Execution. Execution. Execution.
When you’re trying to take down the defending champs, who are backed against the wall, at home, with (in their mind), a reason to be pissed about an unfair judgment, execution is key, and the Kings simply didn’t execute on the road on Thursday evening. They were out-rebounded, out-hustled, and out-shot in a game that never felt particularly winnable, despite Sacramento hanging around for much of the contest. Steph Curry was the best player on the floor for either team, scoring 36 points, while Andrew Wiggins put up 20 points and 7 boards for the Warriors. For the Kings, De’Aaron Fox fell one assist shy of a triple-double, finishing with 26, 10, and 9, and Domantas Sabonis recorded 15 points and 16 rebounds.
The first half went about as poorly as possible for Sacramento, and while the officiating wasn’t spectacular, the zebras also weren’t the reason the Kings found themselves trailing by double-digits heading into the locker room. In a game in which Golden State possessed no quality size outside of Kevon Looney, a foul-prone big man himself, the Kings too often settled for early-clock three-pointers with no rebounders in the paint. Over the first twenty-four minutes, they attempted twenty-four three-pointers, making just five of them. In that same span, they got off two foul-free shots in the restricted area. In addition to the poor shot selection, the Kings also gave the ball up far too easily, turning the ball over 10 times, eight of which came from Domantas Sabonis (5) and De’Aaron Fox (3). Sacramento finished with 41 first half points while shooting 32.7% from the field, both season lows.
Defensively, the Kings executed fairly well in the first half, outside of a couple of lost men in transition, but their defensive rebounding was something to behold, and not in a positive way. Golden State snagged 10 offensive rebounds, despite their lack of size, and an especially killer slip-up occurred with just 3.1 seconds left in the half. Kevon Looney grabbed the offensive board off of a Steph Curry missed three-pointer, and he found the greatest shooter of all-time for a second attempt, and this time, Curry didn’t miss, handing the Warriors a 12-point lead after 24 minutes.
For those hoping for a third quarter surge, a phenomenon that fans have often witnessed throughout the season, there was no such luck for Sacramento, as their shooting and defensive rebounding continued to cost them opportunities to get back in the game. The Kings gave up another five offensive rebounds, shot two of eight from deep, and despite a couple of mini-runs by both teams, they made up zero ground on the Warriors. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the third quarter was Sacramento not completely folding after going down by 18 points, but the Kings still weren’t able to take advantage of the short-handed Warriors.
The final period started off encouragingly enough, as Malik Monk immediately drew a foul and knocked down both free throws to pull the Kings within ten, but poor defensive effort led to a layup line by Golden State, and the Kings soon found themselves down a barrel-full of points in a blown open game, as the Warriors are prone to do. The final minutes of the game were more cardio for bench players than anything, and the Kings will have another chance at the defending champions on Sunday afternoon at the Chase Center.
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
THE GOOD
Harrison Barnes: Although he was incredibly quiet in the first half with just two points, Barnes came alive in the third quarter when the Kings needed him most and still had a chance to make a run. He scored 9 points in the quarter and was one of the few Kings willing to get into the paint and take advantage of Sacramento’s size. He ended the evening with 17 points and was Mike Brown’s one decent shooter from deep, hitting three of his seven attempts.
THE BAD
Rebounding: Kevon Looney ended the night with nine offensive rebounds, and the Warriors as a whole grabbed 19. Against the defending champions at home, 19 extra possessions certainly added up.
Shooting: The Kings shot 35/92 (38%) from the floor, 11/46 (23.9%) from deep, and 16/23 (69.9%) from the free throw line. Enough said.
Bench Production: After a fiery start to the playoffs that saw Malik Monk score 50 points in the first two games, there was a slight concern that a microwave scorer like Monk was due for an off game, and that was certainly the case on Thursday night. He scored 4 points on 1/9 shooting from the field, while his Kentucky partner Trey Lyles similarly struggled, putting up just 2 points on 0/6 shooting. Overall, Sacramento’s bench made 4 of their 25 field goal attempts.
THE UGLY
Overall execution: The Kings struggled in almost every aspect of the game on Thursday. They took early shot clock three-pointers, failed to convert them, and never adjusted their game from there. That poor shot-taking and making, combined with their inability to finish defensive possessions, doomed them against the defending champions.
The King of Kings
De’Aaron Fox finished the evening with a near trip-double, scoring 26 points, grabbing 10 boards, and dishing out nine assists. He was Sacramento’s best player, but even his night felt far less successful than his first two playoff performances.
