Kings defeat Jazz 130-114 in Salt Lake City

Photo credit: @SacramentoKings

By Mary Anne

The Sacramento Kings took on the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night. The Kings defeated the Jazz 130-114 at Delta Center. Sacramento improved to 1-0, while Utah fell to 1-0 to open the 2023-24 NBA season.

Harrison Barnes led the Kings with 33 points and four rebounds and was 11-for-16 from the field goal line. Domantas Sabonis recorded 22 points and 12 rebounds. De’Aaron Fox scored 18 points and six assists. Mailk Monk added ten points and seven assists.

The Kings’ starting lineup featured De’Aaron Fox, Kevin Huerter, Harrison Barnes, Keegan Murray, and Domantas Sabonis. Fox got his first bucket of the season early in the first quarter. In addition, Sabonis capitalized on a three-pointer opportunity in the first. The Kings ended the first on a 12-4 run and led 32-24 over the Jazz.

The Kings continued to succeed in the second quarter. Chris Duarte made his first regular season bucket, Harrison Barnes poured in the points, and Sacramento went back-to-back from three-point land.

The Kings led the Jazz 72-58 at the end of the first half. Harrison Barnes had 27 points and four rebounds and 10-for-11 from the field goal line and 5-for-5 from the three-point line — the most points in a first half in the opening game of the season by a Kings player since the 1996-97 NBA season, passing Kevin Martin, who had 24 at the Oklahoma City Thunder on October 28, 2009.

The Kings reached the 100-point plateau in the third quarter. Malik Monk’s noteworthy dunk helped the Kings to a 20-point lead, 102-82, with 40 seconds left in the third. The Kings led the Jazz 105-87 after three quarters.

The Kings maintained composure in the fourth quarter. Domantas Sabonis waited patiently around three Jazz defenders to shoot his shot, which hit the rim, late in the fourth. The Kings beat the Jazz 130-114.

Notes
Kings’ injury update
Chris Duarte (left knee) is available, while Trey Lyles (left calf strain) and Jalen Slawson (illness) are out.

Up Next
The Kings will return home to host the Golden State Warriors on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. Pacific.

Sacramento Kings report: Kings lose to Warriors 116-115 in preseason thriller

Photo credit: @SacramentoKings

By Mary Anne

The Sacramento Kings took on the Golden Warriors in the second game of the home-and-home preseason series. The Kings lost to the Warriors 116-115 at Chase Center on Wednesday night. Sacramento fell to 0-4, while Golden State improved to 4-0 and remained undefeated.

De’Aaron Fox led all scorers with 25 points and seven rebounds. Keegan Murray scored 24 points and eight rebounds. Davion Mitchell added 14 points.

The Kings’ starting lineup featured De’Andre Fox, Kevin Huerter, Harrison Barnes, Keegan Murray, and Domantas Sabonis. Murray hit a fast three-pointer to help the Kings get on the board first, and Murray led all scorers early on, shooting 3-5 from the field, in the first quarter. The Kings merely led 23-22 at the end of the first.

The Kings continued to pour in the points in the second quarter, but the Warriors hit quite a few three-pointers, such as Andrew Wiggins’ three-pointer, to avoid falling behind by double-digits. The Kings carried a 56-49 lead to the locker room at the end of the first half.

The Warriors initially trailed by more than a dozen, but they picked up the pace and made it a four-point game, 68-64, with 6:08 left in the third quarter before a TV timeout. The Kings, however, made it rain with three-pointers, including Keegan Murray’s three-pointer. The Kings led 91-76 after three quarters.

Kings rookies Malik Monk and Colby Jones showed some range in the fourth quarter. Warriors veteran point guard Chris Paul hit a three-pointer late in the fourth. The game went down to the wire. Warriors star Stephen Curry hit a late three-pointer to make it a two-point game, 115-113, but Warriors power forward Dario Šarić missed a pair of free throws. The Kings’ challenge was tossed out, and the Warriors had the ball for the remaining 10.7 seconds. The Warriors sealed the scoring with a three-pointer for a 116-115 win.

Notes
Kings shooting guard Chris Duarte was out with a left knee injury.

