The Sacramento Kings are not going 72-0. After two straight wins against teams likely headed to the playoffs, Sacramento fell flat despite a strong first quarter. De'Aaron Fox and Marvin Bagley dealt with foul issues late in the third quarter as Phoenix utilized their absences, especially Fox, to take a 20-point lead. The Suns didn't glance back, ending Sacramento's two-game winning streak.
Game Recap
The first quarter saw an active Marvin Bagley fill up the points and rebounds on the stat sheet. He racked up six points and four rebounds in a handful of minutes. The rookie Tyrese Haliburton was doing it all on both ends, too, making the right reads seamlessly, setting up both him and his teammates for good looks. There was an instance when Haliburton received a skip pass on the wing from Buddy Hield, but he opted for the extra bounce pass to Cory Joseph in the corner who drilled the three. It's already evergreen to say this: The Kings are extremely fortunate Haliburton fell to 12. Sacramento moved the ball on offense and was switching relentlessly on defense, getting out to a 33-28 lead after one.
In the second quarter, Phoenix started to knock down their shots. Cam Johnson, known for his lethal shooting, made both of his threes en route to 11 first-half points, leading Phoenix in scoring. The Kings held Devin Booker and Chris Paul to a total of 11 points, but both players combined for 12 assists. They both involved themselves in other ways when Sacramento blitzed them and forced other Suns to do the damage. De'Aaron Fox stayed quiet for much of the first half, but made some plays late in the quarter to propel himself to nine points and three assists at the half. The ball stopped moving as much for Sacramento in the quarter, as Phoenix outscored them 28-20 to take a narrow 56-53 lead.
It got ugly in the third for Sacramento. Fox and Bagley each picked up four fouls, with Fox picking up his fifth in the final seconds of the quarter. The offense had little creativity on the court without those two, as Cory Joseph and Buddy Hield each had their flaws exposed on that end; CoJo bricked a mid-range jumper, and Hield turned it over on an iso. Booker started to get going for Phoenix, ending the quarter with 16 points, five rebounds, five assists, one steal and a block. Phoenix outscored Sacramento 34-25 in those 12 minutes to take a 90-78 lead heading into the fourth.
When Frank Kaminsky is hitting threes and driving to the rim for buckets, you're probably in an unfavorable situation. Sacramento continued to fall behind because of turnovers and missed shots, and Phoenix did not hesitate to capitalize on those errors. Luke Walton eventually emptied the bench, and Kyle Guy, Robert Woodard and Jahmi'us Ramsey all got on the score sheet. For the latter two, the Kings hope it's the first of many going forward. Phoenix held onto their sturdy lead to win 116-100. Both teams are now 2-1.
Takeaways
This game highlighted an issue I was worried about in the offseason: The Kings lack offensive creativity alongside De'Aaron Fox to survive his bench minutes. Haliburton continues to look awfully good for his age, but he won't be that catalyst just yet. Both Hield and Joseph had their flaws exposed as initiators. Fox finished with 12 points (4-12 FG, 0-2 3P), four assists, five turnovers and five fouls in 27 minutes. Compare that to the two games prior where Fox performed significantly better and you see the difference in the results.
Speaking of Haliburton, he can clock out a happy man. He finished the night with 15 points (5-7 FG, 3-4 3P), six assists, one rebound and zero turnovers in 27 minutes. He was a bright positive in a gloomy game.
Bench points were absent; Nemanja Bjelica and Glenn Robinson III combined for three points in 27 minutes. The Kings need everyone to step up when Fox can't be in full-aggressive mode, and that area significantly struggled tonight.
Harrison Barnes continues to do the little things. It's fair to demand more production out of him when looking at his contract, but at this stage of his career, he is who he is. Barnes ended the night with 10 points (4-6 FG, 0-1 3P) and seven rebounds.
The three-point attempts decreased dramatically. The Kings were jacking up north of 40 attempts a game in the preseason and failed to convert at a respectable rate. Tonight, they were 10-23 in that department, good for 43.5%.
Phoenix out-assisted Sacramento 34-21. The Kings moved the ball well in the first quarter when they were winning, but it's not shocking to see how they fell apart once the ball stopped moving as much.
Next Game
The Kings will host the Denver Nuggets this Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. PST, a team they beat on opening night. Denver will be on a back-to-back as they face the Houston Rockets the day prior.
So, ah, 71-1?
70-2. I think we fall one to OKC. They’re looking tough.
