LaVine’s Hot Night Pushes Kings to Victory

Kings 128, Trail Blazers 107

The sputtering Kings, entering tonight on a 4-game losing streak, capped off their long homestand against the pesky, up-start Portland Trail Blazers. Sitting just 3.5 games behind Sacramento, a win for the Trail Blazers tonight would breathe further oxygen in Portland’s Play-In hopes. A win for Sacramento, on the other hand, would all but end those post-season dreams for the team from the Pacific Northwest.

For the road team, Jerami Grant was ruled out due to a knee injury while Toumani Camara was cleared to play despite foot pains. The Kings saw Malik Monk return to the fray after missing three games due to an illness. Devin Carter was upgraded from questionable to available but Jake LaRavia missed the game because of left thumb soreness.

There was quite the interesting change to the starting lineup tonight as we saw Keon Ellis start in place of a healthy Malik Monk. This controversial topic has been almost taboo to talk about, but it appears Doug Christie finally elected to give in and give Keon Ellis a well-deserved starting spot. The ballsy decision certainly paid dividends tonight.

The Kings came out ice cold from deep to start, shooting 1-5 from beyond the arc early in the contest. The poor shooting to start did not hurt them too much as they still grabbed an early 11-8 start. The defense held up better with Ellis in the lineup as we have come to expect.

Zach LaVine seemed to enjoy playing without another ball dominant guard. He seemed very engaged, even on defense, and he was thriving on offense for the duration of the game. LaVine dropped a quick 7 points on 3/4 shooting in under 8 minutes. The Kings as a whole seemed to gel well with the updated rotations.

For Portland, Deni Avdija came into tonight’s game on a roll and that continued here as he made up the bulk of Portland’s first quarter offense. Avdija had 10 points in the first quarter and 24 points and 9 rebounds in the game, but it wasn’t enough for Portland on the night.

The Kings carried their good play over into the next quarter. Zach LaVine continue his efficient play and could not be stopped the entire quarter. Monk pitched in off the bench to help the scoring load. Domantas Sabonis looked the best he has since returning from injury playing his usual well-rounded game. Jonas Valanciunas had a solid 6 points and 5 rebounds in the half. Trey Lyles, Keegan Murray and Keon Ellis all added their individual contributions in the half, as well. DeMar DeRozan was the only King who had a quieter half by his standards, but he was dishing the ball effectively. DeRozan also missed some of the game with an apparent bloody nose, so it’s understandable why he wasn’t getting his usual buckets. It was generally a collective team effort in the first 24 minutes with everyone pitching in to put Sacramento up 68-50 at half.

LaVine and the Kings came surging out of the gate to start the half, refusing to rest on their laurels. The ball was zipping around the court during certain moments while in other moments LaVine was dropping buckets with his vintage jumpy movements freeing himself up. They expanded their lead to over 20 at different moments throughout the half, planting themselves comfortably in the driver’s seat.

Monk’s presence off the bench was much appreciated in this one. In a game where the Kings were missing LaRavia, Monk was able to replicate the energy LaRavia usually gives the Kings off the bench. Monk and Sabonis began to show flashes of the connection they had earlier in the season. He seemed to smoothly transition back to his former role. It will be interesting to see if this is a permanent change to the lineup or if this was just an effort to acclimate Monk back into the team after missing a few games. Ellis didn’t particularly have an amazing game himself but things seemed to fit into place with him in the starting five.

The Blazers were unable to pose much of a threat in the final period of action. The Kings did not let their foot off the gas like they did against Chicago. This alone was a nice feature of the game. With so few games left in the season, the Kings can’t afford to assume they have won a game before the clock has hit zero. LaVine led all Kings on the night in scoring with 29 points on 13/18 shooting from the field, while Sabonis put up his All-Star level numbers with 22 points, 19 rebounds and 6 assists.

This was a much needed victory for the Kings who had been suffering losses during a rough stretch of the schedule. This win practically eliminates the Blazers from post-season contention while it places Sacramento back into 9th place. With just 9 games remaining, it doesn’t need to be said how vital each win will be from here on out for the Kings as they continue to fight for their place in the brutal Western Conference.

The Kings will hit the road and take on the Orlando Magic this Saturday. This kicks off a 6 game roadtrip for Sacramento. They will hope to have LaRavia back and be at full strength on this tough end to the season.