The Kings couldn’t get a stop down the stretch and lost to LA in OT. Full recap to follow. For now, react away.
Postgame Thread: Clippers 111, Kings 110 (OT)
The Kings lose a heartbreaker.
By Greg Wissinger | 88 Comments | Mar 9, 2025
Mar 9, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; LA Clippers guard James Harden (1) shoots the ball against Sacramento Kings center Jonas Valanciunas (17) and forward Keegan Murray (13) in the first half at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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Knew that challenge on DDR was going to bite us in the ass. I’m truly pissed about our last two losses.
What slot do you see this Kings team landing, Adolph?
Assuming the Clips, TWolves or Warriors don’t suffer a significant injury, the Kings are finishing 9th. That means 2 wins to get into the playoffs and then the pleasure of playing the Thunder which is a quick 1st round out.
Agreed. After tonight’s loss I think they’re basically locked into the 9 seed. Which isn’t awesome.
Yeah, I feel the same way that we’re locked into the 9th spot. Mavs and Suns are too far behind and inconsistent to pass us, but the Clippers, Timberwolves, and Warriors keep winning their games so it’s gonna be harder to get ahead with our brutal rest of the schedule remaining.
Yep the Wolves and Warriors are on a tear and both have easy schedules too. The Clips could slide but our schedule is tough I doubt we’ll leap frog them.
This feels like the most realistic scenario.
Yep. 9th place, no playoffs, worst case scenario unless they get a lottery miracle.
9th, no playoffs, no draft pick, but frisky enough at the end of the season to convince ourselves that we can run it back with largely the same group next season.
I’m wistfully hopeful that McNair and company can take a home run swing at some point. But otherwise, feels like this continues to be a treadmill going nowhere.
Sadly, it appears that way. This roster is perfectly mediocre. Competitive but there’s just not upside. It is quite a bit deeper but that’s about it.
Yeah, without a home run, not seeing where real improvement comes from.
We can get extra chemistry, add a bit more depth, flip DDR for another piece that makes more sense. Maybe there is some growth from Carter and Murray, but without a step-change from say Carter, it feels like we are close to our ceiling with little near-term draft capital or cap space.
If other teams have some injuries and everything breaks right, feels like maybe we could have a season of snagging the 6th seed (maybe 5th) and getting to the 2nd round. But feels like a bit of a narrow path or one taking an A+ trade where we really rake another team over the Coles Vlade or Nico Harrison style to make any real leap.
The Kings lost to an old, Clippers team with little up-and-coming talent last night. Veterans win in the NBA. I’m not concerned about the roster. It’s that this team always seems to be too late.
The players are performing better with every game, (except last noight) but it’s hard to build chemistry on the fly, and there’s just so little time, or wiggle room.
The Clippers have two former MVPs and are currently 35-29 and are the 8th seed in the West and likely to be in the play-in and unlikely to make it out of the 2nd round (if they even make it there).
Veterans can definitely win in the NBA. But still need the overall talent level or top level stars.
The Clippers SUCK! but they will likely continue to over-perform expectations down the stretch. They would have lost last night but for some very savvy coaching, and veteran execution from their two future first ballot HOFs.
Not saying they’re contenders
I think flipping DDR for a complementary piece could help but I think the real huge move would be moving Sabonis and DDR and trying to get a talent upgrade. I doubt they’ll make that move but it’s what they should do.
Up 7 at the end of the 4th quarter and you end with a loss? As good as Demar is, the ball sticks way too much with him at the end of games.
Problem with DeMar is that he’s trying to beat Mitch Richmonds record of most 2 point shots made at 23 feet and 8.5 inches deep.
He steps back a half inch in those two shots we win by 1 regardless of the sucktitude of calls
DDR is a ball stopper- and that actually loses a lot end of game. They moved the ball-Murray puts em 7. DDR decides to just iso and hoist.
Team is playing solid but such mismatched parts. The starters now fit and play better than w Monk and Sabonis in. It’s ridiculous .
They fail to utilize Sabs on O so you hardly lose anything w JV in instead.
