The Sacramento Kings have now lost three games in a row, which has all but demolished any momentum they had after back-to-back wins. Unfortunately, the bench came back from a dismal performance against the Jazz only to watch the starters have a rough outing against the Grizzlies.
After riding an eight-game slide almost to the bottom of the Western Conference, the Kings managed to pull off two wins in a row against the Nuggets and the Timberwolves. Given some of the teams they lost to, beating either Denver or Minnesota seemed incredibly unlikely.
Two wins were a good start, but Sacramento needed to keep that momentum going. The next three games were all losses to the Suns, Jazz, and Grizzlies, all teams that the Kings had the potential to beat. Well, maybe not Phoenix. They've been playing incredibly well this season.
The Kings lost to the Jazz in large part thanks to their bench having a genuinely bad game. Maxime Raynaud was the only one playing off the bench who did well. Against the Grizzlies, the bench picked the pace back up, but it was the starters who didn't exactly have their best night.
Sacramento's starters did not look great
To be fair to the Kings' starters, it's not like they played terribly. They just didn't bring the dominant scoring performance needed to win. As an example, Zach LaVine shot for 34 points against the Jazz but only put up 19 points against the Grizzlies. That was a difference maker.
LaVine wasn't the only one not quite where he needed to be on the starting line. He went from 23 points and 10 rebounds against the Jazz to 12 points and two rebounds against the Grizzlies. That's not going to get the job done when you're considered the face of the team and a win is needed.
Again, the bench did much better in this game, just not enough to offset the starters and avoid the loss. Both Malik Monk and Precious Achiuwa scored in double digits. Maxime Raynaud finished with nine points, six rebounds, three assists, and one block. Then, he fouled out of the game.
Realistically, everyone could have put in a better effort, particularly on defense. That doesn't change the fact that it's the job of the starters to lead by example and play consistently strong at both ends of the court. They have to set the tone of the game from moment one, and that didn't happen.