Kings rookie Malik Monk recently talked about his fashion choices in a new episode of the show “NBA Style” on the NBA App. Watch Monk’s recent appearance here.

The Kings will hold their NBA 2K24 3v3 Tournament at Fan Fest on Saturday, October 21. Sign up here.

Up Next
The Kings will return home to host the Utah Jazz on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. Pacific.

Kings lose to Lakers 109-101 in second preseason game

Photo credit: @LakersNation

By Mary Anne

The Sacramento Kings faced the Los Angeles Lakers for their preseason game No. 2, the battle of NorCal vs. SoCal, on Wednesday night. The Kings lost to the Lakers 109-101 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Sacramento fell to 0-2, while Los Angeles improved to 2-1.

De’Aaron Fox led the Kings in scoring with 18 points, six assists, and three rebounds. Domantas Sabonis added ten points, 15 rebounds, and five assists.

The Kings’ starting lineup featured De’Aaron Fox, Kevin Huerter, Harrison Barnes, Sasha Vezenkov, and Domantas Sabonis. Vezenkov’s pregame buckets were spectacular, to say the least.

The Kings trailed the Lakers 30-28 at the end of the first quarter. As a result, Sacramento had some work to do, despite their money plays, such as De’Aaron Fox’s mid-range floater, Trey Lyles’ triple, etc.

The Kings took a 51-50 lead at the end of the first half. The highlight of the second quarter was the Kings’ eight three-pointers — the eighth scored by Kevin Huerter late in the quarter.

The Kings picked up where they left off, but the Lakers’ offense sizzled and star point guard D’Angelo Russell was on fire. Harrison Barnes scored another triple to open the second half and Domantas Sabonis recorded a double-double with ten points and 15 rebounds, but the Kings fell behind and trailed the Lakers 90-79 at the end of three quarters.

The Kings made it rain with triples in the fourth quarter. The Lakers’ bench, however, was excited for Alex Fudge’s hustle Wednesday night. Fudge, a small forward and power forward, is a two-way player for the Los Angeles Lakers and the South Bay Lakers. Despite last-minute efforts, the Kings ultimately lost 109-101 to the Lakers.

Notes
When asked about the Kings’ upcoming game against the Lakers, shooting guard Malik Monk told the media: “We got to keep building the chemistry in the second unit, and…keep encouraging each other.”

When talking to the media, head coach Mike Brown said: “What you guys are watching isn’t necessarily how it’s going to play out in the regular season.”

Up Next
The Kings will host the Golden State Warriors at the Golden 1 Center on Sunday at 6:00 p.m. Pacific.

Kings lose 112-99 to Raptors in first preseason game

Photo credit: @SacramentoKings

By Mary Anne

The defending NBA Pacific Division champion Sacramento Kings took on the Toronto Raptors in their first preseason game on Sunday. The Kings lost 112-99 to the Raptors at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Sacramento fell to 0-1, while Toronto improved to 1-0.

Sasha Vezenkov led the Kings with 12 points and two rebounds. Harrison Barnes and Keegan Murray scored 11 points apiece.

Kings head coach Mike Brown talked to the media ahead of the team’s preseason game No. 1. Brown said: “Whoever is out on the floor, we expect them to play our basketball at the highest of high levels.”

The Kings took an early 2-0 lead thanks to Keegan Murray’s flawless finish at the rim. Murray, a power forward, was part of the 2023 NBA All-Rookie First Team. The Kings poured in the points, such as a tough pick and roll between Malik Monk and JaVale McGee, but the Raptors had an offensive boost late in the first quarter. The Kings and Raptors were tied 35-35 at the end of the first.

The Raptors went on a 6-2 run for a 41-37 lead to open the second quarter. The Kings picked up the pace. Domantas Sabonis fought through contact for a three-pointer but settled for a two-pointer to cut the Raptors’ lead to 58-52 late in the second. The Kings trailed the Raptors 69-55 at halftime.

The 2023 EuroLeague MVP, Sasha Vezenkov, entered the game late in the third quarter and scored his first NBA bucket, but the Kings fell behind. The Raptors led 90-67 with a little over two minutes left in the third. The Kings scored eight points to make it a 20-point game with 59 seconds remaining in a back-and-forth game but trailed the Raptors 95-74 at the end of the third.

