At this stage of the Western Conference playoff race, every game is a big game. But when you consider the fact that the Kings have one of toughest remaining schedules, you simply have to win your most winnable games, and this was one of them. The New York Knicks are a good team, and they’ve played well at home all year, but they’re also missing Julius Randle and OG Anunoby. On top of that, the Kings are scheduled to play in Boston on the second night of a back-to-back tomorrow, so it’s not getting easier.
The Kings needed this one, badly, and they blew it in frustratingly familiar fashion. Let’s discuss:
The Beam Team played nearly perfect Kings basketball in the first quarter. We’ve talked about it all year, but a huge indicator of success for this squad is the 3-point shot, and they poured it on the Knicks early. They shot 52% from three in the first half. De’Aaron Fox was hot, Keon Ellis was scorching, and Davion Mitchell’s bench production would have made Malik Monk proud. Sacramento jumped out to an early 21-point lead.
The Kings cooled off midway through the 2nd quarter, and I’ll give the Knicks defense credit here. They smothered the ball with Fox on the bench, and forced the Kings into some bad passes while Jalen Brunson got his offense going. The Kings tried everyone on Brunson, and it really didn’t matter. Unfortunately he appears like one of those players that is just going to score a shit ton of points against the Kings anytime they play. He’s not the first and won’t be the last.
The Knicks gained all the momentum during this stretch, erased most of the Kings lead, but Sacramento didn’t fold (yet). Fox checked back in with about 5 minutes left in the first half, the offense settled back down, Keegan Murray hit a few big shots, and the Kings ultimately carried a 60-52 lead into the half. Crisis momentarily averted.
The 3rd quarter got increasingly nerve-wracking. Turnovers and fouls started to really pile up. Keegan Murray picked up his 5th foul. Keon Ellis picked up his 4th foul. Brunson was getting every call, and yeah, the officiating wasn’t great tonight, but I can’t pretend like the Knicks didn’t play with considerably more force and physicality. The Knicks attacked the rim repeatedly, and the officials rewarded them for it.
Donte DiVincenzo found his outside shot here, too. Both the MSG crowd and the Knicks were feeling themselves, and momentum was not on the Kings’ side, but a massive (and difficult) De’Aaron Fox three tied the score at 89-89 to close the quarter. Into the 4th we go.
And that is where it all fell apart. This game had been teetering on disaster for 2.5 quarters and the deathly combination of Jalen Brunson repeatedly owning Sacramento’s defense, Josh Hart’s shotmaking, frustrating officiating, foul trouble, and ice-cold Kings shooting resulted in a dominant 4th quarter for the Knicks. Immensely frustrating stuff here. What was once a close game turned into a 120-109 breezy Knicks win.
In a two minute stretch with the game still in reach, Sacramento went 0-6 from three on nearly consecutive possessions and it really highlighted how dangerous their reliance on 3-point shooting can be. Instead of attacking the rim, instead of trying to slow the momentum of the game down and get to the line, they just kept chucking.
I’m almost done here, but we’ve got to talk about Harrison Barnes. Damn. The Kings veteran played just 12 minutes, turned the ball over 3 times, shot 0-2 from the field, 0-1 from three, and scored 0 points. An average game from Barnes, and maybe the result tonight would have been different. This was a total no-show.
One more thing: the free throw shooting. Good Lord. The Kings shot just 7-12 from the free throw line. The Knicks shot 20-29. I can’t decide if I’m more frustrated by the fact that they only shot 12 free throws, or that they only made 7 on them. Either way, bad news.
Alright, end rant. Good luck to the Kings in Boston tomorrow night.
