A Royal Pain
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Sacramento Kings: Player grades from painful loss to Golden State

By Jonathan Roberts

OAKLAND, CA - FEBRUARY 21: De'Aaron Fox #5 of the Sacramento Kings handles the ball against the Golden State Warriors on February 21, 2019 at ORACLE Arena in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA - FEBRUARY 21: De'Aaron Fox #5 of the Sacramento Kings handles the ball against the Golden State Warriors on February 21, 2019 at ORACLE Arena in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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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!

Buddy Hield had himself a solid game, going for 19 points, seven rebounds and two assists on 8-19 shooting. Hield was also only 2-8 from three and a plus/minus of minus-six, preventing his grade from getting any higher than a B.. SG. Sacramento Kings. BUDDY HIELD. B

DE’AARON FOX. A-minus. You just have to love the way Fox has played this season, becoming a nightly double-double threat and one of the leagues better point guards. Tonight he went for 18 points, three rebounds, eight assists, one block and three steals on 6-14 shooting, while being a plus-three in a game Sacramento lost by two. Still, he did have some lapses on defense and disappeared at times, but his play kept Sacramento in it—earning him an ‘A’.. PG. Sacramento Kings

Sacramento Kings. HARRISON BARNES. C-minus. Barnes has been a great add for this Sacramento Kings team (Joeger not playing at small forward aside) and a lot of what he does doesn’t show in the box score—still his low efficiency is starting to become a concern. In his four games as a King, tonight was the first time Barnes shot better than 40 percent (41.7) and even though Barnes has been solid for Sacramento—he posted a team-low minus-nine in 33 minutes, which left him with a C-minus for tonight’s grades.. SF

C. Willie was pretty average in this one, going 4-6 from the field en route to 10 points, five rebounds and three steals in 28 minutes—six fewer than Marvin Bagley played tonight *insert eye emoji*. WCS has been frustrating at times this season and this team can’t afford for him to disappear like he did or have their starting center grab just five rebounds. Something has to change, and it might just be his starting role if Bagley keeps it up.. C. Sacramento Kings. WILLIE CAULEY-STEIN

A-plus. You cannot stop Marvin Bagley you can only hope to contain him. In a team-high 34 minutes, Bagley went off for 28 points and 14 rebounds (both team-highs) while shooting 8-19 (11-14 FT) from the field and ending as a plus-four. It’s time for Bagley to start—let’s speak it into existence.. PF. Sacramento Kings. MARVIN BAGLEY III

A. Bogi is as Bogi does. After getting the start tonight, Bogi played well in 31 minutes of action—going for 14 points, three rebounds, six assists and two steals on 5-10 shooting. You almost always know what you’re going to get with Bogi, and that’s solid play from a player which won’t cost you any games, even if he doesn’t necessarily “win” them for you by scoring 30-plus or posting gaudy stat lines (I know he is clutch though, save the hate mail.). SG. Sacramento Kings. BOGDAN BOGDANOVIC

Next. Dave Joerger is putting himself in the CoY discussion. dark

Next Up: Sacramento Kings (30-28) at Oklahoma City Thunder (37-20) on Saturday, Feb. 23

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