Kings starting five in New Orleans Photo @SacramentoKings
by Charlie O. Mallonee
The Sacramento Kings are now on the verge of mathematical elimination from playoff contention after losing to the Pelicans in New Orleans 121-118 on Thursday night. The Kings chances of making the playoffs were remote, but now, they are non-existent.
The Kings are just 14-23 on the road after the loss in New Orleans. That really is not surprising for a young team like Sacramento. Learning to win on the road in the NBA is one of the most difficult lessons to learn for a young team.
The biggest lead in this game was nine points by the Pelicans. The game was tied 13 times and the lead changed between the teams 15 times. This was the very essence of what is defined as a “close game”.
Julius Randle put a driving layup through the basket for the Pelicans with 8.7-seconds to go in the game to give New Orleans a 121-118 lead.
Buddy Hield took a potential game-tying 3-point shot from 28 feet away from the basket with 4.0-seconds remaining on the clock. Unfortunately for the Kings, the shot was not good and the Kings would lose by three points.
The loss dropped the Kings record to 37-38 on the year with seven games to play on the schedule. The Pelicans are now 32-45 for the season.
Key Performers in the Game
Koufos drives on Randle Photo @NBCS
Kings
Buddy Hield – the Pels former first-round draft pick – was Sacramento’s leading scorer with 27 points. He shot 11-for-21 from the floor but went just 1-for-8 from 3-point range.
De’Aaron Fox recorded a double-double by scoring 25 points and dishing out 12 assists. Fox hit 11-of-22 his shots from the field. He also grabbed five rebounds, made three steals, and had one blocked shot.
Willie Cauley-Stein also put a double-double in the book by scoring 18 points and hauling in 12 rebounds. WCS who has struggled at the charity stripe went 4-for-4 at the free throw line on Thursday night.
Bogdon Bogdanovic scored 14 points in just over 18 minutes of playing time.
Marvin Bagley III and Harrison Barnes each scored 10 points.
The Kings were outscored in the paint 74-64.
The Pelicans won the battle of 2nd chance points 14-9.
New Orleans
Julius Randle was the leading scorer in the contest with 34 points. He hit 12-of-24 shots from the floor and went a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line. Randle made it a double-double game by pulling down 10 rebounds.
Christian Wood came off the bench and scored 25 points in just over 27 minutes on the floor. He sank 11 of his 16 shots.
Elfrid Payton put 16 points up on the board shooting 50-percent from the floor (7/14). He also recorded nine rebounds.
Anthony Davis did not play due to “lower back spasms”.
Up Next
The Kings traveled to Houston after the game and will take on the Rockets on Saturday night.
The Pelicans will host the “hapless” LA Lakers on Sunday.
The Sacramento Kings trailed the Mavericks by eight points with 4:48 to in the game on Tuesday night in Dallas. The Kings then tied the game at 116-all with 1:33 remaining in the contest. Sacramento then took the lead on a Buddy Hield 25-foot 3-point jump shot, and the Kings never looked back. They won the game 125-121.
The victory evened the Kings record at 37-37 for the season. That is a 10 win improvement over the 2017-18 season with eight games to go on the schedule. That means the Kings could win 40 games which would be an incredible 13-game improvement over the previous year.
No reporter or expert would have predicted that the Sacramento Kings would be in a position to win 40 games prior to the beginning of the season. This season has been nothing short of incredible.
Fox was the Kings leading scorer Photo: @SacramentoKings
Why did the Kings win the game?
They shot 50.6-percent (44/87) overall for the game. The Kings hit five more field goals than the Mavericks.
Sacramento hit 10-of-23 (43.5%) 3-point attempts.
The Kings were spectacular from the free throw line. They converted 27-of-32 (84.4%) shots from the charity stripe. The number of opportunities and percentage of conversions represents one of their best performances of the season.
SAC took great care of the ball. They turned it over just seven times which resulted in just 11 Dallas points.
Top Performances
Hield helped the Kings late in the game Photo: @SacramentoKings
Kings
De’Aaron Fox was the Kings leading scorer with 23 points. His key contribution came at the free throw line where he hit 11-of-12 shots. Fox also dished out eight dimes.