That game was horribly officiated for both teams.
Kings lost because they can’t hit any damn 3s. They need to figure out how to shoot again or this series is over.
Huerter, Barnes, and Murray have been off all series. They need one or all of them to get hot, or at least hit their averages.
I thought Barnes, in particular, had a chance to go off since he didn’t have to contend with Draymond at all. HB got only 1 rebound last night!
They gotta be due for one of those 20/40 type 3PT shooting games by now, right?
https://twitter.com/JoshDubowAP/status/1649273115304685570
This game reminiscent of Knicks L. With horrid 3s and def dive boards.
The shooting was offensively bad. My eyes are still hurting. The Warriors weren’t particularly good (their OF rebounding aside), the Kings just couldn’t get a bucket
Agreed. Kings played badly rather than the Warriors playing well. Clearly the crowd flustered the Kings, as they seemed unfocused, lackadaisical, and sometimes even intimidated by a team that they’ve proven to be better than. Need to come out and make a statement in Game 4, or this series will go south real quick.
Roses are red, violets are blue
They have one win and we have two.
A bad loss and a stinker, but not the end of the world.
There’s the concern of the momentum shift and the Warriors finding our weak spots.
Coach Brown will have to make adjustments. I don’t know exactly what they are (going for paint points first, putting pressure on the W’s D and only start shooting threes once players get some confidence?), but that’s why he is COTY and I didn’t even get a single vote.
That’s the first Dutch poem I’ve ever heard. The one thing that struck me was it doesn’t rhyme. It probably rhymes in Dutch. What language is the Dutch language called anyway?
I’m sure it’s great if I understood the language you speak. Well done Mr. Smits
2-1. Steal the next one. Simple as that.
3 Ps
Poor shooting
Poor rebounding
Poor handling of the ball
27.5% on threes for the series.
When you see that, it’s amazing the Kings are up 2-1.
Keegan needs to have a clear mind going into Game 4. It’s quite obvious that his slump is in his head right now, and the moment is just too big for the Rook.
Overall, Kings missed a lot this game and a handful of those were not really caused by the opposing defense. Playing in a hostile place also did not help probably. At least the Kings know well now what to expect in Game 4 and they should be well adjusted by then.
In Mike we trust!
Same with Huerter’s three point shooting.
Yes on both. Keegan’s lack of confidence and shakiness in the playoffs has been disturbing, but he’s a rookie. Heurter on the other hand…..
Playoffs show us who can play. Who has it mentally/emotionally. These 2 don’t right now. I hope they do in the future, are capable.
Feel like shaking Keegan and yelling “just play”. Stop thinking.
The first 6 minutes of the game were the worst of Keegan’s career. 3 fouls and some blow-bys on the defensive end of the floor. I wanted Brown to pull him after he got his second foul, but he left him in. After he gave up another bucket and got a 3rd foul was livid.
Keegan seems to be suffering from imposter’s syndrome. He clearly doesn’t believe that he’s meant to be playing a major playoff series against one of the greatest dynasties of all time.
It must honestly be a surreal, out of body experience for him. I know I’d sure as hell be thinking “what the hell am I doing on the court with these people?”
But he needs to snap out of it and realize he belongs. He’s been passive and deferential to a degree that is actively holding back the team.
He does need to snap out of it. It. Makes me a tad concerned about his future. A top 5 pick having this type confidence crisis? Not great.
if this was Mathurin or a number of others rookies they would be confident and playing. I don’t like that Murray is that mentally fragile.
he had the same issue during the season. Seemed to get over it at times. So, hopefully he figures it out.
I agree. Everything he does appears timid, with the exception of a couple of rebounds he’s made. It’s more than just “keep shooting”. He needs to do something real aggressively…foul somebody, rip away a rebound from someone, go to the hole with some real aggression, post up someone, go to the basket with some fire.
He’ll be alright going forward. I just hope his forward starts soon.
Huerter has been good from the midrange.
Yeah Huerter has not been great, but has at least remained aggressive and continued to make good decisions. Sometimes the shots don’t fall, but all you can do is keep putting yourself in a position to succeed.
True. But they need his 3ball
I’ve been impressed with how the Kings have bounced back after losses. I think Coach Brown has a lot to do with that. I’m optimistic they will come back poised and just play their game for Game 4.
And look at it this way, when the Kings win the next two games, it will be with Draymond on the floor. The Dubs will have no excuses for losing the series, and Dub fans can blame Draymond for the losses.
