The Kings marched on in the NBA season tonight after bookending the All-Star break with two reassuring wins against Denver and San Antonio. With some momentum and good vibes on their side, tonight was an opportunity for the Kings to make a big statement and right some wrongs. The Los Angeles Clippers so far this season had the Kings’ number, defeating them by double digits in their two previous matchups. Sitting 3rd in the Western Conference for good reason, the Clippers couldn’t be expected to go down easily. The Kings needed to execute their best basketball. Let’s see how they did:
Quick Stats
Outcome: Kings win, 123-107
Sacramento Kings: 123 pts, 49.5% fg, 40.5% 3 pt, 81.8% ft, 29 ast, 41 reb, 10 to
Los Angeles Clippers: 107 pts, 48.8% fg, 29.6% 3 pt, 95.0% ft, 23 ast, 39 reb, 16 to
Much like Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, this game started out in a familiar way, lulling you into an expectation of how it would likely end. Without Paul George, the Clippers still managed to score the ball well, relying on Kawhi Leonard’s midrange expertise, as he scored 12 of his 20 points in the first half. Norman Powell (21 points) got an early shooting streak going, hitting 2 of his total 5 3-pointers early on. So it felt as if this game was about to take off in the Clippers’ favor at any moment and the result would be the same as their previous matchups this year. But just like the classic Tarantino twist, the Kings chose a different ending.
The Good, The Better, & The Best
The Good:
- Fighting For The Crown: This may have been the Kings’ best defensive game of the season. The stat trend that suffocated the airwaves preceding this game was that the Clippers are second in the league in 3-point shooting, while the Kings are last in the league in defending it. Tonight, the Kings said to heck with stat trends. They held the Clippers to just 8-27 (29.6%) from the 3-point line, while simultaneously shooting 15-37 (40.5%) themselves. That math is hard to beat in a game of basketball. The Kings rounded out their defensive performance with physicality as they cleaned up the boards efficiently, got 10 steals, and a ton of deflections. Their effort on the defensive end was palpable from the start, and most impressively, consistent through the entire game. It seemed like everyone on the floor was fighting for their right to the DPOG crown.
The Better:
- Efficient Offense: The Kings executed their best brand of basketball on the offensive end. Of course, Domantas Sabonis finished with his 20th triple double of the season with 17 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 assists. All five starters finished in double digits, along with Malik Monk (12 points) off the bench. Early on, it was noticeable that Harrison Barnes (22 points) and Keegan Murray (11 points) were looking for opportunities to get involved on offense. Their aggression and activity with the ball set a precedent for the Kings’ offense, adding multiple dimensions and threats to it, signaling to the Clippers that there would be layers to defending this team tonight. Kevin Huerter got going in the second half, and finished with 15 points on 3-6 from deep. The best part of tonight’s offense was the shot selection. Everything was within the flow of the offense. Even when shots weren’t falling early on in the game, the Kings stuck to their ball movement and committed to high quality shots. Eventually they started to fall and the Kings took control of this game by the end of the half.
The Best:
- Big Bench Minutes: During the fourth quarter, the Kings were up by 8 points with 8 minutes remaining. De’Aaron Fox headed to the bench to get his final rest, as Kawhi Leonard headed to the table to re-enter the game. This was the most crucial point of the game – where the Kings could either sustain their success and hold the Clippers off, or Kawhi Leonard would take things into his own gigantic hands and steal the game away from them. The Kings got huge minutes from their bench in this stretch, featuring three possessions in a row where Malik Monk executed pick-and-roll action with Domantas Sabonis perfectly for three consecutive buckets. Davion Mitchell also hit a timely 3-pointer to maintain the Kings’ control of this game. These five minutes of play from the bench extended the Kings’ lead from 8 points to 13 points, allowing the Kings the comfort to close out the final possessions for the win.
The King of Kings
De’Aaron Fox set the tone for this game early on with his defensive effort and persistence on getting to the paint. He was playing with an obvious fire. It wasn’t until the referees made the crucial mistake of pouring gasoline on this fire in the fourth quarter by issuing a lame technical foul on Fox for showing human emotions that we saw this fire grow into an uncontrollable blaze. Fox kicked into another gear and responded to this call with a middy, a forced turnover on James Harden, another made bucket, and a forced jump ball on the other end. Fox finished with 33 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds. Yeah, I’m thinking he’s back.
Up Next
Monday, February 26th vs. Miami Heat – 7:00 P.M. (PT)
