SACRAMENTO — All eyes were on Sacramento Monday night, as the Kings and Pelicans faced off for the third time of the young season with a berth in the In-Season Tournament semifinals on the line.
But in the end it was New Orleans celebrating in the visiting locker room as they earned a trip to Vegas and a matchup with the winner of tomorrow’s Lakers/Suns game.
The bright lights and national audience agreed early with the home team, as the Kings burst out to a 32-17 first quarter lead on the strength of a hot-shooting start. The first ten points came from Kevin Huerter and Keegan Murray, who each connected on early threes to ignite the crowd. Malik Monk entered with 5:37 remaining in the first and had eight points in 50 seconds, and it felt like the home team might run away with things early.
But the Pelicans have been a bad matchup for Sacramento, and De’Aaron Fox specifically, this season, and that rang true once again. An 18-4 run closed the opening quarter, cutting the Kings’ lead to just one after one. Jose Alvarado drained a triple just over 30 seconds into the second to give his team their first lead, and behind big nights from Brandon Ingram, Herb Jones, and CJ McCollum, they wouldn’t trail again.
“They’re a team with a lot of length, a lot of really good players on offense and defense,” Keegan Murray said. “We have had good spurts against them, but we have to put a full game together. They are a team, when they’ve got their full roster together, they’re really tough. You saw that tonight.”
Fox, who was a combined 14-35 with seven turnovers in the first two matchups, struggled once again Monday, going 1-5 with five turnovers in the first quarter, the harbinger of what was to come. He finished with 30 points, but on 10-25 shooting (1-7 from three), and had six turnovers after just one Wednesday against the Nuggets.
“They were errors on my end,” Fox said of his turnovers. “But they got their hands on the ball, deflections. I have to be better with my handle. We have to be able to answer their runs a lot better. Losing possessions starts to add up; once they got the lead we were never able to get it back.
“We have to be able to stop the bleeding.”
Coach Mike Brown gave credit to the Pelican’s bench, especially Jose Alvarado, postgame.
“The guy that’s kicked our behind two straight games is Alvarado,” Brown said. “You’ve got to give that man a ton of credit; he changed the game, he was physical with us. The smallest player on the floor but he impacted the game at the highest level.”
The 6′ guard had nine points in 18 minutes on 3-4 shooting with three rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and two steals.
“Give those guys a ton of credit. They earned the win,” Brown added.
Domantas Sabonis did his best to keep the Kings in it, though, scoring 12 points in the second as part of his 30 point, 13 rebound, 10 assist triple-double night. But the rest of the team was just 4-17 in the frame as they headed to the half trailing 69-61.
But as Fox said, they were never quite able to stop the bleeding. Ingram, Jones, and McCollum hit timely shots throughout the second half, and though the Kings played New Orleans to within a point in each of the final two frames, they could never quite get over the hump, as the Pelicans had an answer for every Kings’ run.
“We obviously wanted to advance, but their physicality, how hard they played, the things they did out on the floor showed [how badly they wanted it],” Brown said. “They came in here and they took it. You are disappointed, but at the end of the day, watching that game, they earned it. When you get a butt whooping, sometimes there nothing to do but take it.”
Brandon Ingram starred Monday, scoring an efficient 30 points with eight rebounds and six assists. Murray talked about the challenge of guarding such a versatile offensive player.
“He hit a lot of tough shots,” Murray said. “I just tried my hardest to make it as tough as possible for him. There are a lot of great scorers in this league – he’s one of them. I just tried my best to make it hard for him.”
“BI had a heck of a game,” Brown added. “He did what he’s supposed to do.”
Jones added 23, McCollum 17, and Trey Murphy returned to the lineup and 16 off the bench. Zion Williamson had just two points in the first half as Sacramento was able to bother him and keep him out of the paint early, but dominated the Kings physically in the fourth to finish with 10 points. He had six assists as well.
Murray and Huerter both finished in double digits, 14 and 12, respectively. Monk added 21 off the bench, but it was an overall very inefficient night for Sacramento.
After shooting 75% from the field and 60% from three in the first quarter, they finished just 45% and 34%, a precipitous drop-off. Only two players, Sabonis and Huerter, had positive +/- evaluations.
Brown summed it up well. “It hard for us to score, it was hard for us to get stops. That’s not a good combination.”
Though Sacramento certainly feels the sting of disappointment in their IST run ending, the format was universally lauded by players and coaches post game.
“It’s cool,” Fox aid. “We like the courts. When you see the court, you know there is something different going on. It felt like the games were different. It was good good for the league for sure.”
