I hate it here. I am beginning to wonder if the Sacramento Kings will ever win a basketball game ever again. Although De'Aaron Fox fell short of making the All-Star game this year, I am desperately looking forward to the upcoming break, as it will be a respite from this burning shit show.
It still boggles my mind whenever I try to articulate the main source of the Kings' dysfunction. Where should I focus my anger, exactly? I do believe everything trickles down from the top. It's too soon to tell if Monte McNair will be the leader we need to clean up this franchise, but it is clear to me that the on-court formula is not conducive to winning. And on the court, it starts with the head coach. Luke Walton has had ample time and opportunity to put this team on the right track. Instead, he has them stuck in reverse. The most frustrating part is understanding the opportunity that the Kings have. For the first time in years, aside from the De'Aaron Fox pick, the front office hit the bullseye in the draft. With Tyrese Haliburton playing at a seasoned level, De'Aaron Fox making strides into All-Star conversations, and Marvin Bagley III having his first real season, Luke Walton has somehow let all the balls drop. The talent is there, the leadership is not.
The Backdrop
The Sacramento Kings entered this game 12-19 and seeded at the 13th spot in the Western Conference.
The New York Knicks entered this game 15-17 and seeded at the 10th spot in the Eastern Conference.
These two teams last met on January 22nd at the Golden 1 Center and it was a beautiful day. This day was the beginning of the Kings' last winning streak, where they won seven of eight games. What feels like a distant memory was only one month ago, and we are now drowning in the dark depths of an eight-game losing streak. The Knicks are fluctuating in the middle seeding area of the Eastern Conference and are coming off of a loss to the Golden State Warriors. In theory, and based on numbers, this should be a good matchup for the Kings.
The Kings have waived Glenn Robinson III and will be without Hassan Whiteside and Jabari Parker tonight due to health and safety protocols. In their absence, the Kings signed Norvel Pelle to a 10-day contract, bringing him up from the G League. Meanwhile, the Knicks are still being led by their newly crowned and first-time All-Star, Julius Randle. Since their last meeting, the Knicks have acquired former-MVP Derrick Rose in a trade with the Detroit Pistons. As a big Derrick Rose fan, my heart breaks at his journey through the NBA, and I always want to see him do well. As a Kings fan, I always want the Kings to do well, and my heart always breaks. So now that I have put this information out into the universe for the basketball gods to process, Rose will likely have a bad night and the Kings will lose by 20 points.
Quick Stats
Because numbers make things make sense.
Outcome: Kings lose, 121-140
Sacramento Kings: 121 PTS, 49.4% FG, 34.3% 3 PT, 25 AST, 16 TO
New York Knicks: 140 PTS, 58.6% FG, 52.8% 3 PT, 24 AST, 16 TO
De'Aaron Fox (SAC): 29 PTS, 11 AST, 8-10 FT
Harrison Barnes (SAC): 22 PTS, 7 REB
Julius Randle (NYK): 21 PTS, 14 REB
Immanuel Quickley (NYK): 25 PTS, 12-12 FT
Well, I was close - the Kings lost by 19 points, not 20. My consolation prize is that Derrick Rose had an above-average night with 18 points on 7-11 from the field. Whoopdeedoo. I didn't want to mention this before the game because I didn't want to jinx it, but I should know by now that it really doesn't matter - the Kings suck either way. So here's the fun fact of the day, post-game: the New York Knicks are the WORST offensive team in the league. They average just 103.6 points per game. The Knicks reached this 103-point mark with nearly 12 minutes left in the game and finished with a total of 140 points. ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY. I just... don't... have... the words anymore...
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
Because all three are consistent parts of Kings basketball.
The Good:
Fox Recharged: After looking fatigued in the last few games, De'Aaron Fox came out looking much more like himself tonight. He seemed to get his legs back under him, as he made three 3-pointers and shot 8-10 from the free throw line. He had a quiet double-double tonight, largely overshadowed by his team's horrendous defense, but it was reassuring to see him find his flow again. If the Kings are ever going to win a basketball game ever again in my lifetime, De'Aaron is going to have to find his second wind and be the one to lead the fight.