This team will need to trade DDR and Monk and run an O around Sabs passing. Don’t think they’ll do that.
The problem was both DDR and Lavine both went iso hero ball at the end of the game. Dribble down until stopped then look for the bailout pass. No ball movement. Then lavine who was doing a great job realizing his shot wasn’t falling then starts going to the basket with great success. Then in crunch time decides to keep throwing up really bad shots to close out the game repeatedly.
Lol, is it just me, or is the Light the Beam icon in the bottom left corner showing?
It’s the kings heralds new positivity meter. Win or lose were better. Even if we’re going nowhere beam
This made me laugh.
Winning players: Harden and Kawhi
Stat Fillers: Demar and Lavine
Lavine 11 Seasons. 1 Winning Season
Zero Playoff Victories. Zero. The Dictionary definition of a Stat Filler.
You know how hard it is to put up those numbers for 11 years. And never win a damn thing. It’s almost comical.
Derozen: DeMar DeRozan has the lowest career plus/minus in the playoffs of All Time when playing 30+ minutes, at -373.
Lavine: That’s your 50 million dollar man for the next 2 years.
Demar: And your soon to be 36 yr old 25 million dollar man.
I would move Demar immediately. Send him to exile in Miami for Jaime Jacquez.
Sabonis is smart. He’s looking for the door. I would move him for a real PG like Afrenee Simons in the offseason.
Blazers are going to be playoff ready next yeah. They are one big away from being scary.
Sabonis gets to end his career where his dad was legendary.
Adding Simons and Jacquez will give this team some much needed youth at 25 and 24 years old.
Lavine will be impossible to move. Kings only dumb team to pay him.
I would also look to trade Monk and Keegan.
If the team is going to build around Lavine at least put some high iq players around him.
Sign Bamba in FA
Simons, Ellis, Lavine, Jacquez and Valenciunas
Not a Top 4 team. But could be Top 8.
Pels, Spurs and Blazers will all make jumps next year.
But Dallas, Clips, wil both probably descend.
I laughed at Anfernee Simmons: Real Point Guard. Go ask any Blazers fan how much of a real point guard he is.
Blazers ceiling compared to the Kings ceiling? Lol!!! Don’t know what amazing young pg you think you’re getting with little to no assets. Blazers will pass the Kings next year. Book that.
That’s cool. It has nothing to do with what I said but all of that is probably true.
Simmons is no way a point guard and less of one than Monk .
Well BOOK THAT!!
Absolutely. I follow the Blazers a lot and the majority of the fans is pretty disgusted with Billups playing Simons over Scoot.
Simons is a decent passing off-guard with so-so efficiency, but is a horribly weak defender and gets hunted by offenses.
Feels a bit like Portland maybe showcasing Simons for a trade. Scoot has really developed this season.
Simons can score and like with guys like LaVine, I don’t want to discredit his scoring prowess. But also, give a guy in the NBA enough usage and they can put up some stats. Look at what Davion did with us when he was getting 100 touches a game at the end of his rookie season. Or Naji Marshall right now on Dallas.
Simons has value, but is probably best suited to a 6th man of the year type of role with a contender. Hard to see him as “the man” on a truly competitive team. Probably some team constructs where he can start versus 6th man, but in general with a generic team, he’d be fire off the bench scoring and finishing games when he’s on.
And feels like Portland could put Scott and Sharpe in the starting lineup next season and not miss a beat. If they could trade Simons and net another good multipurpose wing, they could start to be that young, promising team.
Well if Monte gets fired, maybe you should apply for GM? We at TKH will wait with abated breath the team you build.
Harden is a winner? Okay, sure.
Agreed with everything you said about DDR and Lavine and as an extension you can put Sabonis in the same group when we’re referencing playoff success, or in these cases, lack thereof.
But as far as Simons, no thanks.
I think Lavine this offseason is tradeable, teams will always talk themselves into a scorer. But it’s not like this FO will consider trading him or rebuilding anyways.
Reports are Domas plans to meet with the FO at season’s end as he sees no direction with this franchise. If he demands a trade, well then maybe the FO’ hands are finally tied and they have to rebuild.
