 4 kids and lived in four different states.
So. It’s been a minute.
Love it
11th grade for me. 🥹🥹
I was a Senior in HS. Damn. No wonder I feel so freakin happy this week. It’s been a LONG time.
My son was was 11. The Mike Bibby jersey I’d bought him in 1995 which was originally over his shoes was now knee length.
You were a fan of Bibby’s when he was at Shadow Mountain High?
Jeezus. I was working for Raley’s and only a few years out of the Navy at that time. Damn, that was a long time ago.
I was working for Raleys too! 416 watt and Marconi holla 🙂
I was at College Greens and then at Mack Rd the last year or so. Working at the Mack store was an educational experience on a lot of levels.
Hey! That’s the Raley’s I grew up on. Lived on Mack Rd from ’85-’95. Used to work at the Yogurt Delite a few doors down in the early 90’s.
Thank You for Your Service!!
I was old then.
But I’m older now. So there is that.
Yes, you’re apparently already fossilized.
I’m there with you… I had been out of HS 18 years, 13 years out of college!
One year later I retired after teaching 40 years and coaching basketball 47 years. Doesn’t seem that long ago.
I was 62-3, still 9 years from retiring from teaching. However, I was only a bad playground basketball player, never played after being in a low-level post office league at 41, never coached, hence don’t see or understand the game as well as 90% of the people here.
Now to take a deep breath
I thought Pop had a smart defensive game plan to counter the Kings offense, and the Spurs executed it pretty well, and they still dropped 130 on them. Sheesh.
Game ball to Davion. His ability to affect the game is incredible.
They really took Domas out of all his stuff, and frankly the Kings adjusted a lot better than I’m accustomed to. That Fox, Monk, Mitchell trio was devastating and they were the 3 best players for the Kings tonight.
And it’s not like Domas, Barnes, or even Metu or Davis stunk up the joint necessarily. The versatility this group has is….something. I’m not accustomed to saying that about this team.
It is an excellent sign to not play your best and still perform and win.
Just texted my son (see above) the same thing
I said the other day the Mavs have basically one weapon.Luka. Put Davion, even as small as he is, on the whole game and watch Luka go nuts on frustration.
Right. Plus, the roster is loaded with defense-minded players. Defense was the calling card on draft night for Tre Jones, Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan, and others. Poeltl is a good defender also. Doesn’t Poppovich have total control over player personnel decisions? I digress.
And how nice is it to have Davion on the roster. 180 degree turnaround. he totally flipped the script.
He’s Pop and he has a lot of input. But RC Buford is the actual GM there. They are the best small market tandem of GM and HC in the history of the NBA IMO. Tim Duncan has a lot to do with it, but there were a lot of other amazing moves they made besides getting lucky drafting Timmy.
Yeeaaahhh!
The Nets’ win was more fun, but this win was more impressive and will serve the team much better in the long run.
Why?
They came out as I expected them to – full of (too much) confidence, playing too fast and too loose, and near the end of the third quarter, saw where that was leading them.
A well-coached, confident group settled down, re-focused, pulled themselves together, clamped down, and did what they had to do, in order to win a game they knew they were supposed to win.
That takes maturity, cohesion, and a willingness to see situations as they actually are. Those are all traits of a talented team that is quickly figuring out how to win and win consistently in this league.
How many games have we won in a row, Pop!?
Coming into this game we had won Seven of Nine!
I used to have a big crush on Seven of Nine. She could assimilate me any time.
That’s just weird man
YOU’RE WEIRD!!
*cries*
Haha this is great.
https://twitter.com/WorldWideWob/status/1593472072759607296
The same guy did a lord of the rings video. You can see it on NBC sports California app in the newest article
Even when the Spurs made a run to get in striking distance, it just didn’t feel like much of a threat. I can’t think of a time I’ve felt that way being a Kings fan. This teams potential is uncapped.
I love this team so frickin much
Can we be 1st in the west by Thanksgiving?
We’re only 1.5 games out of first place in the West!
The defensive energy at the end of the 3rd came from Davion and led to the run that good teams make against inferior competition. The stat line won’t show it, but his pressure defense and the vocal leadership imploring his teammates to do the same was the difference in this game. And it was a huge difference.