Harrison Barnes made his first trip back to Dallas since being traded. The Mavs honored him with a tribute video during the second quarter. Barnes put up 18 points shooting 7-for-16 from the field and hitting 3-of-5 from 3-point land.
Buddy Hield saved his best until late in the game. Hield scored 17 points. He went a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. Hield also grabbed five rebounds.
Willie Cauley-Stein put 16 points in the book. He went 7-for-8 from the floor in the contest. He also hauled in seven rebounds.
Marvin Bagley III and Bogdan Bogdanovic each scored 14 points versus the Mavs.
Dallas
Luka Doncic was the high-scorer in the game with 28 points. He went just 9-for-20 from the floor but hit 10-of-11 from the free throw line. Doncic made it a double-double by recording 12 rebounds.
Dwight Powell put a double-double in the book by scoring 21 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. He hit 6-of-7 shots from the field and went 9-for-11 from the charity stripe.
Maxi Kleber came off the bench to record 17 points. He went 6-for-10 from the field including four 3-point baskets.
Up next
The Kings travel on to New Orleans where they will play the Pelicans on Thursday night.
The Mavericks travel to Miami where they will face the Heat on Thursday.
Sacramento — At the end of three quarters on Wednesday night, the Sacramento Kings held a 25 point lead over the visiting Brooklyn Nets, 103-78. The Kings largest lead of the night had been 28 points. All of the fans in the Golden 1 Center were settling in and getting ready for some “Showtime” basketball in the final period. Things did not go as planned.
The Nets – behind an incredible 27-point scoring barrage by D’Angelo Russell – outscored the Kings 45-18 the fourth quarter to end a three-game losing streak and defeat Sacramento 123-121. The stunned sellout crowd left the arena trying to figure out how the Kings allowed what appeared to be a sure victory to become such agonizing defeat.
This was just the fourth time in the NBA shot clock era that a team has come back to win after trailing by 25 points through three quarters. That is not the kind of stain you want to have on your season if you are the Kings.
Why Did the Kings Lose?
The took their foot off the gas in the fourth quarter. The looked at the scoreboard, saw a 25 point lead and relaxed. After all, there was no chance the Nets were going to mount a comeback down by that many points.
Sacramento did not hustle back on defense. D’Angelo Russell and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson made them pay for that as the two Nets combined for 39 points in the final quarter. Russell hit 10-of-15 shots including four 3-point baskets. Hollis-Jefferson was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field in the fourth quarter.
The Kings also shot horribly in the final stanza. They connected on just 5-of-22 attempts (22.7%) and went 0-for-8 from behind the 3-point line. They also turned the ball over seven times which resulted in six Brooklyn points.
Fox takes the shot from the key Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee
KINGS
Top Performers
Marvin Bagley III was the Kings top scorer with 28 points. He shot 12-for-15 in the game and went 2-for-2 from 3-point range. Bagley has been working on adding the 3-point shot to allow him to become a true “stretch four”. Bagley also played just over 29 minutes. That is the most playing time he has seen since returning from his knee sprain.
De’Aaron Fox added 27 points as he hit 10-of-20 shots from the field. Fox went 2-for-5 from downtown. The point guard dished out nine assists and made four rebounds in almost 35 minutes of playing time.
Harrison Barnes put up 17 points, added seven rebounds and played just over 38 minutes in the loss.
Buddy Hield did not have a “Buddy Buckets” type game. He scored just eight points shooting 4-for-13 overall while going 0-for-8 from beyond the arc. His off night was not the cause of the Kings loss.
Team Stats
SAC shot 51.6-percent (49/95) for the contest. They sank 9-of-25 (36.0%) of their 3-point attempts.
The Kings went 14-for-20 (70%) from the free throw line. Both the percentage and number of attempts are a little low.
The turnover to assists ratio was awful. The Kings made 25 assists but they turned the ball over 21 times. That missed the desired 2:1 ratio by a “country mile”.
Sacramento was outscored in the paint 68-64. The Kings usually own the paint when they win.
The Kings are now 34-36 for the season. They are 7.0 games out of the eighth-place and the final playoff slot in the Western Conference with 12 games to play.