Yeah, Sac needs more winning players…like Mo Bamba
Pretty extreme takes here, the Kings are definitely stuck in no man’s land though so I get the frustration. The plan has been to remain in contention for the play-in/playoffs near bottom of bracket and not get any worse, and that’s pretty much what we’re getting. They could keep inching up with some more good moves but the West is forever stacked and these other franchises just have tons of built-in advantages over small market Kings. There’s no guarantee certain teams will get better or worse, the Kings could make a few successful moves and get into the 6 seed range next year. From there you can move up to 4 or 5 range, you never know.
I thought they played pretty well last night but the inability to close games is always the big problem with the Kings.
DeMar did his best interpretation of Fox in this game. Sure he filled the boxscore, but was 9-20 from the field and 1-7 from deep.
Ugly play of the game: Kings up by 2 with 43 seconds left. DeMar dibbles the for 20 seconds, never passes, and launches a contested three for a miss. Ugly.
Tough loss. The team played well without two stars and took it to the buzzer. In the end, this team is still a play-in team unless the Kings and the rest of the league buck a trend.
That possession was just terrible. He is not the guy to be taking an iso pull-up 3. I really hope that wasn’t the called play.
At least with Fox towards the end of the game, he seemed to still love to drive or run the P&R and try to get towards the hoop to score or dish.
DDR loves the old jab step, jab step, one dribble pull up. Offensive movement seems to stop.
And to be a bit fair, most teams on the final couple of possessions don’t run the same free flowing offense they do earlier in the game. But definitely feels like our level of offensive creativity and effectiveness drops.
Fox and DDR being ‘clutch players’ is a bit of a stretch for me. They both ball hog and take pretty bad shots usually, though some do go in. Not sure who decided the end of game shots all have to be iso but I’d love to see the ball moving and anybody who is open taking a shot. I agree with you though, DDR needs to attack the basket more and no 3s please at end of game.
can’t get closer than that.
It’s a fight for 7-9. The Dubs, to their credit, are pulling away from the pack.
19 games to go. alot can happen. As a Kings fsn, I expect doom, but I still have hope. I am seeing a competitive team, and that’s a very good thing. I see fight, and I see effort and energy. It loses it’s luster without wins, and there’s no rest, with the Knicks in town tomorrow.
It’s Butler. Butler is Amazing. Amazing! I live in Miami. He led that sorry mediocre Miami team to 3 ECF and 2 Finals appearances in all 5 years he was there.
That tells you all he does is win. Riles was to lazy to put another star around him.
I am a huge fan. I am going to love and see him get a chip with the
Dubs. Butler is the anthesis of Lavine.
Just leads and very high BBIq. Butler finally has his muse in Curry.
Butler is terrific and a winner until he isn’t. . Check back this time next season .
So Funny. Playoff Jimmy is a real thing. Kings would be so fortunate to have him. But then again, that would never happen. Winners like Butler would never come to this disaster.
Instead, I get the typical loser mentality Kings fan. Enjoy perennial loser Zack Lavine. Enjoy those highlight reels. See how far he takes you. Zero playoff wins. 1 winning season in 11 yrs. Case Closed.
The Kings don’t like winning players, they like empty stats players.
I agree %100 about “playoff Jimmy.” I grew-up in Oakland, and I’m still a GS fan when they aren’t playing the Kings. I hope he has one more run in him, and that rising sea-levels swallow the entire state of Florida in the “Gulf of America.” Thanks for kicking us when we’re down.
Interesting take on Butler, not sure I’ve heard anyone this high on him. Calling him the antithesis to LaVine is hilarious, I don’t fully agree. Butler can be a polarizing teammate and his offense is inefficient. I’ll take LaVine’s offense over Butler’s any day. Butler is a winner and makes winning plays for sure.
Two DDR shots toe on the line were game changers . Happens every game . Just sayin !
Let’s get him a pair of kicks one size smaller!
