Despite being down nearly 30 points in another out-of-reach blowout, the Sacramento Kings left most of their starters in the game instead of giving Maxime Raynaud some real reps in the fourth quarter. That's especially concerning since he played well against the Thunder in the previous game.
Doug Christie has 4 of the 5 starters out there down 119-92 with 8:40 remaining.
— Matt George (@MattGeorgeSAC) November 10, 2025
Keon Ellis is the 5th man, in place of DeMar DeRozan
One solid butt-kicking is bad enough. Two in a row is utterly devastating. First, the Thunder came to town and thumped the Kings by 31 points. A lot of teams would come back and make a statement. Unfortunately, that statement was losing to the Wolves by 27 points.
It was apparent that the Kings wouldn't be staging any sort of meaningful comeback early in the second half. For many teams, that would be an opportunity to put their rookies, young stars, and bench players in to get some reps. Apparently, not for the Kings.
With under nine minutes left in the game and down by 27 points, the Kings were still playing most of their starters. Thanks to the fans literally demanding it, the only non-starter playing at that point in the game was Keon Ellis. Apparently, it takes a fan petition to get him on the court these days.
The Kings miss the point yet again
It was disappointing to see the starters still in the game at that point. That risks injury for those players as well as robbing bench players of valuable reps. This is especially important for rookies and young players who need more time to develop into their NBA games properly.
On the upside, Nique Clifford got some real time on the court, playing well over 22 minutes. He put up some solid numbers, clocking out with 10 points, five rebounds, five assists, and one steal. That's a respectable all-around game for a rookie who has a lot of potential for Sacramento.
On the downside, Maxime Raynaud got just under five minutes in the game and still managed to put down five points on 100% shooting from the field. Given how well he played against the Thunder in the previous game, leaving him on the bench so much was an incredible disappointment.
For some reason, the Kings also waited to put Keon Ellis into the game until the final quarter, in addition to Raynaud's limited minutes. Given how badly things are going, it's hard to understand what exactly Sacramento's plan is at the moment since they keep doing what isn't working.