[Game] 40/82 Kings @ Buckaroos 14 JAN 2025, 5pm Pacific 8pm Eastern

[coolhandluke]

also, you only play him twice a season

Yeah, the Bucks are not making the Finals anyway,

 

[Joshyjosh31]

also, you only play him twice a season

Not when Aaron Gordon looks like prime Giannis vs us not to mention Lebron, Kawhi, Randle, and JJJ

 

[Srzly]

People acting like Giannis went for 50, lol.

He did have 33 and 13 easy assists from all of the help we had to send his way.

I think DC could have made an adjustment much sooner but not a bad loss. Still feel good about this team going forward.

 

[kingsboi]

Not when Aaron Gordon looks like prime Giannis vs us not to mention Lebron, Kawhi, Randle, and JJJ

Giannis leads the league in points in paint

 

[Caccia]

Sabonis was also holding his shoulder when he missed both free throws before getting subbed out and not going for another assist to have a triple double.

That is concerning. It's one thing to lose, and another to lose Domantas Sabonis.

Which reminds me, I need to vote for him for the All-Star game.

 

[Jones2006]

The tweet above doesn't even make sense ... Putting your 7 foot 1 center who is known for defense to guard Giannis for a few possessions is what is expected. I'd say the "lopsidedness" mainly comes from giving the Lyles-Crowder 4-5 some run against a team as big as the Bucks. That is more indicative of the lopsideness of the roster.

It's kind of comical at this point the media's disrespect of Len though really. Dude's been in the league 12 years and been a + defensively the entire the time. For example, I can't really see some writer say something like "Rockets roster is so lopsided they have to put Steven Adams on Giannis. Shame on the GM!" ... Len & Adams are comparable at this stage, but for some reason no name writers act like they've never seen Len play. It's ignorant and unlogical to people who follow the NBA. End rant ... Edit - Oh wait she writes for the King Herald? Well that makes her look ignorant even more.

 

[SacTownKid]

He did have 33 and 13 easy assists from all of the help we had to send his way.

I think DC could have made an adjustment much sooner but not a bad loss. Still feel good about this team going forward.

If you are even for 3 out of 4 quarters, I'd give Christie the benefit of the doubt. The run is over, now we see what's what.

 

[Srzly]

If you are even for 3 out of 4 quarters, I'd give Christie the benefit of the doubt. The run is over, now we see what's what.

For sure. Excited to see how we respond next game.

 

[megapoxy]

Giannis has evolved his game a lot, takes many mid range shots (the 3rd most in the league I think, we all know who is first), with good efficiency so it makes it even harder to be stopped, had several attempts today as well, he wasn't guarded that well. In general the whole plan was awful from early on regarding the defense. Like several wrote before that was the case in Chicago as well (btw the crown was given to the whole squad for "playing well despite the game taking place early") so I hope the team bounces back and becomes tougher in the next matches, perhaps DeRozan should get more clips of Christie playing lockdown defense back in the days to show the rest of the squad?

 

[Joshyjosh31]

Giannis leads the league in points in paint

I’m not saying those guys are Giannis but they all kill us in the paint and we do nothing to upgrade that position to counter it. How are you ok having the same weakness for 5 years makes no sense

 

[Caccia]

Even with the loss tonight, the Kings have a better record on the road (10-8) than at home (10-12). If they can increase their home wins under Doug Christie and at least play .500 on the road, they will make the post season for sure. The next game, against Houston, marks the halfway point of the season.

 

[Kingz19]

2-1 is a successful road trip.

Had a lot of confidence they could beat the Bucks but just a terrible first quarter.

We’ll see how they respond at home

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Captn….

I was stuck at work, which apparently was a good thing. But since you asked:

Consecutive games without fouling a three-point shooter: 0

 

[Kingster]

The Bucks were too long and too good and didn't need more than a quarter to beat the Kings. On to the next one.

 

[Kingster]

I was stuck at work, which apparently was a good thing. But since you asked:

Consecutive games without fouling a three-point shooter: 0

It's getting pretty absurd. Fox started a thing with his 4-point play. I guess the camaraderie is so great everybody felt compelled to join in after that.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

I didn't watch the game after seeing the result, but outside of a nightmare 4-minute sequence in the first quarter where they outscored us 21-2 (Kings 1-9 shooting, Bucks scored on 8 of 9 possessions, grabbing 3 offensive boards and having a 5-point sequence), we basically played them even the rest of the game. Obviously small consolation, but the box score looks like we played 44 minutes out there, and we've had games where we played a lot fewer decent minutes.