The Raptors reached the 100-point mark early in the fourth quarter. The Kings trailed 102-77 with 8:06 left in the fourth, pulled within 15 with 2:54 left in regulation, and Jalen Slawson hustled to chase down a block. But the Kings’ comeback attempt ultimately failed and resulted in a 112-99 loss.

The Kings will take on the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. Pacific.

Living Up To The Hype: Kings slighty different than advertised in 113-109 win over the Grizzlies

By Morris Phillips

All of a sudden the Sacramento Kings are so good, they…

Don’t need to depend on their prolific scoring to win games. In Tuesday’ 113-109 thriller at the Grindhouse in Memphis, they put up a “mere” 113 points, the lowest point total in any of their ten victories this season. And yes, the defense was present. The formidable Grizzlies were held to 17 points in the decisive, third quarter in which they missed seven of eight 3-point attempts.

“I thought our third quarter defense was really good,” coach Mike Brown said. “Might be our best defensive quarter of the year.”

Don’t need to shoot the lights in order to win. The Kings have made slightly more than half of their shot attempts on the season, but against Memphis they made do with 43 percent shooting, and survived their whopping 30 misses from distance.

Don’t need to command the stat sheet to prevail. The Kings were outrebounded, fouled more and didn’t commit fewer turnovers, but they still pulled it out. To be fair, the numbers between the teams were extremely close in all three areas, but the contention that the Kings don’t have to unveil their best effort to win holds weight.

Don’t need a big finish to get a win… and this one on the road against a quality opponent to boot. This time the Grizzlies, not the Kings, dominated play down the stretch, cutting a 14-point, fourth quarter deficit to three on several possessions inside two minutes remaining. Ja Morant, who led all scorers with 34, missed a 3-pointer with 1:10 left that would have brought the hosts even at 104. Morant’s three-point play with five seconds remaining pulled the Grizzlies within 109-108, but the Kings converted four, subsequent free throws to close it out.

De’Aaron Fox led the Kings with 32 points, but Brown pointed to Harrison Barnes and his 26 points as the key to the Kings’ surviving the frantic finish.

“Obviously, we were haywire out there. Going crazy, and Harrison just made some big plays down the stretch,” Brown said.

The Kings have won seven straight for the first time since they did it in 2005, the season of their most recent–but distant–playoff appearance. Kings’ fans with anxiety issues might not want to look at the Western Conference because their long forlorn team occupies the third spot behind the Suns and the equally, surprising Jazz, just percentage points above the fourth-place Clippers.

The Kings were their typical, freewheeling selves in the first half on Tuesday, shooting 51 percent with eight makes from distance to lead 64-59. The third quarter saw the Kings extend their lead to 12, and they led 99-85 with 6:08 left after Barnes hit a three.

Memphis responded with a 5-0 run which set the stage for the tense finish. Morant was terrific after missing the previous game with an ankle injury, scoring 20 of his 34 in the fourth.

The Kings complete a back-to-back on Wednesday in Atlanta where they will confront the 10-7 Hawks.

Kings Can’t Stand The Heat: Miami cruises, snaps Sacramento’s modest win streak

By Morris Phillips

Once the Heat established themselves on Monday, little space remained for the Kings to be who they are, or who they want to be for that matter.

How’s that?

“We got back to being who we are,” Miami’s Jimmy Butler said after he led the Heat to a 123-100 win over the Kings with his 27 points and seven assists. The Heat snapped a four-game slide with the win, and looked like the Eastern Conference leaders they’ve been in the latter stages of this season in the process.

Bam Adebayo also had a big night for Miami with 22 points, 15 rebounds and Tyler Herro added 20 in 29 minutes off the bench.

“Felt amazing to get back in the winning column,” Herro said.

The Kings (27-49) had their moment early, leading 6-0 briefly before the host’s grueling style wore down the visitors and their thinned rotation. Miami scored the next nine points and never looked back. Sacramento managed just 19 points in the first quarter, and they trailed by 12. The deficit grew to 16 at the half, and 25 points after three quarters. Most notably, the Kings improved defensive play took the night off as they surrendered 101 points with eight minutes left in the game.

