Despite a tough loss to the Golden State Warriors, the Sacramento Kings kept it close thanks to strong performances from De’Aaron Fox and Marvin Bagley, among others.
Notes
This one is going to hurt. Not only does the loss hurt emotionally—but also as it pertains any Sacramento Kings playoff hopes and for more than just being an ‘L’.
Tonight’s loss drops them to 30-28, which causes them to lose a bit of ground on the eighth place Clippers—that was expected, but it also cost the Kings any chance of owning the tie-breaker over the Los Angeles Lakers as tonight’s loss guarantees them a worse division record.
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On the bright side, we got to see yet another phenomenal game from Marvin Bagley III tonight as he keeps showing why he was the draft’s number two overall pick—and making a strong case to be in the starting lineup.
Speaking of starting lineups, what’s gives Joeger? Why did the Sacramento Kings trade for Harrison Barnes (a small forward) only to play him at power forward? I understand the commitment to small-ball, I can respect that, but when the biggest issue for Sacramento was a lack of a true small forward, why would you keep the one you traded for from playing that position? It doesn’t make sense, but it will be Joeger’s starting lineup going forward, so we’ll have plenty of time to evaluate things again.
If this Sacramento Kings team makes the playoffs and has to face the Warriors this year—Golden State could be in trouble. Not because they’d ever lose a playoff series to the Kings, but a series against Sacramento would leave the Warriors exhausted heading into the second-round—something they’d likely hope to avoid.
Last thing before we get to the grades—you have to feel for Buddy tonight. He struggled from three all game and posted a minus-six plus/minus, but more importantly; he passed up a deep three that could’ve given the Kings the win with under ten seconds to play, something he beat himself up about post-game.
Anyway, on to the player grades!
Next Up: Sacramento Kings (30-28) at Oklahoma City Thunder (37-20) on Saturday, Feb. 23