The confidence that Fox exhibited in the post game interview was surreal. Acting like they should win is a new feeling in kings land.
Beat Detroit, then claw for whatever victories you can on a tough road trip. This is fun.
Totally, completely agree.
There is a new, justified confidence with the whole team. Feels strange, I’m not used to it.
Fox has so much swagger this year. So awesome to see that 180 from depressed, hopeless Fox late last season.
The band-aid, the beam, Lithuanian lasagna – I love these grassroots shenanigans that fans will always look back on fondly. Stuff that happens organically.
Reminds me of rally pandas and red thongs; Sacramento style. Fun to be in on it!
Kings win again!
Davion was an unstoppable force on the defensive end! Davion the Defender!
Fox controlled the game from the tip!
Monk caused mayhem all game long!
Even Barnes got in on the action!
Let’s go for 6 in a row on Sunday!
LIGHT THE BEAM!!
Damn, for a second I thought you WEREtherealJLV.
Really encouraging to see the Kings simply turn it up in the fourth quarter. This game had the feel of a classic L against a weaker team: jump out to a lead early, but let them hang around and hang around, with the Kings eventually losing. I really believe they would’ve lost this game in prior years. It shows the degree of maturity and professionalism around this team compared to previous iterations. Not a high bar of course, but still encouraging. Go Kings!
Please sirs may I have more
KANGZ!
Beautiful play
It’s so weird seeing the Kings be the team that’s doing this after all these years. I said it above but what we’re witnessing right now is some crazy early 2010’s Spurs stuff on offense.
Focus your eyes on just the Spurs in this sequence, and it looks like something out of a Benny Hill sketch. 🤣
Wait….is anyone here old enough to remember Benny Hill? No? Oh God…I’ll show myself out….
Best possession of the year
Like they were just clicking the pass button or something. SO SICK
Latest in the season the Kings have been over .500 in a season, by year, since 2005.
’23 – Current
’22 – Game 9, Nov 5.
’21 – Game 23 (weird year, this year that would be Dec 7)
’20 – Never the whole year.
’19 -Game 55, March 9
’18 – Never the whole year.
’17 – Game 3, Oct 29
’16 – Never the whole year.
’15 – Game 21, Dec 8
’14 – Game 1, Oct 30
’13 – Never the whole year.
’12 – Game 1, (Lockout year, so Dec, but actually like Oct)
’11 – Game 5, Nov 3
’10 – Never the whole year (but were 9-9 at one point!)
’09 – Never the whole year
’08 – Never the whole year
’07 – Game 15, Dec 2
’06 – Never the whole year (… until it happened on game 63, March 12 and we finished over 6 games over .500!)
’05 – Won 50 games.
So. We’re already better than all but three years in the drought!
Thanks for looking this up!
This is by far the best offensive team the Kings have had in almost 20 years. What’s wild is that none of it feels flukey. The ball movement is next level and they have so many guys who can shoot. This feels a little like the early 2010’s Spurs in the way they play. Obviously they won’t be that level of awesome but we’re not just seeing good offense. This is all world league destroying offense. Mike Brown always got killed for being too ridged with his offensive schemes in his previous gigs but he seems to have learned something from his time in Golden State.
I will be totally honest, I didn’t think Fox had this in him. He played an almost flawless game tonight. Never rushed, made every shot look easy and then defended his ass off in the 4th quarter. He is playing out of his mind right now.
After so many years of garbage this actually does feel different for the first time I can remember.
Can Fox contend for MIP?
If this continues then yes I think so. I will say, SGA has been bonkers as well this year so that could be tough to overcome.
It would probably end up to whoever has the better team record if the stats persist.
At this point I’m rooting for Fox to be considered a lock for an All-NBA team…but that is a very, very tough road to hoe. Winning MIP is whatever to me. But I don’t like awards either.
100% this.
Yeah I think that’s the key. The style of play and effort are replicable every night.
I don’t remember any Kings team ever, during this 16 year streak, being in the top 5 in offensive eFG% OR ORtg in the entire NBA. It just felt like they were on a hot streak and were going to come back down to Earth. (I actually found last season to be disappointing even if I understand in context why the FO would tank the season to improve the team over the longer term.)