I’ll acknowledge he’s not helping much but I’m not sweating Keegan, he’s definitely not the reason we lost last night.
He’s the last option on a fairly stacked team, a very solid pressure release valve most of the season that didn’t see the ball much in the first 2 games of the playoffs as the offensive flow rarely got past the 3rd option. He’s not a primary focus, offensively, I’m fine that he’s not scoring a bunch. Especially when I still see him contributing in other areas like defense, rebounding, spacing, etc. (last night being the exception so far.)
The ugly to me is Sabonis. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more empty 15pt 16 rb game. I just don’t understand his reluctantly to put up shots. We can’t win if they’re daring him to shoot, saging into passing and driving lanes and he doesn’t make them pay. He’s not playing like an All Star right now
This was the concern regarding his game translating to the playoffs. I know Indy fans were loud about it after the trade went down.
Sabonis isn’t Nowitski and never will be and Halliburton isn’t Curry and never will be . Notice Indiana at bottom these last two seasons without Domas !
To be fair, Indy was 15-30 with Sabonis last season and 28-28 when Haliburton played this season.
And I feel like when he does get aggressive and take it down low he’s just head down/headlong to shoot. Why won’t he kick it out. He seems to be thinking too much too.
And wonder why they don’t post Sabs up down low some. Is his dominant post moves and passing there.
Ox had some serious butterfingers last night.
And he look timid down low, held the ball too long which allowed the defense to circle him and disrupt the shot. Like to see him be more decisive when he gets it down low.
How much do you think his bruised sternum affected his willingness to be as physical as usual?
I don’t think it should have affected his decision making on going to his moves quicker before the double. If anything, waiting allowed other defenders to get near him, which would make the physicality of the game worse for this sternum.
Sabs has been playing like this from game 1. Not sternum. Cranium is the issue.
Just imagine how ugly the game is without his double double. If the 3 ball starts to fall then he won’t have three defenders on him in the paint and it will look better. It’s just one game.
There it is, great take.
You mean 4v 5 basketball? You assume that whoever would be playing that position in his absence would bring nothing? It’s not been just one game. It’s been the whole series thus far…this is the Warriors strategy: Let Sabonis shoot. Sag off him to clog driving lanes for other players. Aggressively attack perimeter players on the pick and roll. Again, let Sabonis shoot. They’re really not respecting his offense, and he should be offended.
I agree, Domas really needs some go to moves from 15 feet in. They’re just daring him to shoot around the paint. Webber would have feasted on that.
I don’t get why he won’t shoot that 15 footer instead of trying to run into three guys under the rim. He can’t jump, so he depends on his pump fakes and the Warriors aren’t going for them. They have played him really tough all three games.
If he starts hitting those open 15-16 footers it will open up the basket too, because Looney won’t be able to sag back on him.
Come on Domas!
My big takeaway is that the Kings played scared tonight. Scared to get called for the foul. Kings got baited into a mind game and lost the physicality battle by a mile. They just let Looney grab every rebound possible.
Warriors were more physical and it showed. I think the Kings should have played like they did in game 2 regardless of the foul or no foul.
We shot 23% from the three in game 2 and still won. And tonight when it felt like a trap game where we will definitely lose the hustle battle, we needed our shooters to out shoot the Dubs and they faltered. Kevin is wayyyy too streaky to be our main 3 pt threat. It will hinder how far we can go in the playoffs if he can’t find his range. Keegan I can excuse because he got rookie jitters but he can’t play like this forever. Trey Lyles has to find his range and his hustle. Him and Keegan are borderline unplayable tonight. Same with Malik.
Overall effort was really bad and this was the worst game for all of that to come crashing down. Lost the rebound battle, too many TOs, lost the 3 pt battle, just overall bad performance from the Kings. The refs and the fans really got into Domas’ head. He can’t have that when he is the hub of the offense.
My other worry is that this win gave the Dubs hope that they can win at our home court. But whatever, I knew we were gonna lose this game. Hopefully we can get Sunday and play with more poise.
You hit the nail on the head. This game was lost in the team’s mind before it was lost on the scoreboard.
It’s understandable, up 2-0, no Draymond, higher seeding – expectations were there for the Kings to take care of business. But the Warriors came out energized and there was this pucker moment where the Kings just seemed to have no idea how to beat them.
If there’s one thing this series has shown me, it’s that the Kings are obviously the superior team. But the Warriors are the ones with all the swagger at the moment.
