Keon Ellis capped an outstanding afternoon by connecting on a clutch 3-pointer with 6.7 seconds remaining but the Kings couldn’t make it stand up, losing to the New York Knicks 106-105 in an NBA Summer League game on Wednesday at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas.
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Ellis finished with a game-high 29 points, three more than his NBA career-high of 26. Mason Jones added 20 points, seven assists and two steals while Isaac Jones had 13 points and eight rebounds.
All 10 Sacramento players who played scored in a game that featured four lead changes in the final 35 seconds.
The Kings trailed 96-85 with 4 1/2 minutes remaining before Mason Jones nailed a 3-pointer moments later.
New York upped its lead to 98-90 before Boogie Ellis made a nifty bounce pass to Isaac Jones for a dunk that pulled the Kings within six points with 2:50 minutes remaining.
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After Ellis sank two free throws to cut the gap to 98-94 with 2:25 left, the Kings forced an eight-second violation that paved the way for another shot from behind the arc by Isaac Jones that made it 98-97.
Sacramento later went ahead 102-101 with 35 seconds left following two free throws by Mason Jones.
An open 3-pointer from Ellis gave the Kings a 105-103 lead with 6.7 seconds left before Tyler Kolek converted a three-point play with 2.4 seconds left to put the Knicks back in front.
Sacramento had one last chance to pull it out, but Mason Jones missed his 3-point heave from near midcourt as the buzzer sounded.
The Kings came out firing.
Ellis and Drew Timme connected on 3-pointers in the first 62 seconds to help Sacramento to an early lead. As a team, the Kings shot nearly 56 percent from the floor in the opening quarter while building a comfortable 30-23 edge.
New York turned things around in the second quarter, riding a 14-2 run that swayed momentum in the Knicks' favor.
The Kings stayed close in the third quarter but couldn’t sustain their effort in the fourth quarter when the Knicks pulled it out.
Here are three takeaways from Wednesday’s game:
Keon keeps it coming
Continuing the solid growth that he’s made over the past two seasons, Ellis was at his aggressive best against the Knicks while shooting 10 of 18 from the floor and 5 of 10 beyond the arc.
Ellis, whose role coming off the bench likely is to expand in the upcoming season, was particularly crisp early. He made all four shots he took in the first quarter and had 11 points, dished out three assists and swatted a pair of Knicks shots on the defensive end.
The veteran guard pushed the pace early, attacked the rim and took smooth shots from the perimeter, showing his versatility as a shooter. Ellis made open and contested looks, banked in a shot from about 14 feet out and made a swift bounce pass to Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. for an easy bucket.
Defense? What defense?
The Kings have played fairly well defensively during the California Classic but that wasn’t the case for most of Wednesday's game.
The Knicks shot better than 47 percent in the first quarter then upped that to a 50 percent clip (19 for 38) in the second quarter. New York finished 40-73 (54.8 percent) shooting.
Mike Brown prides himself on his team having a strong defense-first mentality, and you can see that in some of the players that the franchise has drafted or brought in as free agents.
Because it’s Summer League and the ramifications aren’t that big, we’re willing to write this off as a blip on the radar. But it’s critical moving forward that Sacramento doesn’t allow this to become a trend.
Protecting the ball fails
Summer League is a great opportunity for rookies and fringe players to raise their stock value but it also is a time when coaches want to see their teams sharpen up on basic fundamentals.
After what happened against the Knicks, it’s clear that the Kings still have a lot of work to do when it comes to the little things.
Sacramento had all sorts of problems taking care of the ball no matter who was running the offense. The Kings committed 18 turnovers, including 12 in the first half, that the Knicks were able to convert into 28 points.
That helped New York take control of a game that Sacramento seemed to have the upper hand in in so many other phases. Granted, the problems came from players who most likely will play backup roles during the 2024-25 season but ball protection is critical no matter who is on the court.