Murray agreed.
“There’s a lot of good things that happen in the tournament, a lot to play for. Getting to the knockout round is good feeling, but we wanted to advance. But it helps the league and it was cool to play in it.”
“It’s a great thing,” Brown said. “I’ve said it before: the NBA knows what they’re doing. It’s a fabulous event, it adds excitement because it’s one and done so you have to be at your best every time you step on the floor.”
Sacramento will certainly learn from this experience as they regroup ahead of a matchup with either the Lakers or Suns Friday evening. Until then, their first In-Season Trophy will have to wait.
I believe that if we played the Pelicans as currently constructed 100 times we’d lose 99 of those times. They’d have a crazy hot shooting game once but that’s about it. The Pelicans are the worst matchup in the league for us right now and they just highlight why we’re still a move or two away from being real contenders.
Couldn’t agree more. We are just not long enough, or athletic enough, or good enough defensively.
And not physical enough.
I don’t totally agree…we got some tough guys, McGee, Davion, Edwards, Lyles….
If we just want to match their physicality, then Mike Brown should be playing those guys….
Sucks that we still play that soft…..
(Again, where is the so called “Bumping” the opponents that we saw during the pre-season training camp)
These are guys that can absorb some physicality, but they are not physically imposing nor do they dish out much.
I think the Kings do have other options to go to on defense. Not sure if the coaches hands are tied, but there’s still hints of back seat driving here by Vivek. Too
much pride in Harrsion Barnes the character, not the performer. Add more Kessler Edwards and Keon Ellis to the mix and you might have a different outcome against a team like New Orleans.
If Ellis and Edwards are your options you don’t really have options.
I disagree. Turnovers killed us in the first half. Kings cleaned it up in the second half and made a game of it. In the end it was just a couple bad bounces that lost us the game. Pelicans 3 that bounces to the rafters before it goes in? Come on.
This game wasn’t very close though. This is their 3rd loss in 2 weeks and I didn’t think they looked all that competitive overall.
well, this just confirms it.
Sacramento is destined to face New Orleans in the first round of the playoffs.
Before people start bashing HB:
“The one thing you guys have to understand is I don’t call any plays for HB… that’s going to bring an amount of inconsistency…”
– Coach Brown on Harrison Barnes (Brenden Nunes tweet)
https://x.com/BrendenNunesNBA/status/1731919002086379610?s=20
Barnes is the 5th starter, and that will influence his impact on the game. I suspect if you look at the 5th guy on many teams, you’ll see a similar picture.
Plays are one thing but eye test seems to imply defensive issues? We need McGenius to figure out some improvements or just pray we don’t get NO in the offseason
The 3rd highest paid guy on the team shouldn’t be a non-factor for many games, offensively and defensively. He has efficient numbers offensively, but doesn’t have plays ran for him so maybe it is time to involve him a bit more. I think a move to the bench would be beneficial as that group needs a bit more scoring. Coach can run some plays for Barnes and not take away shots from Fox/Sabonis/Keegan/Huerter.
Then who is the 5th starter? Lyles is a lateral move at best, Duarte has proven he’s less reliable than Barnes, Sasha would be the target of every offense in the league and Edwards might currently be lower on pecking order than Davion.
As the roster stands there is no alternative to starting Barnes, unless you go really big and start McGee and move Sabonis to the 4, which would be a mistake, IMO.
That being said, I could squint and see a scenario where Brown my go to Keegan at the 4, Huerter at the 3 and Monk at the 2 and just pray the Kings can outscore their opponent, much like how Indy has been playing.
Lyles. I think just moving Barnes to a role where he can be featured a little more offensively would balance lineups. I know they mix and match throughout the game, so he tends to play with combinations of other players so it may not even be a big deal who actually starts or not.
I just think Barnes doesn’t get a chance with the other starting 4 to really make an impact offensively.
I also don’t see a trade where the Kings improve the “Barnes role”. I think the answer comes from shifting lineups or play styles(?)
iMO, the problem is not that Barnes isn’t contributing offensively, it’s that he’s getting burned defensively. The Kings have firepower, but they lack a defensive enforcer. Swapping out Lyles for Barnes won’t make a difference when it comes to defense.
I just thought maybe it would balance out the rotation a bit. They really do need a defensive upgrade but I don’t think there is a viable option on the market (right now at least, or whenever the time comes in December to start trading players signed in the offseason begins) without shaking up a lot of things for the team.
Once the protected pick conveys this season, hopefully, then that would open some more options. That won’t occur until the offseason though.
