The Kings have now lost three in a row.
The Sacramento Kings are starting to look a lot like the 2020-21 version of themselves, and that was on full display during their 136-117 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night.
You’d figure that after two disappointing home losses to the Indiana Pacers and the Phoenix Suns that the Kings would come out energized and ready to get back into the win column. Well, that simply wasn’t the case.
On Wednesday, The Kings played defense we haven’t seen since last season when they were one of the worst defensive teams in NBA history. Defensive rotations were botched, guys were left wide open from three, and there was a general lack of competitiveness for the Kings on that end.
San Antonio shot a blistering 18 of 32 from three-point range, a ton of which were completely uncovered. Sacramento on the other hand, couldn’t buy a three-pointer for most of the night, shooting 10 of 36, with a few of those being garbage time buckets.
De’Aaron Fox had far and away his most effective game of the season scoring 37 points on 14 of 24 shooting, but ultimately it was inconsequential as the majority of that damage came with the Kings down double digits. Still, it’s good to see Fox have a performance that can hopefully ends his early-season slump.
Harrison Barnes and Buddy Hield were both abysmal on both sides of the ball on Wednesday. They combined to shoot just 3 of 13 from three and were mainly sieves on defense.
The Kings played every single guy on the bench that was dressed, aside from Marvin Bagley III, who reportedly refused to enter the game when the Kings played the Suns.
Wednesday was easily the Kings’ worst performance of the season, and they were blown out for the first time all season as a result. But, every team gets blown out in the NBA at least once, so this was bound to happen sooner or later.
Hopefully, this game is a wake-up call for the Kings and they come out for their next game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday with a much better effort.