[Game] Kings @ San Antonio Spurs 4/2/2023 3pm Pacific 6 pm Eastern

[Caccia]

It will be almost impossible to win a playoff series with this defense.

In a playoff series, the winner is usually the team that steals a game on the opponent's home court. Sacramento currently is 18th in the league in opponent's FG% when on the road, or 48%, same as Cleveland.

Given the circumstances--a strong, though not overwhelming home record, and a strong road record, including adequate defense--I would say the Kings should be favored in the first round no matter whom they play.

 

[KF8]

The Kings are currently 3-6 at home after coming home from road trips of 2 or more games. Not sure if this is an outlier, but if not then this may not bold well for game 5 the playoffs. Also 6-8 if you also count coming home from 1 game road trips which doesn't bold well for game 7 if it gets this far.

 

[BenchMob]

The double team of Fox seemed to be effective, especially the play at the end of regulation. I don’t remember other teams doing this.

 

[Chupacabra]

A classic case of a player no one has ever heard of playing like Michael Jordan in a Nike commercial as soon as he plays against the Kings.

 

[NewArena]

Do they win many games when not shooting well from 3? Huerter, Monk, Murray, as well as Barnes and Lyles are a big chunk of the offense from deep

Most teams don't in this day and age, im just saying i wouldn't necessarily say we live and die by it when our best players don't have games predicated on that to begin with.

 

[NewArena]

Yeah im not gonna start making bold claims after an early Sunday loss. We always lose these since the days of Webber

 

[KF8]

Not the sole reason for the loss, but the Kings probably would have done better this game if monk played. There has been many instances where Huerter was horrible and got benched at the end of games meanwhile Monk took his place. Huerter was 2-12 from 3 and it's hard to believe monk would have been any worse than that. Would like to see Huerter change up his game a bit and get inside more if his 3's aren't going. We have seen him done it from time to time.

 

[Chupacabra]

78 points from SA's bench

 

[reptilexcq2]

I don't remember seeing Kings getting killed by so many back door cuts and player wide open under the basket. Normally, I seen GS did this to opponents, but not the Spurs.

Murray need to be taught how to take the correct angle while jumping straight up with hands up in the air...I mean there is one play where the Spurs player had a direct drive to the basket and Keegan was under the rim and had plenty of time to prevent it and still get called for foul. I am like why did he move away from the point of attack while jumping up in the air? All you got to do is jump straight up like Sabonis did...or you'll get called for foul every time.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

Most teams don't in this day and age, im just saying i wouldn't necessarily say we live and die by it when our best players don't have games predicated on that to begin with.

and my point is that Sabonis and Fox are not going to win playoff games on their own. The rest of the guys need to shoot well as a whole

 

[reptilexcq2]

Not the sole reason for the loss, but the Kings probably would have done better this game if monk played. There has been many instances where Huerter was horrible and got benched at the end of games meanwhile Monk took his place. Huerter was 2-12 from 3 and it's hard to believe monk would have been any worse than that. Would like to see Huerter change up his game a bit and get inside more if his 3's aren't going. We have seen him done it from time to time.

We probably win with Monk in the lineup. I was surprise Monk was injured...I have no idea until I read an article. I thought I am watching a full lineup Kings. I am concern Kings have better road record than at home. This tells me that Kings roster probably have players that tend to chill at home and not as focus as they are on the road. They probably think the crowd is going to help them win and naturally feel they do not need to put as much effort as they need to...who knows. Whatever it is...Kings need to be better.

 

[KingsFanSince85]

78 points from SA's bench

142 total points. From a team that averages 112. And didn’t field most of their best players.

It’s clear some team thought they could eff around for 47 minutes then flip a switch at the end to win.

Par for the course for this team at home this season, especially against lower tier teams and those missing top players.

 

[KingsFanSince85]

A classic case of a player no one has ever heard of playing like Michael Jordan in a Nike commercial as soon as he plays against the Kings.

I said the same while watching today’s game.