Unfortunately-this is what we’re stuck with for a few years…big issue, with Sabonis out-we probably need to find a 10 Day contract Center because those Lyles minutes really hurt us inside.
Well, that was too bad.
We could have won that one.
A bad game by Ellis when he needed to step up.
I’ve noticed Harden is a real tough matchup for Keon. He’s just too big and strong for him on the perimeter.
Yes, Keon has some wiry strength, but struggles against the stronger, bulkier guards.
I was ok with his defense, but he’s so hesitant and awkward when he has the ball in the paint. Unless he has momentum, he often gets rejected around the rim or puts up a weak floater that seems to miss way too often.
Don’t get me wrong, I like Keon, but now that teams have more tape and gameplan for him, his weaknesses get exposed a bit more.
For sure, Keon defends better vs quickness than strength. The big and/or strong guards give him problems and he ends up fouling them often.
Major factor in the loss: guarding Harden all the way out to half-court and on the key play staring at 3/4 court. WTF is that all about? He will drive around you to the basket. Also, Ellis or Murray should have been on him not LaRavia. Bad coaching by Doug. Harden drove in the key over and over again because we play him 30-45 feet from the basket.
Murray was assigned to Kawhi. Pick your poison, I suppose. The problem with that play was that nobody stepped in when Harden drove to the hoop. He just casually drove for a little floater with no resistant.
I think Jones hitting the two open 3s on the kickouts earlier made them choose not to step in on that one. Personally I would take my chance with Jones at that point. You know if Harden gets in the lane cleanly he will finish or draw a foul. Yeah, pick your poison like you said.
DC’s mojo left him last night and DDR failed him, and all of us. As much as the trap backfired on us, it worked to perfection for LA.
Not surprising, but definitely disappointing.
Thought the Kings did a lot of things well during the game, especially defensively. Offensively, it’s not great at the moment. I would urge them to play with a bit more pace and some high-post sets in order to improve the ball-movement – hopefully Sabonis’ imminent return will help with that.
And last but not least:
Close friend is a LAC season ticket holder. Told me this morning that was the most Kings fans he’s seen, “I was surrounded.”
Good job people.
It sounded like G1C on the broadcast.
Clippers have no fans lol, what a weak fan base.
Someone in this thread had the gall to clown the Kings about empty seats. That’s one problem they don’t have, and hardly ever have had. What a desperate sounding take!
I feel like they lost it when they left Derrick Jones Jr. wide open in the corner and he hit two consecutive threes. That hurt. You can live with the two’s but do not leave anyone open from the perimeter. Just poor execution there.
Your not wrong, but Zubac played really well, and he was killing them inside, so it’s not surprising his gravity created some open looks. I saw Sac snatch defeat from the jaws of victory when DDR spoiled it with his dribble out the clock and put up a bad shot routine. I’ve got love for DeMar, but he was his worst self last night. It wouldn’t have been so nauseating if he had just taken two more steps toward the basket, but he was shooting from 3-point range! toe on the line, of course.
Yep thats why Harden was able to hit his floater in OT. If it was my choice I would have taken my chances with Jones shooting. Pick your poison.
Your completely right, but Jones is another guy Sac should have pursued. They were apparently uninterested, and he’s already made us pay a few times. He’s become a really nice player and would have fit perfectly. He’s another dunk champ with an underwhelming career so far. He’s finally finding his game, and his niche’. LaVine is another dunk champ with carrier negative +/- who is now blossoming, (despite last night) and much to the dismay of his detractors (looking at you KOJ). LaVine hadn’t found his niche’, until now. He’ll continue to quiet the haters.
I woke up this morning with a realization that Monte really has created the 04′ Bulls West roster. Zach and Demar, obviously, but Keegan is Pat Williams, Keon is Caruso, Monk is Coby White, and JV is Vuc. The only outlier is Sabonis, whom the Kings seem to have forgotten about on offense. Remove Sabonis and we have near a perfect Bulls clone of the last few years. FWIW, those Bulls teams basically a .500 team as well.