Davion Mitchell play was once again an eye-opener for the Kings as he led them with 21 points and nine assists in 41 minutes on the floor. Drafted for his high-level, defensive intensity, the rookie continues to show polish in all facets of his performance.

“(It’s hard) playing him 40 minutes every night and guarding the best player,” coach Alvin Gentry said. “But he accepts that and goes out and does the very best he can. I think you can see the improvement, the improvement in his decision-making. The effort has always been there defensively, so we just have to continue to get better.”

Harrison Barnes added 17 points as the Kings played without the quartet of Domantas Sabonis, De’Aaron Fox, Terence Davis and Richaun Holmes for the fourth straight game. The Kings squandered an opportunity to win a third, consecutive road game and have lost 13 of 18.

The Kings conclude a five-game road swing with games at Houston on Wednesday and Friday. According to the Sacramento Bee’s Jason Anderson, an improbable 6-0 finish to the season–all against Western Conference opponents–could net the Kings the needed tie breakers to nab the 10th spot in the Western Conference. Possible, but highly unlikely as the Kings have yet to win four in a row this season.

The visit concluded Sacramento’s schedule against Eastern Conference teams. They finished 10-20 against the East, a major reason they likely will miss the playoffs for a 16th straight season.

Harrison’s Hot Hand: Barnes, Kings offense come alive in 4th quarter of 119-105 win over the Wizards

By Morris Phillips

SACRAMENTO–Say you’re not LeBron, Steph or KD. But you’re not chopped liver either, a dude with a nice deal and a niche in the vast pantheon of the NBA. If that’s your bag, then Wednesday was your night, and Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center your place.

With defense seemingly optional, shot blockers and defenders nowhere to be found, the Kings got their fit in the fourth quarter with Harrison Barnes scoring 15 of his 19 points, leading to a 119-105 home win over the Wizards.

The Kings snapped a three-game losing streak and moved ahead of the stumbling Trail Blazers in the dense Western Conference playoff hunt. Meanwhile, the Wizards have dropped six of seven, including all three on their current Western road swing.

Of course, neither coach wanted a loss here. With their season tenuous, twice interim coach Doug Christie was intent on starting in the win column, and Washington’s Wes Unseld Jr. was desperate to avoid falling within a game of .500 after an impressive 10-3 start to the season.

The harsh circumstances certainly impacted 46-year old Unseld’s thoughts. But the 51-year old Christie’s as well.

“The competitive spirit always isn’t there. The collective mind-set isn’t always there. Our care factor isn’t always there. That’s my frustration,” said Unseld, no doubt pointing to a finishing stretch Wednesday that saw Wizards score just 16 of the game’s final 58 points after leading by 12 late in the third quarter.

“For us to come back and fight the way we did … if it was easy everybody would do it, but it’s not,” Christie opined.

The day began with the news that Alvin Gentry, William Bagley Jr. and Terence Davis had entered COVID protocols and weren’t available. That elevated the 51-year old Christie into his first head coaching assignment less than a year after he resigned from his role as the team’s broadcast color voice. It also thrust Chimezie Metu, Alex Len and Moe Harkless into significant roles against the Wizards.

The Kings maintained their approach of putting their most credible defenders on the floor, and Christie was the visual reminder, given his status as one the NBA’s best defenders at his peak in 2000 through 2005. But these Kings aren’t a one-game fix. They allowed the Wizards’ three-point looks, and a one-point halftime lead which they expanded with a 32-point third quarter.

Luckily, the Kings did better with shot selection and just attacking. They also dramatically reduced their turnovers after the break. For one night, sticky defense got trumped by being persistent and getting to the basket.

De’Aaron Fox best personified Christie’s wishes by eschewing deep balls and attacking the basket on his way to a 28-point night. Davion Mitchell added 13, which justified Christie playing him 29 minutes and getting his resistance defensively.

Barnes followed and he absorbed some contact in delivering some big points down the stretch. His made free throws put the Kings up 109-98 with 3:24 remaining.

Better opponents loom immediately with Memphis up twice and a visit to San Francisco in the Kings’ next five games. So which path will they follow?