Great game recap as always. I think one correction needs to be made with Haliburton’s stats (he scored 15 points)not 12.
I know maybe it’s too soon, but it is just the same Bagley that we all known….
1) did not pass the ball to guard after he grabbed the rebound (the guard will reward you the basket afterwards)
2) begging for the ball for long…(I know there is a mis-match, and teammate would find you if you are that open)
3) cannot finish underneath the basket…(can he just dunk it ?)
For easy, just play some pick and pop / pick and roll with Bagley…which he should be the best at those shots……
If he hasn’t learned by now the value of kicking out your drive when the crowd comes. My goodness.
Just further elaborate what I saw from the same Bagley….
Below Gif just demonstrate my point 2
Bagley begging for the ball so hard..and good defense by Galloway……it would be a dangerous pass to him…..it just affected the offense set…..just let the PG run the offense would be just fine.
Also, through out 3 games he played…he recorded a total of 2 assists..
and one of those is below…
He just handed the ball to Hali…and Hali hit the 3, then Bagley just rewarded with an assist
(But just look at his face expression, he just even not that “intended” to pass Hali the ball)
I don’t want to be too mean…but I hope he can do what he said before the season start…
(i.e. be a better facilitator…look at teammate more)
Are you saying that Bagley shouldn’t call for the ball when he he finds himself isolated on a smaller player down low? If anything, he and his teammates need to get better at moving the ball and their bodies to get better passing angles to take advantage of those situations.
Just when we thought we were in for some easy sledding…
Well, at least we didn’t lose by 51.
Or to the Knicks!
OMG, have you watched Pixar’s new movie Soul yet??
There’s a funny little joke in it relating to the Knicks. 🙂
Watched it last night, loved that bit! The movie is tremendous, as well.
Yeah, I love how the director (Pete Docter) has dealt with abstract ideas for his last two films (the other being Inside Out, which is definitely one of my favorite Pixar films).
Hmmm, the last two movies I watched were:
Once Were Warriors
Raise The Red Lantern
I think I need some lighter fare now. Soul isn’t too heavy, is it?
It’s an enjoyable film, and it definitely makes you think about certain things after you watch it!
fox was nice the first two games, and he’s entitled to off nights, but the off nights can’t be that abject. Consistency
It’s what keeps him in the “good” category, instead of the great.
We should probably take a few days off from looking at ORtg, DRtg and WS/48, I’m thinking. Maybe after the next one.
Last one.
For those of y’all that could use more Monty Python in your life.
Fox’s WS/48 decrease over one game, early in the season:
Raise your hand if you had the OKC Thunder as the last remaining undefeated team in the West.
Along with Cleveland in the East.
lf we’re having this conversation on January 27th, then I’ll agree with the tone of this comment.
Just look at the assist numbers of the starters, and you’ll know the biggest problem with this team.
After every win: check the NBA playoff standings
After every loss: check the 2021 NBA mock draft
As Linda Blair’s character in the The Exorcist said Mother make it stop! The Kings once again are possessed by last year’s demons of sloth, lassitude, indifference, and imprecision. Haliburton showed his mettle as a young prospect, several of the starters Show signs of being mismatched with their contracts.
Mad props for your use of, “lassitude”.
This is good
And then, after years of tough basketball winters…
Its OK, we’ve got slamson
So that’s how chicken sammich’s get made……I always wondered!
More like chicken SLAMmich!
!
This is the kind of gameplay I expected this season, so I can’t beat them up too much. Also, Haliburton continues to make those who passed on him look foolish!
That said, Bags is packing on assists. On pace for a career high.
Haliburton should fill one of those vacated spots in the Young Superteam T-shirt. He’s a keeper!
This isn’t shade being thrown because it’s only a few games in to Rese’s career, and Bogi just got to Atl and it’s a 2 game sample there. But if Bogi raises these to his career norms, and Rese’s drops across the board in the area’s that are unsustainable, this is how the Kings could consider moving on. Especially with Buddy Hield still on the roster with a long contract. But if Buddy had been an RFA? That would be an interesting question and for another day.
Numbers:
Halliburton: 70.3 TS%, 11.1 USG%, AST% 25.9%, TOV% 4.6%, DRB% 3.8%, WS/48 .205
Bogdanovich: 45.5 TS%, 19.4 USG%, 9.7 AST%, TOV% 11%, DRB% 26.3%, WS/48 0.65.