BROOKLYN
Spotlight Players
D’Angelo Russell was the games leading scorer with 44 points. He shot 17-for-33 from the floor and connected on 6-of-15 from downtown. Russell made it a double-double by distributing 12 “dimes”. He made four steals. Hey Lakers, Mr. Russell is a Restricted Free Agent in the off-season. Maybe you should make a play for the one you traded away.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson came off the bench when it looked like it was going to be “mop-up” time and wound up scoring the winning bucket. He scored 14 points in just under 17 minutes on the floor. Hollis-Jefferson went 6-for-7 shooting from the field.
Jared Dudley scored six points in the contest. Why is that significant? All six points came in the fourth quarter when all the points were scored by three players – Russell, Hollis-Jefferson, and Dudley.
Team Stats
The Nets shot 50.0-percent (47/94) from the floor and hit 12-of-35 (34.3%) attempts from 3-point land.
Brooklyn hit 17-of-23 (73.9%) of their shots from the charity stripe.
BKN recorded 28 assists and committed 18 turnovers. The TOV’s were too high but they made it work.
They made 16 steals versus 13 for SAC.
The Nets blocked four Kings shots. The Kings recorded only one blocked shot.
The Nets are now 37-36 on the season and one-half game back of sixth-place Detroit in the Eastern Conference.
Up Next
The Kings will return to action on Thursday when the Dallas Mavericks come to Sacramento for a 7:00 PM tipoff. This will be a chance for Sacramento fans to see rookie Luka Doncic and possibly see Dirk Nowitzki for the final time.
Brooklyn will continue their seven-game road trip on Friday night in Los Angeles when they will take on the Lakers.
Bagley shoots over Lopez Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee
by Charlie O. Mallonee
The Sacramento Kings broke up a three-game losing streak on Sunday by devouring the hapless Chicago Bulls 129-102 before a delighted sellout crowd at the Golden 1 Center. After returning home from a very disappointing four-game road trip that saw the team pick up just one victory, the young Kings were in need of something to put a smile back on their faces. There were plenty of smiles after the game on St. Patrick’s Day.
Kings head coach Dave Joerger said, “… they do work so hard, it’s fun to see them get the result that does make them feel good.”
The teams played a tough first quarter that saw seven lead changes and four ties. It appeared that the Bulls had arrived ready to put up a fight on Sunday.
Sacramento was trailing 23-21 with 6.7-seconds to go in the first quarter. Bogdan Bogdanovic brought the ball up the court while watching the clock, took a step back behind the 3-point line, and sank a 26-foot shot to give the Kings a 24-23 lead at the end of the first period.
The Kings would never trail in the game again.
The bigs crash the boards Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee
Why did the Kings win?
Sacramento was ready for a win, and they came out willing to work for it. Dave Joerger revealed after the game that their plan was to work the for a shot in the paint early in the possession (four to six seconds) then start looking for open shots outside if layups were not available. The Kings outscored the Bulls 80-56 in the paint.
The Kings shot the basketball very well in the contest. They shot 52.4-percent (54/103) overall and 34.8-percent (8/23) from 3-point land. They also converted 13-of-16 (81.2%) or their free throw attempts. Poor free throw shooting had hurt them on the road trip.
The Kings also banged on the boards. Sacramento out-rebounded Chicago 48-39. They also outdid their opponent on the offensive glass 15-10. The Kings scored 23 2nd chance points to 15 for the Bulls.
Sacramento continued to take very good care of the basketball as they turned it over just 12 times (13 CHI points) while the Bulls turned it over 20 times (25 SAC points).
Top Performances
Bogi challenges Lopez Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee
Kings
Marvin Bagley III played an amazing 21-minutes of basketball (we believe the minutes restriction from his knee injury is still in place). He scored a game-high 21-points by shooting 9-for-14 from the field and going a perfect 3-for-3 from the charity stripe. MB35 also grabbed nine rebounds and dished out two assists.
The other young big – Harry Giles III – also played 21-minutes. H20 scored 16 points while shooting 8-for-14 in the contest. He also hauled in six rebounds, added three assists and blocked three shots.
And those other guys: De’Aaron Fox scored 17 points, Buddy Hield, 16, Harrison Barnes 15, Willey Cauley-Stein 9, Bjelica 8, and Bogdanovic 8.