Who knows. Tyrese Haliburton couldn’t supply anymore wisdom in simply saying, “the only consistent thing we’ve done is be inconsistent.”

Jazz Interpretation: Utah wins a close one at home, beats the Kings 119-113

By Morris Phillips

If you’re the Sacramento Kings, now 15 seasons removed from a playoff appearance, a trip to Utah to face the Jazz, the reigning champions of the regular season, turned out to be a good place to start if postseason play is still the goal.

While the Kings fell short, and dropped to 3-4 on the season, they played well enough to disrupt a Jazz team that’s now won 58 of their previous 79 regular season games, easily the best mark in the NBA dating back to the beginning of the truncated ’19-’20 season.

The Kings came up empty in the game’s final five minutes, losing a back-and forth contest 119-113 in which neither team held a double-digit lead. The Kings effectively put the Jazz on their heels by limiting their trademark made threes, but ultimately couldn’t respond as the home team dominated the glass, and picked up their defensive intensity down the stretch.

Essentially, a 7-0 run by the Jazz decided it, after the Kings’ Richaun Holmes hit a short jumper to tie the game at 104. After a two-minute scoreless drought, the Kings trailed 111-104 with 2:27 remaining.

A key sequence in the deciding run was a foul on Utah’s Rudy Gobert that was challenged by the Jazz, and overturned upon video review. The ensuing jump ball saw Holmes whistled for a violation, which awarded the ball to the Jazz. Ten seconds later, Donovan Mitchell scored on a driving layup to put the home team up five. After a Holmes miss, Gobert capped the surge by the Jazz with a pair of made free throws.

Mitchell led the Jazz with 36 points, and Mike Conley contributed 30. The dynamic Utah backcourt combined for 25 made baskets including 11 threes. Bogdan Bogdanovich had 20 for Utah.

The Kings were led by Harrison Barnes with 23 points. Buddy Hield was next with 19 points off the bench, but he was hit with two technical fouls and ejected with less than a second remaining.

Davion Mitchell, the rookie, had 18 as seven of the eight Kings to see action scored in double figures. Still the initial NBA meeting of the D. Mitchells went to the veteran.

“He hit shots. He hit tough shots. You can’t really do anything about that,” said Davion Mitchell of Donovan Mitchell.

The Jazz enjoyed a 58-39 advantage on the glass. That disparity helped off set an unusually poor shooting night from distance for Utah, in which they missed 34 3-point attempts.

“I love the fight of our team,” Kings coach Bill Walton said. “It’s really fun coaching these guys. We’re learning these hard lessons. I hope we figure it out soon, but the details of the game is what’s costing us right now. Tonight, it was defensive rebounding.”

The Kings return home on Wednesday to face the New Orleans Pelicans, the start of a four-game home stand.

Levels To This Game: Kings still aren’t where the Warriors are now, lose 119-107

By Morris Phillips

SACRAMENTO–At Golden 1 Center on Sunday night, the storylines didn’t budge much.

The Kings remain enamored with the Warriors’ style, the small lineups, relentless pace, 3-ball hunting and daring panache.

But the Kings haven’t quite poached their neighbor’s game to the extent needed to prevail.

That, and the Warriors still have Steph, Draymond along with emerging depth.

Golden State broke open a tight game with a 7-2 run to end the third quarter, then pulled away in the fourth, grabbing a 119-107 win over the Kings to stay undefeated.

After dropping their second home game to begin the season, the Kings are 1-2.

“We need to be better in the fourth quarter,” Kings’ coach Luke Walton said. “Part of the problem is we’re slowing the pace down. We have to get out and go.”

“We have to finish games,” said Davion Mitchell, who scored a career-best 22 points. “Throughout the game we have leads, (then) they go on their run and we have a lot of turnovers.”

The Kings were competitive for the first three quarters. Mitchell had 19 of his 22 during that stretch, and Harrison Barnes all of his 24 points, but they unraveled in the fourth, while committing 19 turnovers over the course of the game. Barnes was limited to one miss and three rebounds when he returned with 7:06 remaining, and the Kings trailing 102-98.

Stephen Curry (27 points, and his 500th career assist) and Jordan Poole (20 points) paced the Warriors’ attack, which put six players in double figures.

