First Quarter

The Sacramento Kings opened up the first quarter with a quick 11-4 start against the Memphis Grizzlies. Both De’Aaron Fox and Bogdan Bogdanovic had beautiful drives to the rim that were finished. Fox also hit a smooth three. But like any other Kings lead, it vanished quickly.

The Kings found themselves on the wrong side of a 20-4 run at one point. Turnovers were another issue, as there was seven in the quarter. Six of those were steals for the Grizzlies.

Sacramento was also out-rebounded 16-8 and out-assisted 8-2. Memphis got to the line easily as they converted nine out of ten free throws while the Kings were empty, missing all three attempts from the stripe. A quarter full of negatives ended with the Kings trailing 30-17. Sacramento trailed 36-22 against Memphis on New Year’s Eve.

Quick Takeaways

Fox and Bogi had fast starts.

Fox and Skal Labissiere had a nice block each.

Grizzlies Deyonta Davis looks like the Walmart brand of The Weeknd.

Second Quarter

Wouldn’t it be nice if Sacramento played like this every quarter? They could’ve been better offensively but on defense they were superb, allowing only 10 points. Sacramento outscored Memphis 23-10 to tie it up at 40 a piece.

Vince Carter and Buddy Hield opened the quarter with threes while we saw the Bogi and Willie Cauley-Stein combo return for an alley-oop.

Sacramento finished the half out-rebounding Memphis 32-27, a crucial aspect in making the comeback possible. One thing I surely didn’t miss was Ben McLemore’s corner threes that rarely went in.

Fox had nine points to lead the way for the Kings followed by Bogdanovic’s six points. Cauley-Stein led the way in rebounding with eight, followed by Hield’s six.

One Takeaway

Labissiere’s hustle is what we want to see from someone who deserves more play time.

The Kings weren’t getting blown out.

Third Quarter

Four turnovers in four possessions is not an ideal way to start a quarter, especially if you don’t know where the basketball is…*cough* Cauley-Stein *cough. Memphis capitalized easily, en route to an 11-2 run to lead 51-42.

Dillon Brooks was one of the chosen ones to have a big game against the Kings as he ended the quarter with 18 points.

Memphis dominated this quarter just like the first quarter as they soon established a 15 point lead, leading 62-47. The Kings were shooting 2/9 in the quarter and were on a field goal drought lasting over three minutes until Vince Carter came alive with a three pointer. Carter would eventually nail another three to give him nine.

Both teams are shot the ball poorly but eight more Sacramento turnovers was the killer in the quarter. Maybe that’s why Zach Randolph keeps getting applauded as he exits the game. He keeps giving the ball away! I wonder if he remembers what team he is playing for.

Quick Takeaways

Fox’s passing and dribbling has been very exciting to watch.

Fox’s speed earned two free throws to end the quarter, his only points in that quarter.

Fourth Quarter

Garrett Temple and Vince Carter started off the quarter with threes to get back into the game, sort of. The defense played really good at times but they failed to get stops and it translated to misses on offense.

Well of course, Ben McLemore decided to get hot as he knocked down a few threes and even got a steal that led to free throws.

Memphis ran away as they outscored Sacramento 39-29. The Kings had no chance in the second half. Dillon Brooks led the way with 22 for Memphis, McLemore had 21 and Tyreke Evans had 14.

For the Kings, Fox led the way with 16 and Bogi and Carter each had 15. Put Carter in the three point competition, NOW.

The Kings ended the game shooting 32/80 (40%) with 11 threes. They were 13/18 from the free throw stripe and were out-rebounded 49-44. They were out-assisted 24-18, out-stolen 12-10, out-blocked 5-3 and lost the turnover battle 21-13.

But hey, at least McLemore had a good game…just not for us.

Final Takeaways

Zach Randolph played 18 minutes and had four points in his return.

It really be ya own #McLemore.

Kings on a seven game losing streak :/