Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Mitchell (31) goes for the basket against the Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis (right) at Rocket Arena in Cleveland on Fri Jan 23, 2026 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The Sacramento Kings (12-33) hung with the Cleveland Cavaliers (25-20) through the first half and half of the third only to give up their lead which grew significantly in the fourth quarter. Sacramento lost the game 123-118 after trailing by two points with 90 seconds left in the game.

They had a great opportunity to win this game but a couple of fouls and missed shots in the final minute of play determined the winner. The Kings bench started the game and finished the first half with a collective 47 points.

Game recap: The Kings had a sluggish start, the Cavaliers going on a 11-0 run but battled back to tie up this game after the first 12 minutes of play. The first quarter came to an end with the two teams knotted at 35.

After some less than stellar games from their starters, the Kings played the majority of the opening quarter with their bench taking the court. They did not disappoint as they’re starters watched much of the game from the sidelines.

The second quarter was another see-saw battle with the two teams continuing to trade leads. The Cavaliers had as much as a 14 point lead in the game but it was Sacramento who led for much of the second quarter. The Kings outscored Cleveland in the quarter 36-33 and took a 71-68 lead into the half.

The Kings bench had a great first half of basketball collectively scoring 47 points. In the first two quarters Domantas Sabonis, Dennis Schroeder and Malik Monk each had double digits, Sabonis with 14, Schroeder with the team high of 17 and Monk with ten points.

The starters saw more action in the second quarter scoring 24 points collectively. Sacramento would need to take this battle into the second half and continue to keep pace with the Cavaliers.

Both teams were shooting well from the line and the Kings had the edge from beyond the arc and inside. Points in the paint were dead even with each team scoring 24 points. Another plus for the Kings was limiting the turnovers with only four in the half.

Three Cleveland starters finished the first half with double digits. Evan Mobley had the high for the first half with 19 points and Donovan Mitchell turning in 18 points.

The third quarter was more of the same with the Kings leading for the first five minutes of play by as much as five points. At 5:33 the Cavaliers took their most significant lead since the first quarter 87-82.

For the rest of the third quarter Cleveland continued to extend their lead taking a 100-89 lead with 1:22 left in the third. Going into the fourth quarter Cleveland had taken a 102-93 lead.

The Kings had trailed 11-0 to start the game and recovered and now they would need another surge with 12 minutes left in the game to do it. Four minutes into the final quarter the Kings made their move, cutting the 11-point Cavalier lead to four points 106-102 with 8:29 left in the game.

With 90 seconds left on the clock the Kings trailed by a couple of points 118-116. With a great chance to pull even it came down to Sacramento fouls and far too many missed shots in the final seconds. Sacramento has now lost four games in a row.

Sabonis finished the game with a double double. He had 24 points the high for the team and 16 rebounds. Schroeder had 21 points. DeRozan finished the game with 20 points but not much more for the King starters. The team had 11 turnovers in this game and hit 13 3-pointers. Schroeder was 3 of 5 from beyond the arc and Monk was 4 of 9.

Game notes: Friday night the Kings took on the Cavaliers in their first game on the road in quite awhile. They come into this game after losing to the Toronto Raptors last Wednesday 122-109 and prior to that game they lost to the Miami Heat 130-117.

The Kings lost four games in a row the first three of them at Golden 1 Arena. Friday night the Kings sought to break their losing streak and get back on track. The Kings needed more production off their bench and looked to Nique Clifford, Dylan Cardwell, Malik Monk and Dennis Schroeder to get the Kings going in the right direction despite the effort the Kings lost by a five point deficit. Upon his return Domantas Sabonis will continue to play off the bench.

Donovan Mitchell had the high for the game hitting 33 and Evan Mobley had a double double with 29 points and 13 rebounds on Friday.

Sunday the Kings will travel to Detroit for a matchup with the Pistons. Tipoff for this game is scheduled for 12:00 PM.