All 13 players on the active roster saw playing in the game on Sunday.
Chicago
Zach LaVine was the leading scorer for the Bulls with 18 points. You may remember that Kings tried to get LaVine in the off-season, but the Bulls matched the Sacramento offer to keep talented guard in Chicago.
The real star for the Bulls is “tankathon”. Chicago is 19-52 on the season and their real goal is to finish with the best chance to get the number one pick in the NBA Draft Lottery in June. Right now, they have the fourth worst record in the league and have a 12.5-percent chance in Zion Williamson sweepstakes. It is tough to be too motivated when you know your team’s goal is to be “the biggest loser”.
Import Milestone
The Kings record improved to 34-35 after the win on Sunday. That is most wins for Sacramento since back in 2007-08 when the team won 38 games. The prognosticators at FiveThirtyEight.com predict that the Kings will win 39 games this season.
Bjelica hits the corner three Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee
Up Next
The Kings are off until Tuesday night when they will face the much improved and playoff-bound Brooklyn Nets at the Golden 1 Center.
Chicago traveled to Phoenix after the game and will play the pesky Suns on Monday night.
On Thursday night, the Sacramento Kings record fell under .500 for the first time since January 8th when they lost to the Boston Celtics 126-120. The Kings are now 33-34 on the season after this loss on the road. They are now 1-2 on the four-game road trip with one game to go in Philadelphia on Friday night
This was once again a battle of the tiers. There are three tiers in the NBA. Tier one is the upper one-third of the teams that are guaranteed a playoff spot and have a relatively realistic chance to go deep into the playoffs.
Two tier teams are the ones that are battling for the number seven or eight slots in the playoffs and may wind up in the draft lottery with very late selections. Tier three teams are tanking to get the best shot at one of the top three picks in the draft lottery in order to turn their team around as soon as possible.
Boston is a tier one team. The Kings have made the jump from tier three to tier two this season. That has been exciting for fans, but ultimately, it is going to be painful because each loss drops the Kings further out of playoff contention.
Why did the Kings lose?
The first reason the Kings lost was the play of Kyrie Irving. Irving is a closer. He is a legitimate superstar. Irving posted a triple-double scoring 31 points, dishing out 12 assists and grabbing 10 rebounds. As they said in the classic movie Glengarry Glen Ross, “Coffee is for closers.” Kyrie can have the whole pot.
The Kings also lost because they did not convert their opportunities at the charity stripe into points. Sacramento went to the free throw line 23 times but put only 13 shots through the hoop. A 56.5-percent free throw shooting percentage is just unacceptable for professional basketball players. This has been an on-going problem for the Kings this season, and it is a problem that the team must address in the off-season if they are to take their game to the next level.
Kings top performers
Photo:@NBCS
Buddy Hield was the game’s leading scorer with 34 points. He hit 14-of-24 shots overall and went 6-for-10 from long distance. Mr. Hield also distributed seven assists while turning the ball over just one time.
Willie Cauley-Stein recorded a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds. WCS added four assists and made zero turnovers.
Marvin Bagley III returned to the court and scored 14 points in just over 19 minutes of playing time. It is reasonable to believe that MB35 was playing with a minutes restriction in place. After the game, Dave Joerger said it was unfair to expect too much from Bagley having to come back in a “playoff game”.
De’Aaron Fox turned in another strong performance scoring 19 points while dishing out nine dimes and hauling in seven rebounds.
Harrison Barnes put 20 points up on the board.
Boston top performers
Photo:@NBCS
Kyrie – see point 1 on why the Kings lost.
Jaylen Brown came off the bench to score 22 points. His play proved to be a real “back-breaker” versus the Kings.
Marcus Morris posted a double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds.
Where the teams stand after the game
With the loss, the Kings remain in sole possession of ninth-place the NBA Western Conference, but they are now five games back of the eighth-place LA Clippers. The Kings have 15 games left to play in the regular season. The projection has been that they would need to win a minimum of 43 games to make the playoffs. That would mean going 10-5 in the final 15 contests.
The Celtics record improves to 42-27 on the season and Boston has a very secure hold on fifth-place in the Eastern Conference. They have a 6.5 game lead over sixth-place Brooklyn. Boston is chasing Philadelphia for fourth-place. The Sixers currently have a 1.5 game lead over the Celtics.