I was going to post my hot take after the game. That take is…
Haliburton > Bogdan
Obviously the above numbers are small sample size approved. For me it’s more of the eye test. Probably not there yet, but close enough that the decision to move on seems even more reasonable than it did at the time.
Agreed. I’ve been thinking since the first I game I saw Halli that he made Bogi expendable. I’m not going to go so far as saying he’s better today, but the path to being better is clear, and quite possibly not very long.
I think this premise is obviously a bit silly, due to sample sizes. But the choice wasn’t simply Haliburton vs. Bodganovic. We could have had both.
The real question is, was Bogdanovic worth keeping as an asset? Way too early to say McNair is correct about this one.
No the issue is whether or not could you trade Bogdanovich or Hield or Barnes of something resembling tangible value. Especially since you’re near the tax line this season to do so meaning doing a trade by next off-season is a necessity because you aren’t paying the tax for this team.
I think Bogi will be good in Atlanta, but not great, like he was in Sacramento. He’s a jack of all trades master of none with versatility to play in a lot of combo’s. That’s a difficult player to find, but not impossible.
I look at what happened with Allen Crabbe and Otto Porter after Portland and Washington matched. Even if Bogi continued his career arc, I don’t think that was worth the cost of matching and trying to find value that would have equaled at least Donte DiVincenzo.
Like I’ve said here, it was a tough call to do the non match, but ultimately the right call. Bogi’s reputation around, say, NBA Twitter is very good, but much of that has do with his FIBA and Fenerbahce performance. I don’t think a lot of those same people saw what Bogi did in Sac that often, and the reputation of FIBA/Fenerbahce Bogi doesn’t match what Bogi actually did in Sac.
It’s certainly a loss in the asset management ledger, and that loss is squarely on Vlade Divac and that FO. And so it goes.

Since you’re struggling to understand the full version, I’ll give you TL;DR version since you clearly can only get by on using only cliff notes.
If the Kings matched on Bogi, could they have gotten a player in trade at least as good as Donte DiVincenzo by next offseason?
I didn’t get far because I was confused by the “No” at the start of your comment, the rest of which appeared to be in agreement with mine.
My statement didn’t offer an opinion of whether McNair was right or wrong, just that it was too early to know for sure.
Just because you think you know the answer doesn’t make you right. I mean, yesterday you invalidated my opinion based on Fox’s WS/48 – a few hours before that data point went in the tank.
What you said wasn’t the issue. The conclusion was. That’s the disagreement.
Aye.
Hmm. Well, that’s just like your opinion, man.
Good talk.
You disagree about a conclusion that I didn’t actually make? Well, alrightythen.
Not good, GREAT talk!
So the issue is solely about matching Bogi? Nothing else? No other factors? No other issues at play? Alrighty then.
A great talk indeed.
I would agree with Nate in that the problem with keeping Bogi is less Bogi and more Barnes, and Buddy, to a lesser degree. Bogi on his new deal was at best paid fairly and in my opinion probably overpaid. Again, I agree with Nate that Bogi is a good player, but will never be great. I’m not sure how much a player who tops out at fair value is a significant asset.
When you’re stuck with Barnes’ terrible deal and Buddy’s possibly poor deal (and again, he’s probably at best fair value) I think you look at it as replacing a $72 million deal with a possibly equivalent (and much younger) at $18 million deal. The $54 million in space over four years is a much better asset than Bogi on a $72 million deal.
maybe we somehow remove the 2 on Harry’s jersey and pretend that is Hali.
Couldn’t watch these last two games but did something happen in them?
Suns twitter/fans was acting like they just won the finals or something
Tyrese Haliburton 15 points, 6 assists, and 0 turnovers. He was fun to watch!
Dreaming of a happier time…
This was a scheduled loss and rightfully so as it exposed our weaknesses this early in the season. Good thing we won those two games because of how deep the West is especially with Phoenix in our division. We need another shot-creator who’ll relieve Fox when he’s in those situations. Guy could be the guy (no pun intended) in the future but we need someone now if we want our guys to compete and develop.
Bagley’s coming along just fine, Phoenix adjusted and targeted our two best players.
With Denver’s funk let’s make it 0-2 against them.
It’s obviously Haliburton
long term Hali is the teams PG, Fox the SG
Shooting …. LOL
I only disagree that Bagley is coming along. Love the effort, and he’s definitely a good rebounder, but his BBIQ is horrific, shot selection is terrible, calling his passing bad is a wild overstatement, and I have yet to see any of that get better. Bagley’s shot does look good, so my hope would his efficiency improves, even if his shot selection doesn’t.
