After ending their five game road trip handling the Bulls and pulling off one of the greatest comebacks in NBA history against the Timberwolves, the Kings finally got back home to their palace on Wednesday night where they faced off against a hot Thunder team.
I’ll tell you this much, it wasn’t pretty and Sacramento lost the game by 20 points. Although, Kings fans stayed tuned to this blowout hoping that somehow they could pull off the same theatrics that they did in Minnesota, but this time, there was no comeback in sight.
If that loss wasn’t demoralizing enough to a team that had just won two straight, the Kings, after just getting back home, had to fly down to Los Angeles to play the second seed Clippers the very next night.
Luckily for the Kings, Kawhi Leonard was ruled out shortly before tip off, but they still had to face the likes of Paul George, Lou Williams, and Montrezl Harrell.
But the Clippers did not strike fear into the heart of this team. Sacramento came out hungry after a loss and led by 17 at the half in commanding fashion.
Sacramento, could not miss a three if they tried, which, for many, led to flashbacks to Minnesota doing the same against us, but somehow still losing.
An imitation of a Minnesota collapse was not in the cards last night, however. Sacramento ended up winning by 21 points against a 33 win Clippers team. Fox set his career high in points with 34 and the team set a franchise record with 21 long balls.
It was one of the best games played by the Kings this year and they will have to carry that momentum into Saturday night’s game against the one-seed Lakers.
The Kings might need to pull some magic out of their hat to beat the two L.A. teams in back to back games, but with the way the team has played since moving Buddy to the bench, it wouldn’t be entirely surprising.
In other news, Richaun Holmes looks to come back to the court soon while Marvin Bagley is still some time away from returning.
Holmes will be a huge boost for the Kings when he returns as he has held down the center position with authority all year.
For Bagley, it’s hard to say if he truly helps this team. His playing sample size is so small in his two seasons as he has been injured for the majority of his NBA career.
The Kings will have to keep playing hard even though the season looks like it’s unreconcilable. They will have to show what they are capable of so as to be rightly evaluated for next season.
There is a ton of talent on this team, and all the injuries this season have not helped the Kings take their game to the next level. But I believe if they keep their core going into next year and injuries are minimal, the Kings will be able to look more like the team we have seen these past handful of games.
