Kings Report

With six weeks left in the regular season of the NBA, the Sacramento Kings, who are in 10th place, are only two games back from 6th place. That’s how tight things are in the Western Conference. Of course, the Kings aren’t going to get there with performances like they had last week against the Golden State Warriors. While Steph Curry did fine, scoring a very modest 20 points, it was former Kings player Buddy Hield who really showed up against his former team, scoring 22 points off the bench. Hield and teammate Moses Moody each made five three-pointers; why is it that teams always shoot three-pointers so well against the Kings?

The Kings have the second-worst three-point defense in the league; it must be fun for our opponents to watch, but, oh my gosh, is it painful for us. The Warriors shot 46.5% from three, which is ten points higher than the league average. And I know the Kings have not been known for their defense, but they at least need to score themselves to keep up with their opponent, and they clearly didn’t do that; the Kings lost to the Warriors, 132-108.

Luckily for the Kings, their next opponent was the Charlotte Hornets, who are second to last in the Eastern Conference, because I think the Kings needed a confidence boost. And for those of you who were worried about Zach LaVine, the main player we got back from the DeAaron Fox trade, he eased some of your fears against the Hornets by scoring his season-high 42 points and showing everyone he can shoot threes. There was a moment of panic in the third quarter when the Hornets went on a run and managed to cut the lead to nine, but the Kings answered back and kept their lead.

LaVine absolutely WENT OFF in the fourth quarter, outscoring the entire Hornets team with 18 of his 42 points, before Coach Christie took all the starters out of the game with 6:39 left in the quarter and a 37-point lead. I have to say my favorite part was watching the guys on the bench and how happy they were watching LaVine find his stride, you have never seen a happier bench than that night. The Kings beat the Hornets, 130-88. We know that the Hornets are not that good, so we don’t want to read too much into this win, but hopefully, this easy win will build some momentum and help the Kings in their playoff push.

The Kings had one more “easy” game this February, against the last place team in the Western Conference, in Utah against the Jazz, on Wednesday, February 26th, before facing a slew of tough opponents in March. Next week, the Kings play on the road against the Houston Rockets on Saturday, March 1st, against the Dallas Mavericks on Monday, March 3rd, and against the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday, March 5th. With how close the Western Conference is, there is no time to slow down whatsoever. Can the Kings beat a good team? I’m excited to find out! Go Kings!