Bagley looks to me like a more offensively aggressive, worse defending and worse passing Willie Cauley Stein. Empty stat stuffer. Thankfully, I think the front office is smart enough to recognize stat stuffing when they see it, and are not emotionally attached to the sunk cost of drafting him.
I noticed Bagley do something last night that drives me nuts.
He has a tendency to follow the ball up court. He doesn’t spread out and fill the lanes, and at one point followed so close behind Buddy when he was going for a 3, that it had to affect Buddy’s shot, because he immediately got the ball back off the long rebound , and nailed the open 3.
His spacing and court awareness is dreadful, because he is so worried about getting the ball to score, rather than drawing defenders away to open up his teammates
The sooner this becomes Haliburton’s team the better.
It’s that obvious.
Frickin’ Suns!
The Suns were making shots and causing turnovers-tough to win…especially with the schedule. Still-the Kings were in the game until the end of the 3rd with Fox and Bagley in foul trouble. Last year this would’ve been a blow out.
Unfortunately-a game like this is when we would’ve seen a little Yogi Farrell for a jolt of energy. Kyle Guy and maybe James needed to enter the game earlier.
On another note-where’s Jabari Parker or Jefferies? Kaminsky looked serviceable for the Suns which tells you how the Kings played.
Weren’t the Suns on the same schedule, only on the road?
So you concede that we had home court crowd noise advantage?
No further questions.
Do they add the fake crowd noise so the TV audience can’t hear the players cussing at each other? I’d pay extra if we could hear the real sound from the court, and all the trash talk!
In a weird way, it was relieving to lose this game. My imagination was really starting to get the best of me. I drove through Downtown this morning and literally had the thought I wonder what route they would choose for a championship parade.
Its nice to come back down to earth. More looking at mock drafts, less looking at playoff seeding (and parade routes).
Also, I love Haliburton. His quick impact brings me so much joy. I can’t wait until he starts playing more aggressively and is given more of a green light.
A parade route, eh?
Hmmmm…….
Howe about Arden?
Richards boulevard to Del Paso boulevard ending in Rio Linda.
You really don’t like Sacramento, do you Marty? LOL
He’s just thinking of new TKH gear. KANGZ bulletproof vest anyone? ð
TBH, I love the southern stretch of Del Paso Blvd before you hit Arden. It’s got so much potential charm. Unfortunately it’s just that: Potential.
Indeed, it’s a unique area and I can still remember going there as a kid to the indoor ice skating rink. It’s just exceptionally sketchy these days though. I even overheard a couple of police officers saying get me
out of here the last time I was down there. (Someone had apparently shot up a house and was on the loose)
They really started to look gassed by the end of the 3rd quarter. Looked like they blew a tire after the refs got some calls on us.
I guess there’s only one thing left to do
Exactly. I was thinking the same thing. Let’s do it…
Some people have too much time on their hands? Umm no bike helmets ..
Spout Win share/48 and skate ..
Haliburton is such a joy to watch playing. The BBIQ shines through.
I’d really wish we had focused more in the past on getting good, smart players who know how to play team ball and D. But it is good that we at least started now.
Hali’s been great. It’s really nice to have a potential piece of the longterm puzzle at such a young age. Will be interesting to see how his offensive game develops – right now, he’s dead last on the roster in FGA per 100 possessions.
It’s really weird to see a young player with a high BBIQ wearing a Kings uniform.
It is downright thrilling. Is this how other fan bases feel every few years after they draft a really smart player? It’s been so long for the us that I don’t know what to do with myself.
We drafted smart? I thought we only knew how to draft hope……
I don’t know what to do with my hands.
I really was trying to figure out when the last time we drafted a player like Haliburton was. In the last 20 years at least I can’t think of one or at least one that didn’t also have other glaring flaws. It’s just so odd for the Kings to actually draft a smart cerebral player instead of chasing athleticism and upside.
In the first round? Some people kinda thought that’s who Justin Jackson was. And theoretically who Stauskas was. Cisco? The most recent one that actually panned out in that vein was probably Turkoglu.
Yeah Turkoglu is the only guy that came to mind for me. I never understood the Justin Jackson thing because he clearly wasn’t that guy in college and he was older as well. Cisco maybe but he’s definitely a step down IMO. I’m really happy we got this kid in this draft.
Yes, you do…
We had 1 focus in the past…who shows up for tryouts. Not an issue is 2020!