This group does not feel like it’s on a hot streak, and tbh, the only time it did was the game against Brooklyn where Terence Davis went on a major league heater. Which, as we know, he’s a streaky guy and picked the perfect time to do that.
Look at last night. Sabonis was taken out of the game as the hub of the offense by Poeltl. Huerter made 1 3. Davis barely played in the 2nd half. Keegan Murray was out period. And the Kings won by 18 points because not only do they have depth, it’s quality depth that allows them to win when opponents take things away. They have counters starting with Fox, Monk, and Mitchell. This is the definition of a good team. You can’t just win one way in the NBA, you have to be able to play multiple styles. This team scores in the halfcourt and open court both.
Yeah, I’m hyped. Sue me. 🙂
Also: Fox with a casual +36 tonight 😐
By my unofficial count, Davion Mitchell forced SEVEN TURNOVERS tonight. That’s just… holy crap. On the last moving screen I told my wife it was coming and then happened 3 seconds later. The box score doesn’t reflect it but he was insane tonight.
Mitchell is looking to be like our version of Marcus Smart but with better 1 on 1 defensive potential.
I thought it was closer to 10. And if you count the weird out-of bounds call when the Spurs guy dribbled out at half court, maybe over 10.
Hot takes:
First – hats off to Coach Brown. He cleaned up when things got messy and applied the right kind of pressure at the right times. Bravo!
Davion was a beast on D. Vassal had a career night – the kid is good – but he will remember #15. Tre Jones as well. Also, easy to like Sochan. That kid has moxie.
Monk carried the O. His scoring and some playmaking were key. He has to be a top 6th man contender at this point. This led the way for Fox to exert his will, which he did with a touch of chalance (not quote nonchalant). And the bigs – Domas, Barnes, Lyles, Metu were contributors as well. Even Huerter, who didn’t shoot well had 6 assists. Kings with 28 assists for the night. And Hey – 22/24 from the line (Spurs shot only 12) is a big bonus (+13).
Nice team win.
You don’t mess with the Sochan!
Poppovich is utilizing him well. Not taking many 3’s this year, and going to his mid-range game. He had a couple of buckets in the 4th when the game was intense. Did they design plays to try to get Sochan to post up Mitchell? And was that a strategy to try to fool the Kings to take him off the court?
Has anyone else noticed that Sochan with his hair color reminds them of Rodman in his San Antonio days before he joined the Bulls? Has made me double take the last couple times I’ve watched the Spurs.
He changes his hair color quite a bit, actually. He did it at Baylor as well.
I thought it was Pete Davidson suiting up for a split second.
Man, I don’t know where to begin.
I don’t really care for in game +/- because there’s so much noise…but when a guy has a +36, the next highest guy has +19 and the next highest guy after that has a +10, it might be said that the guy with the +36 was by a very large considerable margin the best player on the floor. Before the season, I would have said you probably would see Domantas Sabonis with a line like that. And I just described De’Aaron Fox’s impact on the game tonight. Chimezie Metu had a +19 and Malik Monk had the +10. Absurd is the word. Fox had 8 assists and no turnover’s, hit all his FT’s and made 2 of his 3 point attempts. He now has a 119 ORtg and a 111.8 DRtg on the season.
Speaking of Monk, he was exceptional. And led the team in shot attempts, not De’Aaron Fox. The value of Malik Monk is staring to show through. Especially on a night where Kevin Huerter wasn’t that good.
Davion Mitchell’s defense was spectacular. He took charges, forced guys out of bounds, defended Jeremy Sochan (LOL), and hell he even forced the action in an open court sequence that put the Kings up 82-80 with 1:48 to play in the 3rd qtr. That was not an easy layup but he found a way to finish in the lane. Davion earned his 27 min’s tonight with his defensive play alone and his offense was more than enough to keep him on the floor. I’m hoping to see more nights like tonight from Davion. Not the best player on the floor necessarily, but I loved seeing how he could impact the game without scoring. The Kings need guys who do that.
Overall I thought the Spurs did a great job of taking Sabonis high post action out of the game, and it really hurt the Kings in terms of ball movement for long stretches. There was a ton of standing around. But it also took a ton of physical play and fouling to do so, and Sabonis and Barnes combined for 15 FT’s of the Kings 24 total. And that’s where the main difference in the game came from. The Kings were +13 on the FT line by itself in a game they won by 18 points.
