Sacramento gets their first ever victory over the Clippers at Golden 1 Center
For the second game in a row, the Sacramento Kings used a balanced team effort in a victory over the Los Angeles Clippers, this time winning 104-99.
Terence Davis had his second straight strong performance against the Clippers, finishing with a season-high 28 points on nine of 16 shooting. There was a point in the third where Davis’ hit a few threes in a row and really helped ignite the Golden 1 Center crowd.
In the last couple of games, Alvin Gentry has swapped the roles and minutes of Davis and Buddy Hield, and the early results are positive. Maybe all Davis needed to get going this season was a more consistent role.
Tyrese Haliburton also had a really efficient night, scoring 18 points and making four of his eight three-point attempts. The only blemish in Haliburton’s performance on Saturday was the five turnovers he committed.
Another King that deserves a shoutout is Marvin Bagley III, who returned to the court after missing the last two games due to a non-COVID-19 sickness. Bagley had a double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Bagley has quietly been really effective for the Kings since coming back into the rotation a few weeks ago.
The Kings did a remarkably good job guarding Paul George, who is in the midst of an MVP caliber season for the Clippers. George missed some open shots, but generally, the Kings made his life difficult, forcing him to shoot five of 21, scoring just 15 points. Kudos to De’Aaron Fox, who spent much of the night guarding George.
In general, Saturday was one of the Kings’ strongest defensive performances of the season. As a team, they were getting in passing lanes, blocking shots and there were only a handful of miscues. Saturday was just the third time the Kings have held their opponent below 100 points this season.
I mentioned in the game preview that it seemed like a while since the Kings had beaten the Clippers in Sacramento. Well, Saturday broke a 15 game win streak the Clippers had in Sacramento, which has spanned the five years of the Golden 1 Center.
The Kings will get three days off at home before facing the Orlando Magic next Wednesday at the Golden 1 Center.