Kings Report – 11/6

It’s been a rough start to the season for the Sacramento Kings. They finished their four-game road trip 1–3 after a loss to the Denver Nuggets, putting them at 2–5 on the season. Denver dropped 39 points in the first quarter to the Kings’ 30, and Sacramento spent the rest of the night trailing by around nine — close enough to keep us hopeful, but never close enough to pull ahead.

This feels like the epitome of what it’s like to be a Kings fan. They somehow managed to stay within striking distance the entire time, just enough to give us hope that they could come back, but never actually did. Statistically, it wasn’t all bad — the Kings grabbed more rebounds and scored more points in the paint than the Nuggets — but Denver took 38 three-pointers to our 25, and 3’s are something that the Kings should be known for. They lost to the Nuggets, 124-130.

Now, the game against the Milwaukee Bucks two nights earlier was a different story. In typical Kings fashion, they fell behind early, allowing 47 points in the first quarter and going down by as many as 15 at one point. But that night, they managed to battle back to earn their first win in Milwaukee since 2015, 135-133.

These two games started almost the same — both against top contenders in their respective conferences, both with ugly first quarters. Against the Bucks, the Kings clawed their way back. Against the Nuggets, they basically played even after the first 12 minutes. The moral of the story? If they could just start games the way they finish them, they could be winning a lot more basketball games.

This is something Russell Westbrook should be able to help with. If there’s one thing that guy has, it’s heart and the desire to win. And that’s exactly why the Kings brought him in — to shake up this team’s attitude. I don’t know why they don’t just give him the starting spot, at least until Keegan Murray returns from injury.

Speaking of injuries, both Domantas Sabonis (rib-cage contusion) and Zach LaVine (lower-back soreness) landed on the injury report this week. Hopefully they’ll both be okay — LaVine has been the Kings’ top scorer so far, averaging 27 points a night, and the team doesn’t have much depth at center. The Kings did just sign big man Precious Achiuwa to help remedy that, though. On the positive side, Malik Monk is expected to return after missing two games for personal reasons — a much-needed boost for a team that could use all the spark it can get right now.

This week, we have a five-game homestand at Golden 1 Center. The Kings host the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday, November 5th, followed by the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday, November 7th, the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday, November 9th, the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday, November 11th, and the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday, November 12th. If we could please figure out how to play with the same intensity for an entire game, that would be great. Go Kings!