Barnes seems to be in with the second unit a bit anyhow.. as guys are being rotated in and out. I don’t see much of a different level of aggression from him when Fox or Domas are on the bench.
Barnes getting lost INTO the forest, or we get new DOGG out?
A terrible matchup for us, the Pelicans really highlight our lack of length, rim protection, and toughness. Fox was totally shook by Jose Alvarado, again. We need to avoid playing NO if we want to make it out of the first round.
During the 2nd and 3rd quarters, the lack of ball movement was really jarring. This is a common thread in our losses. You see 1-2 passes per possession (occasionally zero as Fox was just playing Allen Iverson ball out there). I don’t know whether this is a coaching issue or a De’Aaron Fox issue, but the best version of our offense has us moving the ball side to side, not running headfirst into the lane.
I also saw us bizarrely go away from getting the ball to Domas on P&R in order to try to play fast fast fast. While playing fast against most teams works well, we need to run some plays in the halfcourt occasionally! When our shots aren’t falling, we start whining to the refs and getting tunnel vision. We also need to make adjustments more quickly. I feel we’ve been outcoached too many times this season. It’s surprising.
Agree when team gets away from Domas as its hub the offense lacks same efficiency. TNT broadcast said that as well. Also Van Gundy excellent analyst and great broadcast .
The Pels own our ass. That’s all I got.
If Mike Brown only want HB to play defense and grab some rebound, then he should not be playing HB, who he should be playing is Edwards.
Edwards is a better defender, while Ingram got hot, Mike Brown should put a tougher defender on him….
(Once, Ingram got switch and face HB, he scored)….Keegan did a great job..but HB just bad defense…..
Ellis played nice D too…but the Pels just get too many length……..
Again, let players be accountable, HB plays bad, let other guys step up.
If there were ever to give Edwards an opportunity to show his supposed defensive prowess, it was last night. My only assumption is that we may have purple colored glasses when it comes to Kessler’s strengths on that end of the floor, much like Davion. If Bown’s only choice was to rely on Barnes and Lyles, only to watch them get blown by the Pels wings, then Monte needs to find someone else.
I think many of us can agree that the glaring weakness on this team is the absence a strong, long, and defensive minded wing in the starting 5. Until the hole is filled, there will be more games like this. Keegan can only do so much, especially with a sore back. I don’t know what the solution is for Monte, but I can sure appreciate the problem.
As of today the Kings have their starting 5 locked up for at least two more seasons. That means someone in the starting 5 likely needs to be moved or relegated to a bench role. The other issue is Monk’s pending free agency. If Monte spends to keep Monk around to go along with the starters, then the Kings are basically capped out for years to come.
Barnes currently is close to untradeable with his current production, plus he can’t be moved until the end of the month. Mitchell and Duarte are likely near the same in value and the Kings can’t trade a future first until 2028. The rest of the “rotation” in Lyles, Sasha, McGee, and Len or simply filler contracts.
So what does leave Monte? Likely very little options unless he includes Hurter or Monk (assuming Fox, Sabonis, and Keegan are off the table).
My unfortunate conclusion, if you want a significant upgrade at the wing, Monte may have to move Huerter or Monk plus additional pieces.
As usual you hit the nail on the head. Barnes played 34 minutes last night and scored 4 points. Was he guarding Jones last night? You can’t win when it’s 4 on 5. I really like Barnes but we need to change some things internally. IMO we need a big physical stretch 4 that can play defense or this is what will happen more tomes than not. We also need, not as much, a young physical back up center. I feel for Sabonis as we don’t have a weak side defender. A starting 4 who can do this would really help. Someone like a Herb Jones who the Pels have. I really like his game. Last night I felt for Fox. He is human as the rest of us. Sabonis had a really good game last night but why does a 7 footer not make lay ups . One was a 2 footer. I will say he made his free throws though. One more thing. We get a lead and mostly can’t build on it but lose it. IMO the first half of the first quarter was all Kings. The rest of the game was all Pels.Ahead by 15 in the middle of the first. Ahead by 1 at the end of the first. Very frustrating.
You can really tell all those inexpensive undrafted guys wanted that 1/2 million bonus a lot more than we did.
Yay! We’re done with this Flint Michigan Mega Bowl crap. We don’t have to worry about any of our players getting injured in a game that means literally nothing, for stats that won’t count anywhere, for a trophy that doesn’t mean shit.
That’s all I got.
Why do the Kings play at Suns? The Kings are the #2 seed and Suns are 4th. Wouldn’t the higher seed get the home court?
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