IDK what it is about G1C, but there ALWAYS seems to be a scrub or two on the opponents team that seemingly hits every garbage shot they throw up. Happens more times than not.

They always act as if they’re hot $#/t until reality sets in the next game against some team other than the KINGS.

I can’t recall many home games this season where the opponent just had one of those off games where seemingly none of their players could make a shot consistently.

 

[Caccia]

The 2022-23 Kings, like many young teams, tend to play down to their opponents. Hence the puzzling losses like tonight. A more mature team would know better how to avoid simple psychological traps during the course of the season (as in "trap game"). At least they stomped all over Portland when the opportunity presented itself to clinch the playoffs.

 

[Caccia]

We probably win with Monk in the lineup. I was surprised Monk was injured...I have no idea until I read an article.

According to Jason Anderson, "A league source told The Sacramento Bee that Monk experienced mild soreness during warmups. The injury was not initially believed to be serious, but the team expected to know more Monday."

 

[PorchSurfin]

Huerter should have sat for both Kessler and TD tonight. 35 minutes when he is playing that bad and on both ends is too much.

And Keegan should have had more than 10 shots in a game where he was shooting 70%.

Fox was 0-8 from 3, 10-15 from 2. He let the D off easy by settling.

Too many backdoor cuts went unchecked in the first 36 minutes.

Very disappointing, last game I took the wife to was against Washington so now the poor angel thinks she is cursed.

Brown subbed Kessler in toward the end of the game to play D on McBuckets and it paid off, and he immediately brought Huerter back in. I thought that was a mistake, he should have brought TD back in instead. TD had 15 in 16 mins.

 

[kingdivac]

Huerter should have sat for both Kessler and TD tonight. 35 minutes when he is playing that bad and on both ends is too much.

And Keegan should have had more than 10 shots in a game where he was shooting 70%.

Fox was 0-8 from 3, 10-15 from 2. He let the D off easy by settling.

Too many backdoor cuts went unchecked in the first 36 minutes.

Very disappointing, last game I took the wife to was against Washington so now the poor angel thinks she is cursed.

Brown subbed Kessler in toward the end of the game to play D on McBuckets and it paid off, and he immediately brought Huerter back in. I thought that was a mistake, he should have brought TD back in instead. TD had 15 in 16 mins.

He has Davis on a short leash.......but I agree with you.....often times the mix of bench and starters look better than the starters.

 

[Rain man]

If we lose to the Mavs, pack it up. Playoff bust.

Now you are hedging. You already declared us a busy an hour before this post

 

[reptilexcq2]

Huerter should have sat for both Kessler and TD tonight. 35 minutes when he is playing that bad and on both ends is too much.

And Keegan should have had more than 10 shots in a game where he was shooting 70%.

Fox was 0-8 from 3, 10-15 from 2. He let the D off easy by settling.

Too many backdoor cuts went unchecked in the first 36 minutes.

Very disappointing, last game I took the wife to was against Washington so now the poor angel thinks she is cursed.

Brown subbed Kessler in toward the end of the game to play D on McBuckets and it paid off, and he immediately brought Huerter back in. I thought that was a mistake, he should have brought TD back in instead. TD had 15 in 16 mins.

I got to admit, I am more confident with Kessler in the starting lineup than with Huerter. Kessler do so much more for the team not just defensively, but rebound and hustling. Of course Huerter is a better shooter and better at running off the ball and create shot for himself. But he can be a liability on defense as well. The same can be said on Keegan or Davis. These guys are offensive oriented players than defensively. Occasionally, they play great D and even that is not good enough because the league have superstars that can just rise up and shoot over them. For the Kings to take the next step, they have to play smarter imo. What do I mean by that? It means when you're on 3 to 1 transition, you don't kick out for a 3pt shooter but rather get a sure 2pt bucket, it means being selfless and pass the ball to your teammate for a layup rather than forcing into the teeth of the defense resulting in offensive charging call, it means Fox need to turn it up whenever the Kings is behind and not just the 4th quarter, it means taking advantage of the opponent weakness by going inside to Sabonis more often, it means going to a shooter that is hot and not someone else. Those are things that can go a long way to winning games. Tonight's game against the Spurs show they still have work to do in regard to playing smart. Well, they better be smart up quickly because Playoffs is almost here.

