Moving back and forth between sixth and eighth place in the West, the Kings are currently in basketball hell. Dallas, Phoenix, and Sacramento are all battling for the final playoff spot, meaning that the Play-In Tournament will most likely feature the Warriors, the Lakers, and any two of those three teams.
That might be the deadliest Play-In Tournament we have seen yet and the Kings want no part of it. Yesterday’s game against the Mavericks was a huge chance for the Kings to position themselves as the better team and get one step closer to securing that last playoff spot.
In true Sacramento Kings fashion, the team fell apart completely on national TV. It was the fifth game in seven days for Mike Brown’s squad, but losing by 36 points was just inexcusable. So, let’s look at three players who were massive disappointments in this embarrassing loss.
- De’Aaron Fox
Playing on national TV against two of the best point guards in the game, was a big chance for De’Aaron Fox to put on a show and prove his All-Star talent. We have seen him go toe-to-toe with the likes of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Anthony Edwards before, but yesterday Fox did nothing like that.
The Kings needed their star to lead the charge and keep the offense going. They needed the reigning Clutch Player of the Year to take over the game and carry his team. Instead, Fox shot an ineffective 33.3 percent from the field and had three turnovers.
He just couldn’t find his rhythm, and it hurt the Kings because they rely so much on his production. If this was any other game, we might be able to excuse his struggles and blame it on the heavy workload he has had to shoulder lately.
This is the kind of game—on national TV and crucial to the standings—stars should get up for, however. It was incredibly disappointing to see that Fox was not able to do that.
Picking him up early, the Mavericks’ defense bothered him, but that is something Fox needs to get used to for the postseason.
- Domantas Sabonis
All season long, Kings fans have been complaining that Domantas Sabonis doesn’t get the respect he deserves. He just broke the record for the longest consecutive streak of double-doubles in a season since the merger.
He has been having a historical season statistically. We have all been saying it, blaming other fans and coaches for not voting Sabonis onto the All-Star team. Yesterday was his chance to prove the doubters wrong on national TV against a Mavericks squad that has no star center.
Sabonis struggled with Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively, however. He kept his double-double streak alive with 12 points and 11 rebounds, but it wasn’t pretty. The points were especially hard to come by, as Sabonis only shot 3-10 from the field.
That is terrible efficiency, and 10 shots simply aren’t enough from one of your two stars when the team is struggling to get the offense going. We have seen this from Sabonis before. He is not the kind of player who just takes over games, but the Kings needed more from him.
This season, he has played incredibly well against Nikola Jokic, Anthony Davis, and the Timberwolves’ bigs, for example. Why couldn’t he do the same against Gafford and Lively?
Hopefully, he will come out looking for revenge in the rematch on Friday.
- Malik Monk
Malik Monk has been the Kings’ third-best player all season long. He is the team’s heartbeat and an incredibly dynamic scorer on the perimeter. Yesterday, the Kings needed Monk to step up like we have seen him do so many times before.
He has won the team several games this season with some incredible clutch performances. Monk is the one Kings player who can replicate Fox’s style of taking over games and just forcing some buckets.
With Fox struggling to score, the Kings needed their Sixth Man of the Year candidate. Rather than picking up the team, Monk continued his bad three-point shooting and looked out of control and chaotic. He had a couple of nice dunks, but that was not enough.
It is a lot to shoulder. Monk has shown that he can do it before, however, and it was his responsibility to step up and change the energy of the game. Keon Ellis, Davion Mitchell, and Chris Duarte are not the types of players to change such a big game offensively.
Monk is, but he couldn’t save his team from being embarrassed on national TV. On the bright side, maybe this game—combined with his bad shooting performance against Orlando—will cause some concern among potential suitors in free agency.
Monk has been struggling offensively for a couple of games now and hopefully, two days of rest will help with that. He has not missed a game yet and plays heavy minutes, but the Kings need Monk at his best down the stretch.