I don’t know what’s worse: losing the most important game of the season by 36 or losing the most important game of the season by four. Unfortunately for me, I got to figure out the answer to that question. I could not have been more excited for the second game against the Dallas Mavericks last week, and as the game progressed, my excitement only increased. This was the game I had been hoping for! It was a fast-paced, physical game, and while the Mavs kept the game competitive, the Kings held the lead for most of the game. But, of course, a Kings fan is not going to be comfortable with any lead until that final buzzer, and in today’s game, even a ten-point lead can be erased in less than a minute.
As it turns out, my fears were not unfounded, and the Mavs tied it up with 6:35 left in the fourth quarter. What followed was a lot of defense and a lot of missed shots by both teams. The Kings were able to string together some stops, but they just couldn’t take advantage of them on the other end of the floor. Well, after five more lead changes, three more ties, and a three-pointer by Dante Exum put the Mavs up by three, the Kings lost, not on a missed shot, but on a stupid missed pass turnover by Harrison Barnes. It was gut-wrenching. I’m not so upset about the missed pass; if it had happened early in the game, no one would have even remembered it. Mistakes happen. I’m more upset that the Kings couldn’t hold on to the lead they held the entire game. The Kings lost, 107-103.
Oh, I almost forgot to tell you the worst part: Malik Monk, who is basically our fifth starter who comes off the bench and always closes out games, hurt his knee after one minute of play, and never came back to the game. We got the bad news the next day that Monk suffered a sprained MCL and will be out for 4-6 weeks. This news couldn’t come at a worse time, with the Western Conference standings as close as they are and only seven games left in the regular season.
The good news is that the Kings were able to finish up the week with back-to-back wins at home against the Utah Jazz and the Los Angeles Clippers, who are in that fourth-place spot in the West. Our bench really stepped it up in the absence of Monk and has given me some hope, with 39 points against the Clippers.
On Tuesday night, while we were absolutely dominating the Clippers, the Golden State Warriors managed to win their fifth game in a row and beat the Mavs, so we are still only one game behind them and currently sit in 7th. This week, the Kings go on their last Eastern Conference road trip of the season, starting with the New York Knicks on Thursday, April 4th, then the Boston Celtics on Friday, April 5th, the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday, April 7th, and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, April 9th. It’s a tight race, and I can’t wait to see the way things shake out.