Trying to choose the worst part about the Sacramento Kings' game against the Jazz is like trying to pick a flavor at Baskin Robbins. There are way too many options. In last night's blowout loss, it's easy. It was one of the worst displays of shooting the Kings have had this season, particularly from three.
Throughout the 2025-2026 season, Sacramento has obviously had one of the worst defenses in the league, if not the worst. What they don't get enough credit for is how terrible and inconsistent their offense can be. There are games where the Kings' offense is so much worse than their defense.
Last night was one of those nights. The Kings were in Salt Lake City to take on a team that has gone through some major changes in the last week or so. The Jaren Jackson Jr. trade was huge for the Jazz, and has the potential to make them a bigger threat as everything falls into place.
Sacramento certainly found them to be incredibly dangerous, losing to Utah 121 to 93. To be fair, the Kings were short Russell Westbrook, Zach LaVine, Malik Monk, Keegan Murray, Domantas Sabonis, and De'Andre Hunter. But no one could have saved this dismal shooting performance.
Ironically, the Kings shot themselves in the foot
It's hard to put into to words exactly how bad the Kings shot as a team against the Jazz. Fortunately, there are numbers that paint a devastating picture. The overall field goal percentage for the team was 34.4%, meaning they went 31 for 90 from the field. Don't worry. It actually gets worse.
The Kings only took 33 three-point shots, and managed to sink a dismal seven of them. That's a three-point percentage of 21.2%. The only reason it was that high was because Doug McDermott of all people came off the bench and drained four of the eight threes he shot.
While DeMar DeRozan, Devin Carter, and Daeqwon Plowden all stunk up the Delta center with their abysmal shooting, the worst of the worst was Nique Clifford. He went one for 15 from the field at 6.7%. Shooting that badly is so improbable you wonder if he played whole game with his off hand.
To be completely honest, it's borderline impossible to find the silver lining in a game this ugly. In a season defined by terrible team performances for the Kings, this may have been the worst of them all. They can't come back from the All-Star break repeating shooting performances like this.