SACRAMENTO – The Kings have had their share of ups and downs this preseason, and Sunday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Golden 1 Center definitely ranks in the latter category.
Although there were a few signs of things going in the right direction, there wasn’t much consistent cohesiveness on either end of the floor and the end result was a 105-85 loss that dropped the Kings to 0-3 in the preseason with less than two weeks before the regular season gets going.
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De’Aaron Fox paced the Kings with 11 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals but he had five fouls in the first half and finished minus-19. Keon Ellis also scored 11, Keegan Murray had 10 points, Domantas Sabonis added nine points, eight rebounds and seven assists while DeMar DeRozan had eight points, four assists sand was a minus-33.
Alex Len added 13 points while Jordan McLaughlin scored 10.
Scores in the preseason don’t matter that much in the big picture so there isn’t too much of a reason to get overly worried or pessimistic. But head coach Mike Brown has to be concerned about the problems his team had against a Trail Blazers team missing two of its best players and will almost certainly be one of the bottom feeders in the Western Conference.
Portland was particularly effective getting inside and scoring almost at will in the paint. Even when they failed to score down low, the Blazers repeatedly grabbed the offensive board and got a quick put-back score.
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Sabonis and Monk had a good rhythm going early, and Murray gave the Golden 1 crowd some energy late in the second quarter when he dunked off a lob pass from Sabonis, then made a steal on the Blazers’ ensuing possession and drove down the lane for a one-handed jam.
Sacramento couldn’t sustain the momentum very long and gave up 35 points to Portland in the second quarter when the Blazers went on a 9-0 run then closed out the first half with three consecutive driving scores by Scoot Henderson.
Things didn’t get much better in the second half
The Kings trailed by as much as 24 and were held to 24 points below their preseason scoring average.
Now it’s out to the road for Sacramento’s final two preseason games before the regular season begins at home on Oct. 24 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Here are the takeaways from Sunday’s game:
Monk Back In The Mix
Malik Monk didn’t play in Friday’s 109-106 loss to the Golden State Warriors because of personal reasons but he was back in uniform Sunday doing what he does best – making plays on both ends and providing a high level of energy.
Monk had eight points on 3-of-10 shooting to go with two rebounds and two steals. Monk was aggressive almost every time he touched the ball and was quick to attack the rim. That style made him a top contender for the NBA Sixth Man of the Year award last season and is one that will keep him right in the middle of things for the Kings in the 2024-25 campaign.
Ball Security
The Kings have a lot of explosiveness on offense but it doesn’t matter much when they struggle to take care of the ball, which was the case for a lot of Sunday. Sacramento committed 27 turnovers (14 in the first half) that led to 33 points for the Blazers.
The problems came from just about everywhere. Sabonis turned the ball over five times while Fox and Monk had four turnovers apiece.
Spread The Wealth
One of Brown’s basic tenets is ball movement, and the Kings did a pretty good job of that against the Blazers.
Sacramento had 25 assists on 35 made shots, a fantastic rate that prevented Portland from zeroing its defense in on one player. Four Sacramento players had three assists or more.