 

[Rob-The-Great]

The Bucks are a really tough matchup for us. Their greatest strength (Giannis) just so happens to line up with our biggest weakness (not having a big, long, athletic PF that can defend and space the floor). Not to mention having a very big, long C (Lopez) and another big, long PF (Portis) compounds that size/length issue more for us.

This is why trading Fox for zion will solve all our problems. Not kidding

 

[Rob-The-Great]

Kings had a 122.7 defensive rating over 2 games. Washington is last at 118.6.

the roadtrip was very good. But our defense these last two games was not good.

So when fox came back and Ellis back to bench? Those two games?

 

[Rob-The-Great]

Before anyone says I'm hating on Fox. I have his jersey so I'm excused

 

[megapoxy]

So when fox came back and Ellis back to bench? Those two games?

Ellis wasn't back to bench today...regarding the starting lineups BUT he was at the bench when that 21-2 run for the Bucks that Capt wrote above happened.
If Monk had been the starter and Keon would have entered in his place at that time maybe things would be different.


Anyway in a sort of positive note the Kings were the last team to lose in 2025 since the Pacers match had ended a while before the one took place in Milwaukee did

 

[Rob-The-Great]

Ellis wasn't back to bench today...regarding the starting lineups BUT he was at the bench when that 21-2 run for the Bucks that Capt wrote above happened.
If Monk had been the starter and Keon would have entered in his place at that time maybe things would be different.


Anyway in a sort of positive note the Kings were the last team to lose in 2025 since the Pacers match had ended a while before the one took place in Milwaukee did

You would have thought we would have gotten even better on defense with Ellis and fox but the opposite happened. Plus monk puts pressure on defense with offense.

Hes our only starter who always comes out guns blazing. Crazy how lately it seems he's our second most important player after sabonis.

 

[megapoxy]

It's not that we lost because of the refs, but there is not a single player in Sacramento current team (and history perhaps) that gets the superstar treatment. This ref has the best view in the world right in front of him and it happened multiple times.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1879365291366560093

 

[GWD]

Hopefully, Christie emphases the three out of four quarters win to the Kings players after the game vs. Milwaukee. The lopsided first quarter was an anomaly that could not be overcome in the end. In a usual game the Kings likely have a 50-50 chance of getting the win. If the Kings had started like the Bucks, that is "hotter than fish grease" the win would have been in the Kings' column. That is just professional basketball.

Too many "ifs" to be sure but it wasn't a completely ugly and effortless loss to an undermanned, or lower ranked team. The team should hold its head high for not folding after that first quarter and giving their best effort consistently to the end. More wins will come with that attitude.

 

[twslam07]

yep. Problem is when reach the play-offs you have a lot of teams like that.

Yes and no.

It’s our biggest weakness (yes) but not many playoff teams have a MVP caliber player at PF (no). Our weakness is exacerbated by playing against Giannis compared to other teams

 

[sactowndog]

Yes and no.

It’s our biggest weakness (yes) but not many playoff teams have a MVP caliber player at PF (no). Our weakness is exacerbated by playing against Giannis compared to other teams

Many have an all star caliber forward 6’8” or bigger
Lakers LeBron
Minnesota Randle
Memphis JJJ
Dallas Luka
Denver Gordon ( watched him personally tear us up)
Pheonix Durant

golden state no
San Antonio no
Clippers no.

 

[sactowndog]

You would have thought we would have gotten even better on defense with Ellis and fox but the opposite happened. Plus monk puts pressure on defense with offense.

Hes our only starter who always comes out guns blazing. Crazy how lately it seems he's our second most important player after sabonis.

the interesting thing was with Ellis and Carter Fox was mostly in the Luka position of weakside help and he just doesn’t seem to play that super well. Monk is able to provide more help and seems to get out to shooters faster and jumps higher to contest shots at the rim.

 

[twslam07]

People acting like Giannis went for 50, lol.

I mean he destroyed us despite not scoring 50.

Giannis played 36 min and 39 seconds in this game, so let's just use his per36 stats this season to compare to what he did this game

Season Average: .612 TS% / .598 FG% / 32.4 PTS / 6.2 AST / 3.6 TO / 1.7 AST:TO
Yesterday's Game: .633 TS% / .609 FG% / 33.0 PTS / 13.0 AST / 3.0 TO / 4.3 AST:TO

So not only did he score a bit above his season average on slightly higher efficiency, but he more than doubled his assists while reducing his turnovers. That 6.8 AST delta means that Giannis contributed 13.6-20.4 (depending on if they were 2s or 3s) more points than he normally does. It was very apparent to me that we were sagging off quite a bit to try and contain Giannis considering we don't really have someone that matches up with him somewhat adequately on the defensive end (allowing him to kick out to open shooters all game long).