I didn’t know we had guys who have been playing 20 plus years.. LOL except I think Keegan is better than Pat Williams, and I think that monk is a more dynamic score than white and Sabonis is a big differentiator. I could be wrong but definitely see your point.
Doh, I meant the 24′ Bulls!
Hey we’re a big market team, just the wrong one!!!
In the 4th, I was thinking just that, and it was way too much reliance on those two. Especially w/o PG play they really look like Bulls-left. I feel like there’s too much negativity around that fact. That Bulls team was pretty damn good when healthy, and this is a better version of them, at least slightly better. They were also more frail. This team is grittier, and more durable, better defensively.
I do think Keegan is much better than Pat Williams but yeah, pretty much.
Agreed. Keegan and Williams are comparable, but Keegan is better, especially as a shooter. Williams seems to be regressing and looks like a guy who needs a change of scenery. Murray has regressed in some ways, progressed in other very encouraging ways. He may still make a leap with Sac. The league is favoring two-way players more so than a few years back when the refs were blessing almost unwatchable guys like Harden, and his little 3-step “cheat-code.”
That was a tough one. The overturned 3pt foul on DDR was BS, that was an obvious foul. Last two losses, LAC and DEN, were to playoff caliber teams on the road, had some bad officiating while missing two key pieces.
DC has this group competing, HARD.
The roster has some glaring fit issues that have been well documented here but I am curious to see what this team looks like if DC gets a full offseason and training camp. I think given all the strangeness and drama that has happened this season he has done a phenomenal job.
Good thoughts. This team does really seem to like playing hard for Doug. How much confidence will they have in his leadership going forward after he let them down last night with his lack of adjustments? He won’t lose points with Zack, and DDR should feel like he owes him one after being allowed to spoil the game in the clutch. I can’t look forward to next season yet while we’re still in the hunt. But last night felt like a triple whammy against their playoff hopes. Lost another game in the standings, gave up the tie breaker, and basically locked Sac into a two-game play-in scenario. Not giving up hope, and I still love this franchise, and the team, just the way it is, but they need to do better, especially DC. He picked a bad time to take the leash off of Carter. He showed out a bit, in the first half, but should not have been playing such critical minutes late.
It was a good effort against a strong veteran team, despite missing pieces. They really missed Monk last night. If they fail to effectively integrate Domas when he’s back, he’s probably asking out just when he finally has a capable back-up. I was just entertaining the idea of trading Sabonis last week, not seriously, but now it already feels almost inevitable. That escalated quickly! Good on you for staying positive. Go Kings!
Very deflating loss. I would much rather have taken a beating last night. First time we’ve seen DC thoroughly out-coached. Love Carter, and I like seeing him get some time, but Doug stuck with him way too long. Not liking how he’s utilizing/under-utilizing Fultz. Maybe he just doesn’t like him (sour personality?) They needed his type of steady PG on offense last night, and instead DC stuck with DDR, and allowed him to shoot us out of the game.
Great challenge by the Clips, I just knew they would over-turn that one vs. bad challenge by Doug. As much as Keegan deserves that call, they’re just not giving it. They always say his feet were moving, not set. The NBA needs to address this. Not sure why a player needs to be perfectly motionless in that situation. If the offensive player initiates all the contact, and especially if he puts his shoulder in the defenders chest that’s a charge! We’ve seen worse examples though than the one last night. They just don’t call it that way. They had one to burn so it didn’t hurt much.
What did hurt was watching DDR not only dribbling the air out of the ball, and wasting clock, but he kept penetrating in the wrong direction! He would dribble to the 3-pt. line and then back out to the half-court line right into a trap. Over and over! I’m very impressed with his passing, he racks up assists, but he isn’t a PG, and he can’t initiate the offense. Horribly lack of strategy, and lack of adjustments. Not giving up on DC, but I hope he’s embarrassed this morning.
That was a pretty fun and competitive game, Kings played about as well as they can play. That’s the good and bad news haha. If the Kings are playing at or near their potential I enjoy the game, that’s my positive take because I don’t like to dwell on negatives too much.
Nice positive take, but I still feel like they can play better, especially in clutch time.
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