Can’t say I expected anything less from the Warriors. Live by the 3, die by the 3.
Monk is the x factor. The 3rd guy they need. When on, Kings are tough to beat. When off, Keegan/Huerter have to pick up the slack and they are not.
I hope all of this talk about the officiating and Green is now over. The amount of negativity between fans on Twitter and Reddit has really bummed me out and made me less excited for these games.
On the game: I felt the Kings never got up for this one and looked especially rattled in the first quarter. They had some inexcusable turnovers and gave up countless offensive rebounds, two things that feel completely out of character for the Kings. Combine that with poor shooting, and you get this result.
This is also what gives me hope: these things are out of character and shouldn’t stick around for the remainder of the series. On to game 4!
Yup, I got up for this in the middle of the night but the Kings were sleepwalking through the better part of the game.
At least one king got up for it then 😘
One kang.
Nope, Warriors fans are still going on about it, because Steph is using it as bulletin board fodder.
I would imagine that if I was an athlete making millions of dollars a year, that I wouldn’t need to use something on a bulletin board to motivate me.
But that fact is, if I’m ever to know for certain, I will need millions of dollars, and then for someone to say something “insulting” about me. So thank you in advance for your contributions to proving or disproving one of sports’ dumbest tropes.
If you prefer to start with the insults part to get yourself warmed up for the monetary aspect, I have no objections.
Ugly game for both teams. Just so happened to be uglier for us. There were alot of reasons we lost this game but not having huerter and keegans shooting is hurting us badly. Lyles is not helping either. For us to do anything it can’t just be Fox 4th quarter heroics making it happen.
Hopefully having a couple days to prepare and reassess gets the jitters of playing at Chase out. Sundays game feels like the series to me. Win, and I don’t see us blowing the lead. Lose, and the warriors catch some real momentum and I’d ideally not like to take them to 7.
Meh. Make your 3s and FTs at anything close to your season average and you’re 3-0 in this series. There may have been other mitigating factors, but all of them could have been overcome with average team shooting from deep and the stripe.
Game 4 awaits. Best case, the Kings come home with a chance to close it out in game 5. Worst case, it’s a best of 3 and the Kings have homecourt advantage. I would have taken either of those scenarios before the series began, and I would have laughed at even having either of those scenarios available as recently as the beginning of 2023.
just one game but there are similarities with all three.
OT:
https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1649407212857487361?s=20
So many COTY’s are out within 2 – 3 seasons after winning that title. I hope it isn’t the same for Brown.
They might miss him the way we missed Adelman.
That’s two COTY winners in Toronto in 6 years, that they then fired.
I won’t start worrying until after we win the title.
Will you start worrying if we win the title?
I what you did there.
I’ll start worrying about that after we win the title.
If we win the title, will you start worrying.
What you did there? I see it.
They may as well just have no coach at all, unless they get Kawhi Leonard back, because the next hire isn’t going to be able to do anything with that roster, either.
Maybe he’ll take an assistant gig with the reigning Coach of the Year? I’d guess we’re going to lose a couple of the current ones in the offseason because they’re so damned good.
So the Kings are eventually going to hit some shots right? I don’t think it’s sustainable to go 0’fer to start every game.
I would like to see aggressiveness in getting to the rim to start games instead of jacking up 3s that aren’t falling.
here’s s stat: 1st two games, points off turnovers. Kings 41-14. Game three: Warriors 22-7.
What’s wild to me, is the the Kings starters (excluding Fox) have arguably played their worst 3 game stretch of the season on the offensive side of the court, yet the Kings are up 2-1. If they can just get back to their averages the series could be over in 5. The guys just need to play the game as they have all season.
Minor detail…the Warriors aren’t letting them play their game. The DHO is being hijacked, and Domas is being stopped underneath consistently,
I hope Brown comes up with an answer for Sunday.
This is why I wanted to play the Warriors. No team can baptize us into playoff basketball like they can. We’re an unproven team in the playoffs and we are learning how to play playoff basketball. This series and last night’s game especially are examples of that lesson. Coming off a rough loss will show us what kind of team we are.
Last night was hard to watch on multiple occasions, hoping to see better rhythm Sunday.
1) Len, Metu/Lyles should play more in Game 4……………….to secure the defensive rebound is the TOP Priority
2) No more TD, rather play PJ to act as facilitator / 3 pts shooter or Edwards for defense
I thought TD looked outmatched on the defensive end. So I agree that Kessler might be a better option.
The first 2 games were much more fun than this one.
Badge Legend