Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donavon Mitchell (left) tries to reach in on the Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis (right) at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland on Mon Feb 5, 2024 (AP News photo)
By Barbara Mason
The Cleveland Cavaliers (32-16) beat the Sacramento Kings (29-20) Monday night 136-110. Donovan Mitchell led the Cavaliers with 29 points. The Kings had a lot of trouble containing the Cleveland long game. The Cavs had 23 triples.
The long seven game road trip had taken it’s toll on the Kings. Domantas Sabonis had yet another triple double with 19 rebounds, 15 assists and 12 points. Sacramento will be thrilled to be back at Golden 1 Center on Wednesday night.
Game recap: The Kings got a nice start in the opening quarter of the game but trailed after the first 12 minutes of play 39-34. Keegan Murray, who has struggled the past few games had a much improved first half scoring ten points.
Sabonis had eight points in the half but more impressive were his 11 rebounds and ten assists. He was a basket away from another triple double. Harrison Barnes had the team high in the first half with 13 points. De’Aaron Fox was on the verge of double digits as was Sabonis.
Despite some nice play in the first quarter the Kings had cooled off in the second quarter getting stomped 35-25. At the half the Cavs had a 74-59 lead. Cleveland was red-hot from beyond the arc with 13 triples and the Kings needed to shut that down in the second half. Sacramento had to lock in defensively getting some stops.
Cleveland continued to shoot more triples in the third quarter and mid-way through the quarter had 17 and the Kings needed more stops and a whole lot more offense. Sacramento got some offense going as well as some stops cutting a 19 point deficit to 13 with 6:01 left in the quarter.
Sabonis clocked another triple double in the third. As the quarter began to wind down, the Kings were being outplayed on both sides of the ball. The Cavs Mitchell was unstoppable with 27 points to his credit through three quarters. Cleveland led going into the fourth quarter 106-92.
The Kings had some ground to make up with the most important task containing Mitchell in the fourth quarter. Both teams were shooting around 55% from the field but it was those Cleveland triples that were making a huge difference for the Cavaliers.
The 21 point Cleveland lead had been cut to ten 106-96 with ten minutes left in the game but the relentless Cavs pushed their lead back to fifteen 111-96. With a 126-105 Cavalier lead the two teams began to trade baskets.
Even open looks were failing for the Kings and they were totally being outplayed offensively and defensively. This lengthy road trip was physically catching up with the Kings and it really showed as this game played on.
After a grueling seven game road trip the Kings now head back home. This was a disappointing game for the team, struggling most of the way. Every starter finished with double digits as did bench player Malik Monk but despite that, the Cavs dominated in every way.
Harrison Barnes had the team high with 22 points. The Kings just could not contain the 23 shots from beyond the arc that the Cavs hit. 69 points from downtown did a real number on Sacramento.
Post game notes: After winning a game in Chicago against the Bulls 123-115 Saturday night, the Kings capped off a seven-game road trip playing the Cavaliers Monday night. Cleveland improved to a 31-16 record are coming off a win over the Spurs 117-101 Saturday night. The Kings finished off this road trip (their longest this season) with a loss in a 24 point loss to the Cavaliers.
Wednesday night the Kings will be back home at Golden 1 Center taking on the Detroit Pistons. Despite having the worst record in all of basketball, the Kings will not take this team lightly. Tipoff for this game is scheduled for 7:00 PM.