[Game] 69/82: Kings vs. Bulls 20 MAR 2025, 7pm PT/10pm ET

[Caccia]

Malik Monk's season-high 34 points has to be bittersweet. Hope he can do it again, soon. Milwaukee, Boston, Oklahoma City are up next.

 

[Tetsujin]

Ellis had a really tough night. He was getting bulldozed on defense. Keegan and Carter were the only two that were able to actually stick in there with the Bulls physically.

Teams have finally scouted Keon too so guys are really getting into his body and forcing contact instead of laying back and giving him chances to time deflections like they were doing for the first two and a half years of his career.

 

[sactowndog]

Did Ellis get hurt or did he only play 18 min by coaches choice?

 

[Rob-The-Great]

Do you know his newborn if his newborn is having any health issues?

Of course I don't. I'm saying unless that's the issue. And if that's the issue he shouldn't play at all. He should focus on that. Basketball is not a game.where you can be half and half. If your not mentally ready you shouldn't play

 

[Tetsujin]

Why would I do that? I got 4 kids. Delete a post on a kings forum? Get real

Like I said, I don’t want to speculate but deleting that post about Lavine having all the time in the world to spend with his baby might be a good idea.

 

[SacTownKid]

More like, amazing what being in a non-KINGS uniform does for a shooter.

Be real. That dude had plenty of minutes and shot attempts while playing here. He just didn’t make them all that much. Especially when it mattered most. He’s a big reason why the KINGS lost their playoff series against GSW. Go check the box scores. He had minutes and opportunities yet didn’t come through.

Did anybody really expect anything different tonight? You can almost always count on a former underperforming KINGS player to ball out when they come back to town in a different uni.

I was actually amazed that the KINGS were in tonight’s game as long as they were. They are predictably erratic in back to back games. They are also pretty consistent in blowing 20+ point leads.

Lets be clear, Huerter ain't putting up no 25 a night from here on. This was a get back game. The 2nd year they took a lot of his DHO away along with it being a rough year. With the Bulls he's gone back to being the same 12-15 ppg player here his first season and in ATL. The last two seasons Huerter shot less than 10 times per game which only ever happened in his rookie season. For shooters that a big thing. Take a shooter and give them limited attempts and their whole game falls apart.

 

[Rob-The-Great]

Ellis doesn't just play great defense. He's a dead eye 3pt shooter as well. He should play more than 17 min

 

[Rob-The-Great]

Like I said, I don’t want to speculate but deleting that post about Lavine having all the time in the world to spend with his baby might be a good idea.

You know some inside information or something

 

[sactowndog]

Like I said, I don’t want to speculate but deleting that post about Lavine having all the time in the world to spend with his baby might be a good idea.

I hope what you are insinuating is not true.

 

[Rob-The-Great]

I hope what you are insinuating is not true.

Yea me too, otherwise you shouldn't be insinuating such a thing. That's crazy

 

[SacTownKid]

Teams have finally scouted Keon too so guys are really getting into his body and forcing contact instead of laying back and giving him chances to time deflections like they were doing for the first two and a half years of his career.

And refs are starting to also not give him every swipe attempt. In the playoffs the concern is a player like Keon is going to foul out some nights making attempts on the ball because while the game gets more physical, they will give stars calls all night. Yeah, he's got to start using his slight frame against other teams and sell that contact.

 

[iowamcnabb]

I gotta admit, that 19 point lead felt fraudulent. The tide turned not long after that and the Bulls controlled this game the rest of the wayz. Still it’s an unacceptable loss at home given the stakes. At this point it’s not about playing for seeding it’s establishing your identity and getting a bit of momentum to try to upset in the play-in/offs. Coaches didn’t find anything to stop the bleeding. No one stepped up defensively, at least not for long enough stretches. No one put enough pressure on the rim.

 

[Tetsujin]

I hope what you are insinuating is not true.

Me too. im just guessing that Zach absolutely wouldn’t have played tonight if the opponents weren’t his old team.

 

[Caccia]

Ellis had a really tough night. He was getting bulldozed on defense. Keegan and Carter were the only two that were able to actually stick in there with the Bulls physically.

