Kings 106, Suns 122
The Sacramento Kings took on the Phoenix Suns in a battle of Western Conference mediocrity. The Kings looked to pick up the win, which would clinch the tiebreaker for the season against the Suns. Both teams have had more than their fair share of drama throughout the season, and neither team has played to expectations considering the amount of talent and firepower both sides have. Both teams desperately wanted a win tonight as they continue to fight for better positioning in the play-in games.
The Suns switched things up to start the night, starting rookie player Ryan Dunn to get some defensive edge. It certainly seemed to help as the Suns had a dominant first quarter against the Kings. The Kings continued to struggle from many of the same issues that have plagued them when starting all three of Malik Monk, Zach LaVine, and Demar DeRozan: a lack of perimeter defense and countless turnovers. With no real defensive pressure the Suns took charge scoring almost 40 in the first quarter and finishing the period with a 14 point lead. The only bright spot was for Sacramento was Keegan Murray, who continued to shine and show aggression on offense, scoring a quick seven points.
The second quarter started similarly with the Kings struggling to cleanly initiate their offense due to the lack of a true ball handler. Towards the back end of the quarter the Kings finally strung together multiple stops, including a couple of steals due to the combined defensive effort of Keegan and Keon Ellis, leading the Kings on a 22-6 run. This should come to no surprise as Keon and Keegan are one of the best pair of perimeter defenders in the entire NBA. Monk also started to gain a flow on offense, finishing multiple drives to the basket and creating for his teammates, helping narrow the deficit to just 5 points, with the half time score being 62-57.
The opening three minutes of the second half was a repeat of the first quarter. Bradley Beal got three straight open looks from deep, knocking down two of them. Kevin Durant quickly followed that up nailing down an uncontested three pointer of his own. Yet again, the Kings severely struggled on defense when starting with the trio of Monk, DeRozan, and LaVine sharing the floor together. Kings fans are all wondering how many times they have to watch the trio struggle before head coach Dough Christie finally decides to start Keon Ellis. A second coach’s challenge by Mike Budenholzer and a flagrant foul two that was reviewed, and then called, on Mason Plumlee made the third quarter drag on for quite a while. Once the regular pace resumed, the Suns continued to rain down from three increasing their lead back into the double digits. Phoenix finished with a season high 24 three pointers made on the game. On the other hand the Kings struggled from three point land, finishing 8/32 on the night.
The fourth quarter saw Phoenix quickly increase their lead to over 20 points with more efficient jump shooting. Monk’s struggles certainly didn’t help as he continued being careless with the ball while simultaneously struggling to shoot from deep, finishing 0-8 from three. The final period of play was much of the same story, as the Kings fell short losing yet another critical game in the playoff race.
To say the Kings had a lackluster performance would be a severe understatement. The effort on display from everyone on the team, bar Keegan and Keon, would make you think they had the first seed locked up by 20 games. The starting lineup played with a lack of energy and urgency, reminiscent of a streetball pickup game. Kings fans have every right to be disappointed after this blowout loss against the only team that will seriously challenge Sacramento for the 9th seed in the West. Coach Christie let the poor defensive lineups stay on the court for far too long, allowing yet another team to finish with an elite three point shooting performance against them. In the modern NBA, you will never get a win when shooting under 30% from three while the opposition shoots above 50%.
Christie has been adamant about keeping Monk in the starting lineup since his return from injury, but he should seriously reconsider his line of thinking if the Kings hope to pick up more wins with a tough schedule to finish the season.
Kings Scribe 
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