Kings Report

It’s All-Star Weekend in the NBA, which means another chance for Kings fans to talk about how their players get no respect. Sabonis leads the league in double-doubles, grabbing about 14 rebounds a night (also a league-high) and averaging 20.4 points on almost 60% shooting. The only other player in history to have numbers this good was Wilt Chamberlain. So why wasn’t he picked for the All Star team? It can’t be because the Sacramento Kings aren’t performing well, as they are higher in the standings than the Warriors, the Suns, and the Spurs, all of which have an All-Star. I guess the All-Star game is really just a popularity contest, and Sabonis and the Kings just aren’t that popular, but at least they’ll all get a nice break to be with their families this weekend.

After back to back losses to start the week against the Orlando Magic and the Portland Trailblazers, Kings fans were treated to some amazing comeback wins. First against the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday, February 8th, the Kings overcame a 20-point deficit to beat the Pelicans 123-118. Our boy, Sabonis, had his 46th double-double with 27 points and 16 rebounds. Our new addition, Zach LaVine, finished the night with 22 points on 50% shooting. While those stats look pretty good, I do want to mention that LaVine went 1/7 from the three point line. As Malik Monk said, laughing, in a locker room interview, “that mother*** ain’t hit no threes like he do with everybody else!…he gonna start hitting ‘em though, he’s gotta get a few games under his belt.” Hopefully, that day comes soon because the lord knows we need it.

After New Orleans, the Kings traveled to Dallas to take on a short-handed Mavericks team (that Anthony Davis-Luka Dončić trade isn’t looking so great for the Mavs with Davis out with an abdominal injury for at least a few weeks) on Monday, February 10th. It was DeMar DeRozan who took the lead on this one and helped the Kings overcome an 11 point deficit in the fourth quarter to take the game to overtime. Not only did we get the baseline jumper that led to overtime, we got a tie game in OT with three lead changes in the last minute of the game. Let me tell you, it was exciting when the last lead change went in our favor, with a classic DeMar DeRozan 14-foot jump shot with 2 seconds on the clock to win the Kings the game, 129-128.

The Kings will play back-to-back games against the Pelicans in New Orleans to end the week before the All-Star break on Wednesday, February 12th, and Thursday, February 13th. The Kings currently sit in 9th place in the Western Conference. Go Kings!