Up next
The Kings made the short flight to Philly and will play the very tough 76ers on Friday in the second game of a back-to-back set on the road. The tip-off is scheduled for 4:00 PM PDT.
Boston will host the scrappy Atlanta Hawks on Saturday afternoon.
SACRAMENTO– Wednesday night began with great hope for the Kings as they learned Kyrie Irving would not be playing for the Celtics due to a left thigh contusion. The betting lines immediately changed making the Kings the favorites minus two points.
The other advantage the Kings had going into the game with Boston was it was the second game of a back-to-back set on the road for the Celtics. Statistically, that also gives the home team a higher percentage chance of winning the game.
Things were going the Kings way before the game ever tipped-off. Unfortunately for Sacramento fans when the final buzzer sounded, Boston had defeated the Kings 111-109.
Why did the Kings lose?
There were two key factors that cost Sacramento the game:
Too many turnovers – The Kings have done an excellent job of taking care of the ball this season. In fact, it has been one of the keys to their success. On Wednesday night, Los Kings turned the ball over 18 times which resulted in 21 points for Boston. For the season, Sacramento has averaged 13.9 turnovers per game.
Not taking advantage of the free throw bonus – The Kings put the Celtics into the penalty in the fourth quarter with 8:25 left to play. That should have created a great advantage for Sacramento to exploit by driving to the basket and picking up a bonus free throw by getting fouled. The Kings were unable to do that. After putting Boston in the penalty, the Kings would not shoot a free throw until there was just 3:36 remaining to play. That five-minute gap without a free throw attempt may well have cost Sacramento the game.
— Sports Radio Service (@SportsRadioSrvc) March 7, 2019
Kings Top Performers
Harrison Barnes came up big for the Kings again as he put 24 points in the book to go with eight rebounds. Barnes hit 8-of-14 field goal attempts including three 3-point baskets.
Buddy Hield added 23 points in the game. It was an odd game for Hield. He scored 14 points in the first half, zero points in the third quarter and nine points in the final period. In hustling Hield fashion, he also hauled in eight rebounds.
Willie Cauley-Stein scored 19 points, pulled down seven rebounds and added three assists in a very nice game for the center.
De’Aaron Fox had a 16 point game to go with his seven assists.
Bogdan Bogdanovic had an active night recording 14 points against the Celtics. “Bogi” shot 5-for-9 from the floor and four of those buckets were 3-pointers.
De’Aaron Fox said it is always hard to lose a game like this one
— Sports Radio Service (@SportsRadioSrvc) March 7, 2019
Boston Head Coach Brad Stevens on the game
“They (the bounces) weren’t going our way. We had plenty of chances late offensively that just didn’t go down too. (Jayson) Tatum made a huge play – getting foul(ed) and a huge shot. But, we had a number of other possessions that you felt pretty good about that just didn’t go down. (Marcus) Morris made big plays and everybody stepped up to get up a huge win.”
Celtics Top Performers
Jayson Tatum had a team-high and tied for the game-high scoring 24 points. He shot 8-for-17 from the field and hit 6-of-6 from the free throw line.
Al Horford put 21 points up on the board and made it a double-double game by grabbing 11 rebounds. Horford scored 17 of those points in the second half.
Marcus Morris added 19 points for Boston in just over 33-minutes on the floor.
Terry Rozier scored 16 points. He put up 10 of those points in the first half and was a real key the Celtics success on offense in the first 24-minutes.
Gordon Hayward added 12 points coming off the bench and dished out five assists as well.
The game’s effect on the playoff races
The loss dropped the Kings record to 32-32 for the season and keeps them mired in ninth place in the Western Conference. The Spurs and Clippers are now tied with identical 37-29 records and both hold a four-game lead over the Kings in the standings.
The Celtics record improved to 40-26 with the victory. Boston now has sole possession of sixth-place in the East with a very comfortable 6.5 game lead over seventh-place Detroit. The Celtics are 1.5 games behind fifth-place Philadelphia.
Same two teams next week
The Kings and Celtics will have a rematch next Thursday in Boston. The Celtics could well determine the Kings fate when it comes to making the NBA Playoffs.