The Kings got 17 points from De’Aaron Fox, and 16 points and 11 rebounds from Richaun Holmes. Buddy Hield was limited to six points, missing nine of his 11 shots in 25 minutes on the floor.

The Kings matched the Warriors in assists (26 each), made more threes (15-13 edge), and they even mimicked their reduced-sized lineups, but the Warriors were just sharper. The visitors created more high-percentage shot attempts, and backed it up with 20 of 24 made free throws, they set more effective screens, and enjoyed a 12-0 edge in steals.

Draymond Green had a hand in all those areas, as did Otto Porter Jr. Green finished with 14 points, six rebounds, six assists, and Porter had five points, nine rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block in 24 minutes off the bench.

“We were rock solid with the ball,” coach Steve Kerr said. “We had multiple guys come in off the bench and play well.”

The Kings didn’t have anyone in their nine-man rotation struggle other than Hield with his shooting, but the playmaking from their guard quartet of Fox, Tyrese Haliburton, Hield and Mitchell was a mixed bag. The four tallied 22 assists, but committed 13 turnovers and the Kings were held to 19 points in the fourth.

Also, Walton wasn’t pleased that Warriors’ reserves ruled the first half of the fourth, and his team did little to stop it.

“You can’t do that, you can’t give Steph Curry and Draymond Green a six-point lead when they come back in the game. It just can’t happen,” Walton said. “We talked about it as a staff, as a team, really. But it’s one thing to talk about. It’s another thing to go out there and do it.”

Nemanja Bjelica, the former King, had the least effective game of his three thus far for the Warriors, missing all five of his shots in 10 minutes of action.

Sacramento opens a four-game road trip in Phoenix against the Suns on Wednesday night.

Kings open pre season with 117-106 win over Suns; Barnes leads with 18 points

The Sacramento Kings forward Marvin Bagley (35) and Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton (22) scramble for the ball during pre season home opener for the Kings at the Chase Center in Sacramento on Mon Oct 4, 2021 (USA Today photo)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO–The Sacramento Kings were back in action at the Golden One Center on Monday night. It was the first preseason game for the Kings since last season. A lot had taken place since the Kings last took the court.

The Kings drafted elite defender Davion Mitchell to try and jumpstart a defense that is way behind NBA level. The Kings main focus in training camp this year was defense. With the likes of De’Aaron Fox, Tyrese Halliburton, Harrison Barnes, and Buddy Hield the Kings should be able to score plenty of points.

The issue has been defense and that’s what the Kings were looking to address. The Kings would take on the Phoenix Suns on Monday night at 7 PM PST.

The Suns came into Sacramento as the defending Western conference champions. Of course, since it is preseason the Suns wouldn’t have all their starters on the court. However, all the Kings starters did play. The Kings came away with a pre season home opener victory over the Suns 117-106.

In the first half, Harrison Barnes shined for the Kings. The first quarter saw the Kings outscore the Suns 30-23 as the Kings offense got off to a hot start. In the second quarter, it was more of the same.

The Kings offense put up 31 points compared to the Suns 24 as the Kings would pull out in front to a commanding 61-47 halftime lead. In the first half, the Kings got a great performance from the aforementioned Harrison Barnes who scored 16 points.

Barnes hit 4-6 threes in an impressive half for the Kings playing 16:20 minutes. The Suns were led in the first half by Landry Shamet who scored ten points. The Kings would hope to finish off a solid game to start the preseason but would need to avoid a second-half hangover in order to do so.

In the second half, the Kings continued to play solid basketball. The third quarter saw the Kings score 29 points compared to the Suns 24 points. The Kings had outscored the Suns in each of the first three quarters as the Kings regulars continued to get minutes.

The Kings would take a 90-71 lead into the fourth quarter as they looked to seal the deal. In the fourth quarter, the Kings were outscored by the Suns 35-27 but the Kings still won the game 117-106. The Kings were led in victory by Harrison Barens (18 points), Marvin Bagley (15 points), and Buddy Hield who added 14 points. In defeat, the Suns were led by Landry Shamet who scored 13 points.

Up Next: The Kings will take on the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night in Los Angeles. The tip is scheduled for 7:30 PM PST.