The emotional roller coaster that is being a Kings fan continues. Luckily, they won the most important game, which is the one right before I write this column. The Kings took on a very physical Houston Rockets team and it definitely got physical. There may have been some trash-talking, but as De’Aaron Fox said in his post-game interview, “People don’t usually do it to me, for good reason. I wasn’t spoken to after that though… you say something to me, come along for a ride.” They let angry Fox out of the cage, and he went off!
Right after a heated moment that resulted in technical fouls for three players, Malik Monk of the Kings and Jabari Smith Jr. and Dillon Brooks of the Rockets, Fox ended the half 4/4 for ten points and a steal. As a team, the Kings made 15 straight shots to give them the lead against the Rockets. Can we get some more trash talking please? If this is what the result is, I’m all for it. The rest of the game went pretty much like that, with five technical fouls being assessed in total and Rockets center Alfred Şengün and coach Ime Udoka getting ejected. The Kings beat the Rockets, 120-111, won their first and only NBA Cup game, and prevented the Rockets, who had been 3-0 in the Cup, from getting the number one seed.
Other highlights from the week? In normal Kings fashion, they beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 115-104, and then lost to two teams they should have beaten, the Portland Trailblazers, 106-115, and the San Antonio Spurs, 125-127. The Spurs game was at least close; it was Malik Monk’s first game as a starter. Head Coach Mike Brown stated, “What we’ve done so far hasn’t resulted in good things in terms of our record. So I felt like I needed to shake it up.” Looks like a good change-up to me. Monk will get another chance to prove he deserves the starting spot when the Kings play in Memphis against the Grizzlies on Thursday, December 5th. They will then travel to San Antonio to get revenge on the Spurs on yet ANOTHER traveling back-to-back on Friday, December 6th. The Kings will finish the week at home against the Utah Jazz on Sunday, December 8th, before getting a little break while the NBA Cup first round takes place.
I’m looking forward to watching the Cup, even though the Kings won’t be in it. Hopefully, the Kings can capitalize on this momentum and go on a winning streak. Go Kings!