Up next
Both teams are off until Saturday.
The Kings will play the Knicks at Madison Square Garden with a 9:00 AM Pacific time tip-off. The early start is necessary because the Rangers have a hockey game that night in the Garden.
Boston is off to Atlanta to face the Hawks to wrap up their road trip.
SACRAMENTO — The Kings are still in the Western Conference playoff race, but nothing states that fact better than a win.The Kings were fortunate enough to survive the pesky New York Knicks on Monday at Golden 1 Center.
Sacramento never trailed after the first quarter, but they never felt comfortable, even the last minutes of the fourth when the Knicks were still in range, and capable of stealing the middle stop of their three-game road trip.
“We didn’t make the shots that we usually make but we were able to get them to turn the ball over,” De’Aaron Fox said. “They usually don’t do that.”
Fox was one of five double-digit scorers for the Kings, who didn’t play a great deal of defense, but kept the pace, and shared the basketball against the team with the NBA’s worst record.
While the Knicks have been atrocious in losing 22 of 25, the Kings have been downright frustrated, losing 5 of 6, with all the losses by seven points or less. Moreover, their playoff chances have dwindled as a result, but their disdain for falling below .500 at this late date in the season by losing to a beleaguered opponent at home may have been their biggest motivational factor on Monday.
Now their hope is that same motivation carries them in their game against the free-falling Celtics on Wednesday, then again in the rematch with the Knicks in Madison Square Garden on Saturday.
Regardless the Kings face and uphill battle trying to catch the Clippers and Spurs for the coveted, eighth spot. Both teams won Monday, keeping their edge over Sacramento at three games.
SACRAMENTO–When you compete this hard–for 48 minutes and overtime–it’s the last thing you want to hear.
But there was Eric Bledsoe, basking in the glow of hand delivering the road win for Eastern Conference-leading Bucks, and wanting to say something conciliatory towards the Kings after one of the best, and most competitive games in the NBA this season.
Again, it was the last thing the disappointed Kings wanted to hear.
“Even if they don’t make it this year–even if they do–they’ve got a bright future,” Bledsoe said of the promising Kings.
Yeah, that’s nice, Eric, but what the Kings really would have appreciated was a season-transforming win. After a stretch of five games against the some of the league’s best teams, the Kings have just one win, hardly the qualifications for ending the NBA’s lengthiest, playoff drought dating back to 2006.
“That’s what happens when you’re trying to make the playoffs, you go through some bumps and bruises, but we have to keep fighting and keep grinding,” said Buddy Hield, who led Sacramento with 32 points.
On the night the Clippers lost at Utah, and the Lakers got past the Pelicans at home, the Kings may have played the best basketball, but fell two games out of the coveted, eighth spot in the Western Conference.
The Kings didn’t shoot well, or shut down a Bucks’ attack that improved at the trade deadline with the addition of Nikola Mirotic, but they did protect the ball, hit the offensive glass and put up a whopping 118 shots. That effort paid off in the fourth quarter when the Kings wiped out a 13-point deficit and propelled themselves into overtime.
“They made several runs at us. … Just really impressed with their young players and with the job coach Dave is doing. They have a hell of a future ahead of them,” said Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer.
But the Kings reached overtime at a disadvantage without rookie standout Marvin Bagley, who was injured running into a hard screen in the middle of the floor that left him with a knee contusion. Bagley will have an MRI examination today to determine the severity of the injury.
The Bucks also reached overtime without their biggest star, Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was limited to 24 minutes due to a sore knee that forced him to miss Milwaukee’s previous game. But Bledsoe and Malcom Brogdon both hit big shots in the extra session to secure the win for the Bucks.
The Kings have an estimated 12 percent shot to make the playoffs, and overcome their most likely outcome of 41-41. Eleven of the Kings’ 22 remaining opponents currently have winning records, and their schedule is measurably tougher than the Clippers and the Spurs schedules.
Winning 45 games is still the goal, as that’s where the Clippers project as the most likely eighth-seeded team in the West. The Kings would need to win 14 of 22–which would be their hottest stretch of the season–to reach 45 wins.