The Bad:
Baby Bagley on Defense: Marvin Bagley has shown significant development in his first real season so far. His body and movements are slowly starting to catch up to the speed of the game - we see this in his attacks on offense. But on the other end, his defense is exposed as premature and undeveloped. There's not much he can do when getting bullied on the block night after night, but what stands out even more to me is his lack of knowledge off of the ball. He struggles to identify when his help is needed and the timing of this help. Tonight, he either ignored all help responsibilities and allowed driving Knicks to get straight to the basket, or when he did provide help, it was too late. In one instance, he went to help as the ball was being shot, leaving his man wide open to clean up the offensive board for an easy put back. This help was not only useless in deterring the shot, but didn't leave enough time for his teammate to help the helper.
Xs, Os, & WHYs: I hate this offense. The numbers may say otherwise, as the Kings average 113.9 points per game and are ranked in the top five for points in the paint. But this is largely due to individual skill from De'Aaron Fox and second chance put backs by Richaun Holmes and Marvin Bagley III. And if we don't account for individual takeovers by De'Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton, we are left with an offense where nothing is ever easy or enjoyable. I am so tired of watching four-out stagnant offense with an occasional on-ball screen or once in a blue moon hammer set. It's BORING. And I can't help but wonder why team offense is so hard for this group. They're clearly not working on defense in practice, so why is it that the offense still looks so simple minded?
The Ugly:
Shameful Shit: As the bottom-ranked team in the league in scoring, I really wonder what a team like the Knicks think after a game like this. I'm sure they are hyper aware of their scoring struggles, so after having a 140-point night, do they see this as an accomplishment and possible turning point? Or do they say to themselves, "Well, it was against the Kings, so we shouldn't put too much weight on this. We still need to get better."? I would think the latter. I really don't have the words or the will to describe how embarrassing it is to be a Kings fan right now. You know it, I know it, the entire world knows it - the Kings have been deplorable on defense and it's only getting worse. Something needs to change.
Royal Court Jester
Because someone is always actin' a fool.
There were a handful of plays that I took note of during tonight's game as potential picks for this segment. Cory Joseph was highly considered because, well, he's Cory Joesph. But when I looked at the list of plays I noted, there was one common denominator, and it surprisingly was not CoJo. Tonight's Royal Court Jester goes to De'Aaron Fox for being the common thread in a handful of foolish plays.
The first of these plays came in the 1st quarter as Marvin Bagley III had a nice back door spin that put him on a clear runway to the basket. With the ball, De'Aaron quickly recognized the opportunity, but instead of delivering his usual on-target lob at the rim, he launched the pass to the moon and off the top of the backboard, well out of Bagley's reach. It was unusual for De'Aaron, so I shook it off as a silly slip. But later, in the 2nd quarter, De'Aaron and Tyrese Haliburton had a 2-on-1 situation where Tyrese was positioned under the basket and De'Aaron had the ball at the top of the half. And AGAIN, there was a glitch in the Foxsphere as he threw an equally terrible lob off the backboard that gave Tyrese zero chance to convert. To compound on these unusual mistakes were two of his turnovers in the 1st half that were practically identical. As he drove to the lane on the right hand side, he got to the elbow and looked to kick the ball out to Buddy Hield at the 3-point line, but on both occasions, bounce passed the ball out of bounds. These were Buddy's fault as much as they were De'Aaron's, but it's rare to see De'Aaron make so many odd mistakes, let alone the exact same one twice in the same night.
The King of Kings
Because at least one person does at least one good thing, usually.
Have you heard of Top Shot yet? Well, Tyrese Haliburton has and has been using it to hype up tonight's King of Kings. For a play that may surpass his current top Top Shot moment that had a minimum value of $50,000, Buddy Hield gets to wear the crown tonight.
In the 2nd quarter, one of the many missed 3-point attempts by the Sacramento Kings came high off of the back rim. There were three Knicks under the basket, without a Kings player in sight, and they were all looking up at the ball, timing their jump for its descent. But while they were all watching the ball, Buddy Hield came FLYING in above all of their heads and threw the ball down for the put back. Tyrese Haliburton has taken to social media to promote Buddy's Top Shot moment of his dunk over Mitchell Robinson in 2019. That moment has since been bought and owned, but Buddy has quickly given another moment for Tyrese to promote for him.
Up Next
Friday, February 26th @ Detroit Pistons @ 5:00 P.M. (PT)
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