Memphis was missing Ja Morant, but it didn’t matter.
The Kings got their lunch money taken from them for 48 straight minutes in their 128-101 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday night.
After a thrilling triple-overtime win over the Lakers, the Kings came out emotionally and physically hungover and were just outworked all game by their opponent. Given the propensity of this team to have let down performances like this in the past, it’s hard to be surprised at this outcome.
Sacramento’s defense was downright disgusting all game, allowing a whopping 76 points to the Grizzlies in the first half. Guys missed rotations, got lost on screens, and generally just didn’t work all that hard on the night.
A Grizzlies team that was missing Ja Morant, their best player saw little resistance from the Kings all night regardless of who they threw out there.
As has been the case in many games this season, the Kings couldn’t buy a three-point shot, yet they kept putting them up. On the night, the Kings finished shooting 9 of 42 from three which is an abysmal 21.4%. I chronicled the Kings’ inability to win when the three-ball doesn’t fall a few weeks ago, and that continues to be the case.
After dropping 34 points against the Lakers, De’Aaron Fox came all the way back to earth and had one of his worst games of the season, shooting four of 12 for just 12 points and a whopping -26 point differential. Fox was subbed out of the game with 9:15 left in the third quarter and never returned to the court.
Fox was far from the only King to struggle as pretty much the entire team played a clunker of a game, but you would hope for more from Fox as the leader and best player on the team.
Louis King saw his first minutes this season and struggled to find his shot shooting four of 11, but his shot attempts were all good ones and I really liked the feel for the game he showed in his garbage time minutes. With Harrison Barnes and Moe Harkless currently sidelined, I’d like to see King get some non-garbage time minutes in the next couple of games.
At a certain point, it would be nice for the Kings to develop some consistency and an actual identity as a team, because they currently don’t have either.