Does this mean the Kings should write playoff tickets? No, probably not quite yet. But when you’re 2nd in ORtg in the NBA, 1st in offensive eFG%, 9th in offensive FT rate, 10th in offensive TOV% that’s how you win games. Even when teams muck it up and make you have to find offense a different way. Plus the Kings are 26th in DRtg, 29th in defensive eFG% so it’s not like we can expect this team to get a ton of stops consistently. But in the last 10 games, the Kings DRtg is actually 19th (112.6) in the NBA in large part due to defensive rebounding, forcing enough turnovers and really not fouling nearly as much as they did (they were 29th in the NBA in the first 4 games at defensive FT rate).
Onto Sunday afternoon against Detroit! Go Kings!
I love how Fox is basically getting three segments of playing time per half. Instead of one long break where he is off the floor, its two smaller breaks and feels like he is in control of the game more often. Anyone else notice this?
Yeah Brown has been staggering Fox and Sabonis and it leads to these stretches where Fox is going against second unit guys and he’s just killing them. Every time he was in the game tonight the Spurs had no chance.
I notice how Brown is using them, and like FKC he is staggering them well IMO. I don’t know if Fox is in control more often due to the substitution pattern as much as his approach. He just seems to have a much different attitude and approach to the game on a night-in night-out basis. Part of that is the talent, part of that is coaching, and part of that is I think De’Aaron is just tired of all the goddamned fucking losing. He wants to be on a winner in Sac and didn’t live through 5 years of losing to continue it in the 6th. Or some such.
Hell, Brown’s subsitution patterns could be an energy thing too.
Did you guys see the assistant GM of the Stockton Kings sitting with Vivek tonight?? She must really be excelling at her job!
The chemistry this team has is really refreshing. All the players smiling and having fun makes the wins extra fun because they’re learning how to win. There’s lapses where there is some standing around on O but the amount of ball movement, passing, and unselfish basketball is a thing of beauty to watch for this team.
My two favorite plays of the night were fox driving into the paint and gifting it to domas for the 3 point play.
Then the fastbreak play where Barnes hit huerter for the reverse layup. Just good basketball right there.
Beam Team>Scores
What I really like about this team is you have two stalwarts in Fox and Sabonis but then one third guy will explode like Huerter, Davis, and Monk. Murray has yet to have a breakout game but you know he will. Aggressive Barnes is definitely a keeper. He just has to stay consistent with it. Metu as an energy rim runner is very good. He did hit his 3 but I was saying no no no. Davions defense and leadership. Nothing to add. Loved LYles coming in and putting up good numbers in his minutes. He’s good for 2-3 threes a night.
It’s been a min since I commented. Weeks ago, maybe a month, I said the Kings would go on a winning streak once they gelled.
These two jerks immediately commented, the impossibilities of that not happening. I want to wish you both a Happy Thanksgiving. No turkey though, but you eat all the crow you can. Shame on you two for not having confidence in your team.
Go KINGS!!!
Exactly. Even when the Spurs tied it in the second half, I felt some frustration at the lack of intensity, but no real doubt about the outcome. It felt a little like watching a cat playing too lazily with its food.
But then Davion fixed the intensity problem.
Davion haz vee vayz……
Quieter offensive nights from Huerter and Davis and no Keegan and they still hang a cool 130. Damn. LFG
OnetwothreeforFIVE
This was big win. I probably don’t have to repeat all the good things everyone is saying about Davion, but another player who helped steady the ship when the Spurs were giving the Kings a shellacking was Harrison Barnes. Getting to the line. Not getting rattled. Playing physical.
Fox and Monk played well, but one minor beef …. Fox was staring down the refs at one point. It’s not good, and actually reminded me opening night. It’s probably not a coincidence that it was when the Spurs were just walloping the Kings and some players had that look like they were on the wrong court.
