Kings Report

The Sacramento Kings are on a four-game winning streak and have moved out of that 10th-place spot and up to 8th place in the Western Conference. And while a lot of the teams they’ve faced have been short-handed or low in the standings, one of the wins was against the 5th-place Houston Rockets, which they accomplished without their most important player, Domantas Sabonis, who went down with an injury only one minute into the game. Don’t worry, I didn’t lead with the injury news because it appears to be only a Grade 1 hamstring injury and he’ll be reevaluated in a week. There have been a lot of devastating, season-ending injuries around the league lately, so the Kings should consider themselves lucky.

Also lucky for the Kings, they now have Jonas Valanciunis, who stepped up big time in Sabonis’ absence with 15 points, 14 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 4 steals against the Rockets, who they beat 113-103. Also playing exceptionally well this week is Zach LaVine, whose 28 points and 63% shooting from the field earned him Western Conference Player of the Week. This is the first time he’s won conference Player of the Week in his career; he seems to be hitting his stride with this Kings team, and I’m sure his teammates are happy. In addition to his 63% from the field, he’s hitting 67% from the three-point line, and it is so fun to watch.

LaVine, Keegan Murray, and Malik Monk were all on fire from the three-point line against the Dallas Mavericks on Monday, March 3rd, hitting 4-5, 4-8, and 3-5, respectively. They showed no mercy against the Mavericks, even after Kyrie Irving went down with a knee injury that later was reported to be a season-ending ACL tear, as they shouldn’t with how close these conference standings are. They beat the Mavericks, 122-98. I know I say it every week, but there is no time for the Kings to slow down. Yes, they haven’t played the best teams this week, but they are vibing with each other and building momentum, which they will need for this playoff push. And don’t forget, being in 8th place is a much better position to be in than 10th because while all 7th through 10th place teams have to participate in the play-in tournament, the 7th and 8th place teams only have to win one game, whereas the 9th and 10th place teams have to win two.

By the time you read this, the Kings will have played the 3rd place in the Western Conference Nuggets in Denver; this is the kind of game that the Kings need to win if they are going to be a playoff contender, and I hope I’ll have good news to report on that next week. Then they will be back home to face the return of De’Aaron Fox with his new team, the San Antonio Spurs on Friday, March 7th, before traveling down to Los Angeles to take on the Clippers, who currently have the same number of wins as the Kings, on Sunday, March 9th. After the Clippers, the Kings will travel back home to face the 3rd place in the Eastern Conference New York Knicks for the second night of a back-to-back on Monday, March 10th.

Go Kings, keep lighting that beam!