Hello, all you broken-hearted Kings fans. It is Valentine's Day. No matter your current relationship status, we all know the lifetime bond we are trapped in with the Sacramento Kings is the longest relationship any of us have had. And as of Friday night, after an embarrassing loss to the Orlando Magic, the Sacramento Kings have been sleeping on the couch. Like in any long-term relationship, the Kings have once again fallen into a state of complacency, demonstrating little effort and therefore sending the message that they are taking all of our undying love for granted. And like in any successful long-term relationship, it is now on them to own up to their mistakes and earn our trust back with their actions. And what better time for romantic redemption than on Valentine's Day?
The Backdrop
The Sacramento Kings entered this game 12-13 and seeded at the 10th spot in the Western Conference.
The Memphis Grizzlies entered this game 10-11 and seeded at the 11th spot in the Western Conference.
What should have been their third meeting so far this season between the Kings and the Grizzlies is now their debut matchup after their first back-to-back series in Memphis was postponed due to coronavirus safety protocols. Both of these teams are led by young, rising stars in De'Aaron Fox and Ja Morant, who is the reigning Rookie of the Year. As a sophomore in this league, Ja Morant has already established himself as a leader for the Memphis Grizzlies and plays with a unique style that showcases both fearlessness and maturity.
In their most recent loss to the Magic, the Kings spotlighted the enormous weight that De'Aaron Fox carries for this team. Without him, the Kings struggled to defend a heavily injured and bottom-ranked team, and to facilitate any efficient offense. De'Aaron leads the team in scoring at 23.4 points per game - something the team sorely missed on Friday night. On the other hand, while Ja Morant also leads his team in scoring with 18.5 points per game, the overall scoring for the Grizzlies is more widely distributed, with double-digit contributions from Jonas Valanciunas (16.1), Dillon Brooks (15.4), Kyle Anderson (13.0), and three other Grizzlies. The Kings will need to demonstrate disciplined individual defense tonight to cover all of the offensive threats that this young Grizzlies team possesses.
Quick Stats
Because numbers make things make sense.
Outcome: Kings lose, 110-124
Sacramento Kings: 110 PTS, 50% FG, 24.2% 3 PT, 22 AST, 16 TO
Memphis Grizzlies: 124 PTS, 53.2% FG, 42.9% 3 PT, 31 AST, 10 TO
De'Aaron Fox (SAC): 23 PTS, 9 AST
Tyrese Haliburton (SAC): 22 PTS, 3-6 3 PT
Jonas Valanciunas (MEM): 25 PTS, 12 REB, 11-14 FG
Dillon Brooks (MEM): 22 PTS, 2 AST
Love is for suckers and I hate this team. I spent the entirety of my day being capital H Hungover - I have been in a fog of pain, regret, and general disgust at the idea of alcohol and whoever invented it. But that game has me ready to drink again. Every time it seemed the Kings were going to find a spark and pull things together, the Grizzlies quickly doused their flame and maintained the upper hand for all 48 minutes. This marks the Kings' third loss in a row, and my compassion for this team is once again nearly depleted. There will always be reasons and excuses to be made for a performance like tonight, but the bottom line is that the Kings failed to do their one job, which is to compete.
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
Because all three are consistent parts of Kings basketball.
The Good:
Bench: The Kings entered the 4th quarter down by 20 points. Even with De'Aaron Fox's recent phenomenal 4th quarter performances, this is a tough task to overcome. That combined with De'Aaron's minor injury and the fact that they have to face the Brooklyn Nets tomorrow is what probably led to Luke Walton's decision to keep De'Aaron Fox and Richaun Holmes off the floor for the last quarter. This left a lineup of Cory Joseph, Buddy Hield, Harrison Barnes, Nemanja Bjelica, and Chimezie Metu. Ironically, it was this second unit that put together the best run for the Kings, closing the margin to 10 points.
The Bad:
Poor Adjustments: As the Kings suffered from a cold shooting night, it seemed that their adjustment to this was to shoot more? To their credit, the Grizzlies played excellent defense by hounding the ball, getting in passing lanes, and closing out on shooters. Under the pressure of such overwhelming defense, the Kings settled for 3-point looks over working the ball and finding other ways to score. Instead of responding to Grizzlies' runs by starting on the defensive end, the Kings tirelessly tried to dig their way out by shooting. The result: it didn't work.
Outpaced: Tonight, the Memphis Grizzlies played like the best version we've seen of the Sacramento Kings. The Grizzlies controlled the fast pace of the game, maintained high energy on both ends, applied constant defensive pressure, and turned their defensive effort into high efficiency offense. The Grizzlies remained a step, and sometimes two, ahead of the Kings all night long and beat the Kings with their own strategy.
The Ugly:
Scoring Struggles: It felt that every point the Kings scored tonight was hard-fought and required an extreme amount of effort. It shows in the numbers, too, as the Kings attempted 12 less shots than the Grizzlies and connected on just 24.2% (8-33) attempts from the 3-point line. The theme of it being a cold shooting night for the Kings started early, as they scored just four points in the first four minutes of the game, and persisted for the entire night. The Kings failed to adjust and find multiple ways to score and paid for it all night long.
Back to Disgusting Defense: I thought we were finally past this. While the Kings had to claw their way to every point tonight, the Grizzlies were able to score easily and at will. The Kings' defense was, for lack of a bigger vocabulary on my end, gross. They were getting beat on back door cuts, allowing Dillon Brooks to cut them up like cheddar cheese, and having constant breakdowns that led to wide open shots for the Grizzlies. I cannot even fathom what the Brooklyn Nets will do against a defense like that, so the Kings will need to find a way back to the defensive effort we were enjoying just a week ago.
Royal Court Jester
Because someone is always actin' a fool.
I was happy to see this guy get more minutes again tonight, but was less satisfied with what he did with them this go around. Tonight's Royal Court Jester goes to Nemanja Bjelica for his not one, but two, blatant offensive fouls. Both were easy calls for the refs as Nemanja used his off arm to dislodge his defender to try to gain some separation for a look at the basket. You can live with the first one and even appreciate his aggression in getting to the rim. But the second one was just foolish and highlighted the Kings' frustration on offense. It came late in the shot clock as Nemanja and Buddy Hield passed the ball between each other as they both tried to find an opening into the Grizzlies' defense. When neither were successful, Nemanja took it upon himself to throw his entire arm out on his defender to get some daylight to shoot and made it easy for the ref to give the ball right back to Memphis.
The King of Kings
Because at least one person does at least one good thing, usually.
Tonight's King of Kings goes to Chimezie Metu for his thunderous slam on Jonas Valunciunas in the 4th quarter and the subsequent tornado whirl that followed as Valunciunas spun Chimezie around while he was still hanging on the rim and threw him to the ground. The more I watch it, the funnier it gets. The dunk itself is enough to get Chimezie the crown, but his reaction to Valunciunas' temper tantrum makes it even sweeter. After wounding his pride by putting him in a body bag, Chimezie held onto the rim to allow Valunciunas to clear out before making his landing. Instead, Valunciunas wrapped his arm around Chimezie's leg and spun him around a few times until he landed on his back. Where most players in Chimezie's position would choose violence, Chimezie's sweet innocence only allowed him to feel confusion. He put his hands up as if to question Valunciunas, "what did I do?"
Up Next
Monday, February 15th vs. Brooklyn Nets @ 7:00 P.M. (PT)
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