Player A:
BPM: 4.9
TS%: 64.9%
WS/48: .227
Player B:
BPM: 5.4
TS%: 64.3%
WS/48: .197
Player C:
BPM: 2.1
TS%: 67.2%
WS/48: .126
Player D:
BPM: 3.6
TS%: 67.2%
WS/48: .205
Player E:
BPM: 3.0
TS%: 62.1%
WS/48: .117
Player F:
BPM: 6.8
TS%: 62.6%
WS/48: .210
I present this as a commentary not on whether or not the Sabonis for Haliburton trade should be considered successful, but sometimes a change of scenery is important for players even when they don’t know that.
Player A is Domantas Sabonis. Player B is De’Aaron Fox. Player C is Kevin Huerter. Player D is Myles Turner. Player E is Buddy Hield. Plyaer F is Tyrese Haliburton.
Every single one of these players (and it’s way too early to assume this will remain the case) were the numbers to remain as so would all easily post career highs in BPM, TS% and WS/48 EXCEPT for Sabonis. He’s the only guy of these 6 who has ever come close to what he’s doing now, and even he hasn’t had a season quite like what he’s doing now in terms of impact.
Food for thought on a Friday.
Pacers vs Kings NBA FInals.
Only way to settle it.
Great win! Just curious from the group. Knowing how each are playing this year, if you had the choice would you have still traded Hali for Sabonis or Fox for Sabonis? Side note, was this trade a rare win win for both sides?
Right now this just looks like a win win. Haliburton is GREAT but McNair clearly had to have had some inkling that Fox would be unlocked by this trade because he’s been incredible since it happened.
Yes. I think this is a great place for Sabonis. The paradigm for today’s nba seems to be big men who protect the rim and shoot 3’s. Or otherwise spend money at other positions and then get a couple average centers on the cheap. The fact that Sabonis does not block many shots and gets into foul trouble might have irritated fans of teams who are accustomed to having good teams that make the playoffs and now want the championship. After the longest playoff drought in nba history, some Kings fans just want a good team, and Sabonis is a guy who can lead the team to 10 consecutive years of playoff appearances. No complaints here.
I think you have it exactly right: Both teams got better from the trade.
Not for a moments hesitation have I thought the Kings were wrong trading Tyrese Haliburton. Domantas Sabonis is that good, but De’Aaron Fox IMO is more talented than Haliburton. And Sabonis brings out so many of the great traits Fox has in him that he wasn’t exhibiting on his lonesome consistently.
So yeah, I do that trade again today without any hesitation whatsoever.
I am super glad we didn’t hire Mark Jackson as the coach of this team.
Brown is hands down the best coach we have had in years…..
Love what he’s doing to completely grow a positive culture and get full buy in from everyone……
I was bummed when we didn’t pick Darvin Ham. I feel silly now.
I’m just glad that the final decision was left to Monte, not to Vivek.
The team looks good and is fun to watch and even better it looks sustainable and not fluky. The effort and teamwork is light years better than previous years.
Fox is playing like a true two way player finally and seems to have made another leap with his offense. Sabonis, Mike Brown, and the added shooters have changed everything.
A great sign is players can have an off night and they still win. Like Huerter last night it was not his best game, in previous years the Kings would lose if one player was off like that.
Our Offense is definitely clicking. The defense?
Well, Pop seemed to be impressed last night.
https://twitter.com/VMCENTER/status/1593513295616495617?s=20&t=MJNuva0hOr3hQy5J6_04Dg
He seems like a reliable source.
I’m fed up with this team. It’s time to start the tank. Oh wait…..
2characteristically
coursework info https://brainycoursework.com/
coursework https://courseworkninja.com/
coursework only degree https://mycourseworkhelp.net/
design and technology gcse coursework https://courseworkdownloads.com/
coursework moderation https://courseworkinfotest.com/
coursework help university https://coursework-expert.com/
coursework marking https://teachingcoursework.com/
coursework masters https://courseworkdomau.com/
free online personals https://freewebdating.net/
meeting with my lady https://jewish-dating-online.net/
bdsm dating https://free-dating-sites-free-personals.com/
best online dating website https://sexanddatingonline.com/
mature nl free https://onlinedatingsuccessguide.com/
meeting with my lady https://onlinedatinghunks.com/
pof dating site https://datingwebsiteshopper.com/
lets-casual-dating https://allaboutdatingsites.com/
100% inspektion https://freedatinglive.com/
simple-dating life https://freewebdating.net/
Badge Legend