It was a disappointing end to this year’s Kings season; the Kings missed the playoffs by ONE game despite having all the momentum going into that game. The Kings had just destroyed the Golden State Warriors and were facing a New Orleans Pelicans team that was missing Zion Williamson and had just lost their last six home games. The Kings looked like they just might do it, at least until the second quarter started. The Kings stole the ball six times in the first quarter, but their offense never really got going. You could see the Pelicans slowly gain confidence when they realized the Kings were never going to get it going, and it was all downhill from there.
The Kings’ defense has really stepped it up lately, but that actually makes the offensive failings hurt that much more. They held the Pelicans to 105 points, which would normally be enough to get the Kings the win, but not when you shoot 26% from 3 and only get 12 points out of your bench. The Kings lost to the Pelicans, 98-105, and their season is over.
It was a weird year; too many ups and downs for my liking. Last year, we finished the season in third place with 48 wins, but this year, we had only two fewer wins, 46, and we ended in 9th. It just goes to show how difficult the Western Conference is. Maybe if we had made more free throws (we finished 30th in the league in free throw percentage); maybe if we wouldn’t have lost all those games to the bottom teams of the Eastern Conference; maybe if Malik Monk hadn’t gotten hurt. Now, this last one stings the most because we very well might have seen our last full game with Malik Monk as a King and didn’t even know it; Monk enters the off-season as an unrestricted free agent. Obviously, everyone, including Monk himself, wants him to stay in Sacramento, but as his childhood friend and former college teammate, De’Aaron Fox, stated, “…at the end of the day, this is a business. You can only play basketball for so long… I’m happy for him regardless if he’s with us or if he isn’t. He knows that.”
It is quite possible Monk will choose another team where he can make more money and possibly be a starter. Speaking of being a starter, by the time you read this, we will know whether Monk won the Sixth Man of the Year Award. Before we wrap up, I also want to mention big man Domantas Sabonis and his 61-game double-double streak, the longest since the NBA and the ABA merged in 1976; he also led the league in rebounds, with 1,120 and triple-doubles with 26. Unfortunately, all of that doesn’t mean as much without making the playoffs.
I’ll be watching the playoffs, even if the Kings won’t be participating, and I look forward to watching Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder kick the New Orleans Pelicans’ butts in the first round, and I also wouldn’t mind seeing them win the whole thing. I hope you all enjoyed following the Sacramento Kings with me. Have a good summer, and we’ll pick things up here next season!