Alas, a 6-1 road trip was not meant to be. The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Kings 136 to 110 on Monday night, thanks to some incredibly hot three point shooting and a 29 point effort from Donovan Mitchell.
Cleveland came into the season averaging just 13.2 three pointers made on the season and tonight they had 13 at the half and tied their season-high at 23 for the game on 41 attempts (56.1%, the second best opponent percentage behind that 25-44 effort by the Magic earlier this year), led by Max Strus who hit 6 of 10 from the field. Seven Cavaliers players hit at least two three pointers. The Kings weren’t exactly slouches on that end themselves, making 17 of 44 attempts, but they just couldn’t keep up with Cleveland’s shotmaking down the stretch. The Cavaliers also torched the Kings in transition, outscoring the Kings 31 to 12 in the fastbreak.
Harrison Barnes led the way in scoring for the Kings with 22 points, including making 6 of 10 from three himself. It’s the fifth time in the last eight games that Barnes has finished with 20 or more points, something he had only done twice in the first 41 games of the season. Five other Kings finished with double digit scoring, including yet another triple-double for Domantas Sabonis with 12 points, 19 rebounds and 15 assists. That’s Sabonis’ 15th triple-double of the season, a year after totaling 14 all of last year.
The final score may not indicate it, but this was a pretty good overall effort from the Kings, especially on the last leg of a season-long seven game road trip. Cleveland came out on fire early but the Kings hung tough for much of the first quarter. After Harrison Barnes drilled a triple with 3:20 left, the Kings went up 28-26. It would end up being their last lead of the game. Cleveland responded with three more triples to end the quarter to take a 39-34 lead heading into the second quarter. The Kings kept the game in reach for much of the first half of the second quarter with Trey Lyles making it a four point game at 50-46 with 6:21 after a tough take to the rim for an And-1. The Cavaliers then went on their best stretch of the game over the next few minutes, going on a 15 to 4 run. By the end of the half, Cleveland had broken the game open up a bit and led by 15 at the break.
To make matters worse, Cleveland came out of the break still on fire and increased the lead to 21 at 93-72 by the 7:11 mark. We’ve seen the Kings lay down in multiple games where they’ve faced big deficits, but tonight would not be one of those nights. Sacramento responded with an 8-0 run before Cleveland came back and made it a 19 point game after a couple more threes from Cleveland. The Kings kept fighting though and actually ended up winning the third quarter by a single point, but still faced a 14 point deficit heading into the final frame.
The Kings carried forward some momentum into the fourth quarter and scored the first four points to make it a 10 point game, forcing Cleveland to call an early timeout. Right after the timeout, Trey Lyles stole the ball and De’Aaron Fox had the opportunity to cut the game to single digits but just missed a pull-up three pointer. After failing to capitalize on the turnover, the Cavaliers would go on a 5-0 run and from then on, the Kings never got closer than 13 points again. By the 3:40 mark, the Cavs had opened up a 23 point lead and both teams ended up clearing their benches for the remainder of the game.
Despite the final score indicating a blowout, I’m not upset at the effort we saw from the Kings tonight. Cleveland has been playing extremely well of late and continued to do so tonight. The Kings were tired but still spent most of the game fighting to keep it close before it ended up getting out of hand at the end. The Kings still finish with a very successful 5-2 road trip and now come home for a couple of games before returning to the road. The Kings have a day off before they face the Detroit Pistons in Sacramento on Wednesday.
Random Observations
- Keegan Murray started off pretty hot from the field, scoring 10 points on 4 of 6 from the field in the first quarter. The problem was that he finished with 10 points overall and only three more shot attempts.
- De’Aaron Fox fell and hit his right shoulder early in the game and I definitely think he’s looking forward to the All-Star break to hopefully recuperate. He hasn’t said anything publicly, but it seems clear he’s been playing at less than full strength for a while.
- The Cavaliers played really, really well. I really like their team construction. Those twin towers are a pain to deal with and the Kings spent multiple possessions passing up shots near the paint because one or both of those guys was lurking. Donovan Mitchell is an inferno, Max Strus is great for spacing the floor and that’s without mentioning pieces like Darius Garland (former All-Star himself) and bench players like Caris LeVert (17 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds) and Isaac Okoro (10 points). I don’t think they’re ready to contend for a title yet, but they’re gonna be a tough out for anyone.
- I thought Kessler Edwards had some decent minutes again tonight. He only had 5 points but once again showcased good defense and even hit a corner three. I’d like to see him continue to get playing time and see what we have there, especially with wings.
