Sacramento’s unbeaten streak is alive and well.
The Sacramento Kings remained undefeated in Las Vegas on Sunday, comfortably defeating the Dallas Mavericks, 86-70.
Sunday’s matinee game against Dallas wasn’t the prettiest of showings for Sacramento as the game remained close until the Kings went on a big run in the beginning of the fourth quarter to put the game ultimately out of reach.
Part of the reason for the game being close at all, was due to Sacramento’s most productive players in the summer league, Chimezie Metu and Davion Mitchell struggling to put the ball in the basket
In the final minutes, Metu went airborne for a dunk attempt when Mavericks player Eugene Omoruyi gave him a hard foul to prevent the dunk, which Metu didn’t appreciate. With a sense of anger in his eyes, Metu got up from the ground and punch-shoved Omoruyi in the neck.
The punch resulted in both players being ejected from the game after the officials reviewed the incident.
Last season, there was a similar incident where Metu pushed to the ground after a dunk then Memphis Grizzlies player Jonas Valancunias. The fall to the ground caused Metu to break his wrist and sidelined him for nearly six weeks.
Shifting back to his on the court, Metu couldn’t get his three-ball to fall and settled for some bad shots against the Mavs, which could have been part of his frustration.
Mitchell had his worst performance of the summer league only finishing with four points on 2 of 8 from the floor. For whatever reason Mitchell lacked his normal aggressiveness offensively and wasn’t quite as dialed in overall.
Louis King led the Kings in scoring with 18 points, with most of that damage coming via his 4 of 6 shooting from beyond the three-point line. King has had an effective summer league and his shooting and size for a Kings team that is really light on wing talent could make him a guy that may end up in the rotation at some point during the 2021-22 season.
Jahmi’us Ramsey scored in double digits once again for Sacramento, finishing with 11 points, but he struggled from three, making just one of his seven attempts.
Once again, Emmanuel Terry brought a tenacious level of energy and hustle throughout the contest, as he finished with 13 points on 6 of 8 from the field.
Despite being undefeated, The Kings are unlikely to compete Summer League Championship game due them have a lower point differential than two other undefeated teams, although scenarios still exist where they could make it.