I thought LaRavia did okay. He had 7 rebounds in 22 minutes and hit all three of his shots and all three of his free throws.

 

[Joshyjosh31]

absolutely terrible loss

 

[Tetsujin]

I gotta admit, that 19 point lead felt fraudulent. The tide turned not long after that and the Bulls controlled this game the rest of the wayz. Still it’s an unacceptable loss at home given the stakes. At this point it’s not about playing for seeding it’s establishing your identity and getting a bit of momentum to try to upset in the play-in/offs. Coaches didn’t find anything to stop the bleeding. No one stepped up defensively, at least not for long enough stretches. No one put enough pressure on the rim.

The Kings never really went back to the three-headed defensive lineup in the second half either (Keon being in perpetual foul trouble and Keegan having to play center probably had something to do with that).

 

[sactowndog]

Me too. im just guessing that Zach absolutely wouldn’t have played tonight if the opponents weren’t his old team.

I have no knowledge of his personal situation to speculate. But basketball aside an ill baby is heartbreaking. If true prayers for Zach.

 

[SacTownKid]

I thought LaRavia did okay. He had 7 rebounds in 22 minutes and hit all three of his shots.

That's true he did great on help but he wasn't able to stick with guys on the perimeter. The issue was stopping the pick and roll penetration. Pretty much everybody else was getting beat off the dribble or pushed down into the basket area.

 

[iowamcnabb]

It’s always a bad idea to rely on the kings to cheer you up after a tough day haha

 

[Tetsujin]

I have no knowledge of his personal situation to speculate. But basketball aside a I’ll baby is heartbreaking. If true prayers for Zach.

Like I said, I’m just speculating so hopefully (actually not because it would be embarrassing if this were the case) Zach really just missed last night because he was attending his cousin’s bar mitzvah or something.

 

[megapoxy]

What? He's getting 40 mill a freaking year. What are you talking about? He's got all off-season to baby bond. The average man doesn't get months off to baby bond. Unless the kid had some issues he needs to do his dam.job

Probably yesterday had to do with an issue no idea if it was for the newborn or someone else friend/family. When he showed up after the match he was wearing shades and Monk asked him "are you ok man" in the middle of his postgame interview in the locker room.

 

[coolhandluke]

It’s always a bad idea to rely on the kings to cheer you up after a tough day haha

Haha.. that's a rookie mistake

 

[sactowndog]

Regardless this team plays at least equal if not better than with Zach. To spend 45M on a guy who doesn’t make you better is a career defining move.

 

[Tetsujin]

I thought LaRavia did okay. He had 7 rebounds in 22 minutes and hit all three of his shots.

Laravia looked worse and worse as the game went on. I’m not sure what illness he has going on but he definitely looked gassed past the point of effectiveness by halfway through the third quarter.

 

[Rob-The-Great]

Monk and Derozan need to stop Ball hogging man. They play way too much iso ball. They throw the whole team out of rythem. It's not even about how many shots they take and they take a lot they don't even let others touch the ball half the time

 

[SacTownKid]

Just did a quick look but the Kings since DC took over are now 1-6 on back to backs. Probably not a good idea to get our hopes up on B2B's.

 

[Rob-The-Great]

I have no knowledge of his personal situation to speculate. But basketball aside an ill baby is heartbreaking. If true prayers for Zach.

Ill bet money it being his wife issues over the baby. You dont play basketball with baby issues. Period. Let's not speculate on a child

 

[Tetsujin]

Just did a quick look but the Kings since DC took over are now 1-6 on back to backs. Probably not a good idea to get our hopes up on B2B's.

It’s also insane that one team has had 7 back to backs since January.

 

[megapoxy]

Did Ellis get hurt or did he only play 18 min by coaches choice?

He got into foul trouble at some point and seemed frustrated with whistles coming against him.

 

[coolhandluke]

I thought LaRavia did okay. He had 7 rebounds in 22 minutes and hit all three of his shots and all three of his free throws.

Jake matched up well with the physicality and athleticism of the Bulls. Christie messed up by not finding more minutes for him.