Sacramento Kings reporter Sean Cunningham has unearthed a significant number in the Kings’ quest to end the NBA’s longest playoff drought. It’s a number that bares watching given the team’s positioning directly in the middle of the Western Conference postseason hunt.
45, 45 wins. For the Kings, it’s going to be tantalizingly close. But they didn’t get any closer in Minneapolis on Monday.
The Kings were defenseless in the second quarter, relinquishing a double-digit lead, then trailing for the entirety of the second half in a 112-105 loss to the Timberwolves. William Bagley’s 3-pointer with 3:05 remaining got the Kings within 108-104, but they got no closer.
The Kings fell to 31-29, blowing an opportunity to assume the eighth spot by percentage points with the Spurs losing to the Nets, their seventh loss in their last eight games. Now, the Kings need a 14-8 finish–which would be the hottest stretch of their season–to reach the magical 45 wins.
“We’re growing, and it’s the level of experience that is required,” Kings coach Dave Joerger said of losing to the Wolves, a team that qualified for the 2018 playoffs on the regular season’s final day. “They’ve got a lot of older guys that have been through it.”
Based on Sacramento’s ability to beat losing teams, and inability to get past winning teams, the Kings will need a couple of surprise victories in the final 22 games to win 14 more times. Twelve of their final 22 opponents have winning records, and their schedule is more difficult than the Spurs and Clippers, the two teams closest to them in the standings.
But the Spurs are in free fall, and the Kings have already captured the tie breaker against San Antonio. While few other tie breakers figure to go Sacramento’s way, beating out the Spurs could be a realistic goal. Given that, the Kings could have used a win on Monday.
Karl-Anthony Towns led the Timberwolves with 34 points and 21 rebounds in his return from injury following a car crash last week. Towns had appeared in all 302 games in his career prior to missing the previous two.
“You don’t get a chance to realize how much you appreciate being out there,” Towns said of his return. “I’ve always wanted to be available for my teammates. But, when you sit out, you’re realizing little things you may have taken for granted.’’
Bagley did his part to neutralize the production of Towns with 25 points and 11 rebounds in just his second-ever NBA starting assignment, but the pivotal, second quarter belonged to Towns and the Wolves.
Towns scored 18 of the Wolves’ 44 points in the frame as the Kings squandered their 30-19 lead after the first quarter.
Joerger elected to bench leading scorer Buddy Hield down the stretch as his club rallied. Hield had a rough night with five turnovers while missing nine of his 16 shot attempts.
“He couldn’t hold onto the basketball and he struggled in different areas, and sometimes you have those nights,” Joerger said of Hield. “Corey Brewer was playing with some energy and it’s just one of those things.”
The Kings return to Golden 1 Center on Wednesday to face the Eastern Conference-leading Bucks at 7 pm.
The Sacramento Kings entered the homestretch of the NBA season knowing that they needed to really improve their record versus Western Conference teams. As they began the game in Oklahoma City on Saturday night, Sacramento was 16-22 on the season versus Western Conference foes and just 5-12 playing those teams on the road.
After losing a heartbreaker to the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night, the Kings had to travel to OKC to face the Thunder who feature Russell Westbrook – “the King of the triple-double” – and the potential 2018-19 MVP Paul George who own the third spot in the Western Conference.
OKC was coming off a tough Friday night
The Thunder hosted the Utah Jazz on Friday night and had to really battle to come away with a victory. That game went into two overtimes before the Thunder finally put the Jazz away 148-147.
Paul George had to play 50-minutes. Russell Westbrook spent almost 43 minutes on the floor before fouling out in the first overtime.
The Kings needed to take advantage of the Thunder playing in the second game of a back-to-back set, especially when the first game went into double overtime.
First half perfection
Photo: @SacramentoKings
The Kings did exactly what they needed to do in the first 24-minutes of the game. Sacramento shot 50-percent (25/50) from the floor. They struggled a bit from downtown hitting just 3-of-12 (33.3%) from long range. They dished out 16 assists while turning the ball over just six times. Those six turnovers resulted in eight Thunder points.
Buddy Hield led the SAC scoring attack with 18 points in the half. He went 8-for-12 shooting including two 3-pointers. Bogdan Bogdanovic added 12 points by going 4-for-6 from the floor. Marvin Bagley III came off the bench to score 11 points and grab six rebounds.
