I find myself in a writing funk this week, perhaps because of the four games last week. I was only able to catch two, and unfortunately, it was the two they lost, so I haven’t seen a Kings win in a week, and I’m getting antsy! But the Kings won five games of their seven-game road trip, which is pretty much as good as you can ask for. On Wednesday, January 31st, the Kings broke their four-game winning streak against the Heat in Miami, a place in which they haven’t won since 2018. The Kings kept the score close enough to give us a little bit of hope but not close enough to really give themselves a chance. The Kings lost, 106-115.

I was at a baby shower this weekend in the Bay Area (I’m going to be an auntie!), and I missed the back-to-back on Friday and Saturday against the Indiana Pacers and the Chicago Bulls. But I’m happy to report they won both of those games. They beat the Pacers 133-122 and the Bulls 123-115. Don’t let that eight-point victory in Chicago fool you; the Kings blew a 30-point lead in the third quarter and could have easily lost that game. Some of the surprising stats I noticed from these two games: De’Aaron Fox had six steals against the Pacers and five against the Bulls; I guess his nickname is Swipa for a reason! Domantas Sabonis, who we can pretty much count on for a double-double every game, did just that against the Pacers and made it a triple-double against the Bulls. The Kings bench played well, scoring 40 points against the Pacers and 44 against the Bulls.

The last game of the Kings’ road trip was in Cleveland against a red-hot Cavaliers team, and it didn’t go well at all. The Cavaliers shot 56% from the three-point line and made a season-high 23 three-pointers. If it feels like teams just can’t miss when they play the Kings, you are not crazy; the Kings are second to last in the league in opponent three-point percentage. Sabonis, however, did amazingly as usual. I’d like to share a funny moment brought up by some guy named Greg @gwiss on X: the Cavs broadcast team to Jarrett Allen: “How did you slow down Sabonis in the first half?” Allen: “I don’t think I did; he has a triple-double already.” The Kings lost to the Cavs 110-136.

We have some important dates coming up. The NBA trade deadline is February 8th at 3 p.m. Eastern, and the All-Star weekend is February 16- 18. I don’t think I’ll be writing much about All-Stars, though, because our guys Fox and Sabonis did not make the All-Star team. I’m not sure how they can justify not giving Sabonis a spot when he leads the league in rebounds and is tied with Denver Nugget Nikola Jokic for most triple-doubles this season with 15. The other players on the triple-double leaderboard this season are Jokic with 15, Dallas Maverick Luka Doncic with nine, Milwaukee Buck Giannis Antetokounmpo with seven, and Los Angeles Laker LeBron James with three. All of these other guys made the All-Star team. I hope Sabonis and Fox enjoy some time off with their families at that time and come back and show everyone how wrong they were.

This week, the Kings play at home against the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday, February 7th, and Friday, February 9th, against the Denver Nuggets; then they’ll play Sunday, February 11th, in Oklahoma City against the Thunder, on Tuesday, February 13th, in Phoenix against the Suns; and on Wednesday, February 14th in Denver against the Nuggets again.