 

[est.1999]

Almost feels scripted. Like we’re supposed to stay in the 3rd seed lol

 

[TaxMan]

Watched the game on replay. Definitely not reading this game thread. Embarrassing loss. I do not get this team’s struggles at home against poor teams. Likely means no shot at the 2 seed, probably not 50 wins. With that said, I’m not sure either of those things ultimately matter. Biggest hope is they take the defensive side of the game seriously when it really matters in the playoffs.

 

[reptilexcq2]

Almost feels scripted. Like we’re supposed to stay in the 3rd seed lol

No guaranteed now judging by the way the play.

 

[The_Jamal]

https://twitter.com/statuses/1642708876910018560

Exactly what we want to hear from coach. No beating around the bush, challenging the players to be better and show up when they're supposed to. It'd be easy to coast on "Hey we're 16 games above .500, we're the 3 seed, it's all good!" but pretty clear Brown expects significantly more from the team.

I think it starts with Fox and Domas knowing when to tell everyone else to get out of the way on offense. They're too unselfish for their own good at times. It's great when guys are hitting shots and the offense is rolling, but this was absolutely a game that Fox should have gotten started much earlier than the 4th quarter and put this one away. Domas even moreso too; my guy had 26 points on 12 shots. He needs to find the spots to go put up 20 FGA and tell everyone else to get in line

 

[NewArena]

https://twitter.com/statuses/1642738878342889474

 

[pdxKingsFan]

The Kings are currently 3-6 at home after coming home from road trips of 2 or more games. Not sure if this is an outlier, but if not then this may not bold well for game 5 the playoffs. Also 6-8 if you also count coming home from 1 game road trips which doesn't bold well for game 7 if it gets this far.

I believe the Kings are still undefeated on immediate rematches which bodes very well for any series consisting of 2 or more games.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

https://twitter.com/statuses/1642708876910018560

Exactly what we want to hear from coach. No beating around the bush, challenging the players to be better and show up when they're supposed to. It'd be easy to coast on "Hey we're 16 games above .500, we're the 3 seed, it's all good!" but pretty clear Brown expects significantly more from the team.

He's right. The main reason that teams are wanting to matchup with them, is because they've been soft at home. Just the facts

 

[joemama]

The frustration lies in the inability to stop straight-line takes to the basket, especially against the equivalent of a minor league team.

 

[PurpleHaze]

Lets face it, defense is the Kings achilles heel. In the playoffs games slow down into more half-court battles. Like coach said, they're being targeted. Kings have shown at times during the season ability to dig in on defensive end and get crucial game winning stops. But now they need to do it consistently or will be quick exit from post-season.

 

[ESP47]

The poor defense is probably going to be a mainstay as long as we have Sabonis. You've just got to take the bad with the good. He'll never be a rim protector of any kind.

There's a reason why Len was a +12 yesterday. When he was in, the Kings were getting stops and a lot of them. I really don't understand why Brown felt the need to put Sabonis back in so early in the 4th. He played 39 minutes but we were clearly a better team with Len on the floor for stretches. Another 3-4 minutes of Len and the Kings may have pulled it out last night.

Before anyone freaks out like I'm saying Len is better than Sabonis, that's not the case at all. It's just sometimes you gotta go with the hot hand and Len was playing his best ball of the season last night. I just thought that hook in the 4th came way too quick and the Kings were basically unable to get stops for the rest of the game.

 

[reptilexcq2]

The double team of Fox seemed to be effective, especially the play at the end of regulation. I don’t remember other teams doing this.

I beg to differ. If FOX had anticipated double team earlier, he would have passed to Keegan on the left wide open for a 3. Second, there are teams that have tried to double team him multiple times during the season.