To no one’s surprise, Russell Westbrook led the charge for Oklahoma City who looked tired and out of sync right from the opening tip-off. Westbrook put 18 points in the book while Paul George was the next leading scorer with seven points.
The Thunder shot just 35.8-percent (19/53) from the field. The had just eight assists and turned the ball over eight times which resulted in 12 Sacramento points.
At the end of the first half, the Kings held a 63-49 lead over the Thunder.
The second half had to mean a Thunder comeback
Even if they are tired, a visiting team cannot expect to keep a talented team like the Thunder from making big runs in order to get back into the game.
The Thunder went on an 18-6 run to begin the third quarter and cut the Kings lead to just two points with 7:29 to go in the period. The Kings woke up and began to play their game. Sacramento went back up by 14 points with 2:24 remaining in the quarter.
With 36-minutes in the book, the Kings still held a 94-83 lead, but everyone had a feeling that the Thunder were not ready to give up.
The final 12:00
OKC used a combination of strong play from Dennis Schroder, Paul George, Markieff Morris and of course, Russell Westbrook to fight their way back into the game one more time. By the 6:26 mark, the Thunder had cut the Kings lead to three points.
Russell Westbrook would go on to score 15 of the 33 points the Thunder would score in the quarter. The lead changed four times in the period. OKC outscored SAC 33-25 in the final 12-minutes which is what made it such a close game.
When the final buzzer sounded, the Kings free throw shooting down the stretch allowed them to hang on and win the game 119-116.
Kings by the numbers
The win raised the Kings record to 31-28 on the season which allows them to remain in sole possession of ninth place in the Western Conference. The Clippers beat the Grizzlies so they are 1.5 games ahead in eighth place. The Lakers lost to the Pelicans (even with Anthony Davis held out of the game) which means they are now two games back of the Kings in 10th place.
Top performers:
Bagley scores two of his 19 points Photo: @SacramentoKings
Buddy Hield led the SAC scoring attack with 34 points. “Buddy Buckets” hit 12-of-22 shots overall and went 3-for-5 from beyond the 3-point line. He also was very effective from the free throw line converting 7-of-9 opportunities.
Marvin Bagley III recorded a double-double by scoring 19 points and hauling 10 rebounds. MB35 also added three assists, three blocked shots, and two steals.
De’Aaron Fox also scored 19 points in the game. He also dished out nine assists, blocked three shots and added a steal.
Team performance:
The Kings outscored the Thunder 48-46 in the Paint
The Thunder won the battle of 2nd Chance Points 16-7
Even though they were tired, OKC scored more Fast Break Points than the Kings 25-19
SAC shot 45.8-percent (44/96) for the game
They hit 7-of-19 (36.8%) from long range
The Kings converted 24-of-34 (70.6%) from the free throw line. The key was the number of opportunities.
The team was out-rebounded 59-46 and still managed to win the game
Protecting the ball has become a key trait for Sacramento. They turned the ball over just nine times which resulted in 15 OKC points.
The Kings recorded 24 assists which denotes excellent ball movement
Checking the book for OKC
Key individuals performances:
Russell Westbrook was the game’s high scorer with 41 points. Westbrook connected on 15-of-30 field goal attempts and made 5-of-12 3-point shots. He also had a good night at the charity stripe converting 6-of-8 opportunities. Westbrook made it a double-double game by adding 10 rebounds.
Dennis Schroder came off the bench to score 14 points. The German transplant went 5-for-12 shooting.
Paul George also scored 14 points but he was 4-for-19 shooting for the contest. That 50-plus minutes of playing time on Friday obviously took its toll.
Markieff Morris put 10 points playing some key minutes late in the game for George.
Team numbers
The key number you need to know is the field goal shooting percentage. The Thunder shot just 38.1-percent (40/105) for the game. A team almost never wins a game in the NBA when they shoot under 40-percent. Yet, OKC came within four points of putting this game in the win column.
Up next
The Kings wrap up this 3-game road trip on Monday in Minnesota versus the Timberwolves.
The Thunder will return to action on Tuesday on the road in Denver against the Nuggets.
Sports Radio Service 