But comparing his On/Off stats for this game against his season average is even more telling ...

Season Average: +3.4
Yesterday's Game: +45.0

That's a massive difference. And let's put this in perspective...we actually outscored the Bucks by 15 PTS when Giannis was off the floor. When Giannis was on the floor yesterday, we were outscored by 30 PTS.

He may not have had the "flashy" 50 point game, but when you contribute to 46.6-53.4 PTS in the game, while having a .633 TS%, and only turn the ball over 3 times, you're controlling that game fairly easily.

 

[sactowndog]

I mean he destroyed us despite not scoring 50.

Giannis played 36 min and 39 seconds in this game, so let's just use his per36 stats this season to compare to what he did this game

Season Average: .612 TS% / .598 FG% / 32.4 PTS / 6.2 AST / 3.6 TO / 1.7 AST:TO
Yesterday's Game: .633 TS% / .609 FG% / 33.0 PTS / 13.0 AST / 3.0 TO / 4.3 AST:TO

So not only did he score a bit above his season average on slightly higher efficiency, but he more than doubled his assists while reducing his turnovers. That 6.8 AST delta means that Giannis contributed 13.6-20.4 (depending on if they were 2s or 3s) more points than he normally does. It was very apparent to me that we were sagging off quite a bit to try and contain Giannis considering we don't really have someone that matches up with him somewhat adequately on the defensive end (allowing him to kick out to open shooters all game long).

But comparing his On/Off stats for this game against his season average is even more telling ...

Season Average: +3.4
Yesterday's Game: +45.0

That's a massive difference. And let's put this in perspective...we actually outscored the Bucks by 15 PTS when Giannis was off the floor. When Giannis was on the floor yesterday, we were outscored by 30 PTS.

He may not have had the "flashy" 50 point game, but when you contribute to 46.6-53.4 PTS in the game, while having a .633 TS%, and only turn the ball over 3 times, you're controlling that game fairly easily.

so you are saying we have a match up problem at forward

apparently everyone but Monte gets the problem as we have had it for four years.

 

[twslam07]

Many have an all star caliber forward 6’8” or bigger
Lakers LeBron
Minnesota Randle
Memphis JJJ
Dallas Luka
Denver Gordon ( watched him personally tear us up)
Pheonix Durant

golden state no
San Antonio no
Clippers no.

I think you're misunderstanding.

Yes, our biggest weakness is not having a PF with good size, length, & athleticism who can defend and space the floor. I think the vast majority of us on this board agree that we'd like to see that player added as we continue to build & upgrade the roster.

The point I was making is that guys like Giannis are not on many NBA playoff rosters. The guy is as strong as a C, as long as a C, and as athletic/quick as a SF. He is the "Greek Freak" for a reason. For a team who's biggest weakness is size, length, and athleticism in the frontcourt, it's a recipe for disaster playing against someone like Giannis.

Now looking at the list you provided, I would hope we can agree that all of those players do not provide as bad of a matchup problem as someone like Giannis does. Fair? I feel wayyyyy more comfortable asking Murray to guard the guys you listed than I do asking him to guard Giannis.

• LAL - LeBron: Not as strong, long, & athletic as Giannis
• MIN - Randle: Not as long & athletic as Giannis. Maybe they are similar strength-wise but I think Giannis is still stronger
• MEM - Jackson: Not as strong & athletic as Giannis but they have similar length (but he's not nearly the offensive threat Giannis is anyway)
• DAL - Doncic: Not as strong, long, & athletic as Giannis
• DEN - Gordon: Not as long as Giannis. Maybe there are similar strength-wise but I think Giannis is still stronger. Probably similar athleticism (but Gordan is not nearly the offensive threat Giannis is anyway and you're referencing a game where Murray was out with injury and we started DeRozan and McDermott at SF & PF...)
• PHO - Durant: Not as strong & athletic as Giannis, but they have similar length

Giannis is essentially a physical mismatch for everyone, but that mismatch is much more severe for us which makes it difficult to overcome. That PF mismatch may exist for other NBA playoff teams, but it's not nearly as severe as when we have to play against Giannis (which at least gives us more of a chance to win the game).

 

[Srzly]

so you are saying we have a match up problem at forward

apparently everyone but Monte gets the problem as we have had it for four years.

But we didn’t even have our F guard him until the 4th quarter. DC was trying something with having Domas do it, which I don’t think he would do if he had another opportunity.

I think that + the Kevin and Lyles minutes yesterday were brutal.

But yes, it would be ideal if we had another 3&D forward with length/size.