With the inaugural year of the in-season tournament behind us, it’s safe to say it was a success. The games were competitive and the fans were more engaged at a time when many of them often let themselves go at the end of the NFL season.
Unfortunately for the Sacramento Kings, their run to the playoffs led them to face the New Orleans Pelicans, who they played five times in the regular season. They failed to win any of those matchups despite their desire to excel in the IST.
Talking to them throughout the season, the Kings’ appetite grew because it was the inaugural season.
“If you can win that first tournament of the season, you make history,” De’Aaron Fox said. “Just like I did (in 2022-23) when I won Player of the Year. Nobody can ever take that away from you. You’re the first one to do it.”
That title was ultimately won by LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. Perhaps the fact that the appeal has faded might diminish their interest, but I doubt it.
For the upcoming 24-25 season, Sacramento has been placed in the “West A” season tournament group, which includes the Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers.
Most of these rosters will look similar to last season, with the Clippers being the obvious exception as Paul George headed east to Philadelphia. So it’s worth looking at how the Kings have fared against them in the past to get a sense of their chances this time around.
Minnesota (season series 2-1)
- November 11 in Minnesota: Kings win 124-111
- December 23 vs. Minnesota: Kings lost 110-98
- March 1 in Minnesota: Kings win 124-12
The Timberwolves have dominated the Western Conference for most of the season, but two of those matchups came before the start of 2024. Ironically, Sacramento won Game 1 without Keegan Murray, lost Game 2 with a healthy team — while Minnesota was without Rudy Gobert — and then came away victorious on the road without De’Aaron Fox.
You may remember that game without Fox. It was an overtime thriller in which Malik Monk scored 39 points on 16-of-29 shooting and 5-of-8 from three-point range.
The Kings needed every basket and benefited from Anthony Edwards’ inability to play in the second half.
Malik Monk got BUCKETS tonight in the Kings’ OT win 😤🪣
39 PTS (season high)
16-29 MGF
5:30 p.m.
4 AST pic.twitter.com/QrD0G1yvrl— NBA (@NBA) March 2, 2024
Domantas Sabonis often played well against Gobert, but Jaden McDaniels was sometimes able to bother Fox on the other end of the court. Often a physical battle, it should come as no surprise that Sacramento’s only blunder in the series came on a night when they shot 24.2 percent from three-point range. Fox made 3 of 11 from three-point range.
Aside from the game he left early, Edwards rose to the occasion against the Kings and even listed the Golden 1 Center as his favorite stadium. He proved it by scoring 34 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in that building.
This game seems to be mostly about the Kings’ ability to not let offensive breaks get long due to the Timberwolves’ lockdown defense while still managing to get stops on the other end of the floor. Maybe DeMar DeRozan can help them in that aspect.
This should make for some fun season tournament battles, but expect the T-Wolves to be the favorites.
Clippers (season series 2-2)
- November 29 vs. LA Clippers: Kings lost 117-131
- December 12 at LA Clippers: Kings lost 99-119
- February 25 at the LA Clippers: Kings win 123-107
- April 2 vs. LA Clippers: Kings win 109-95
This show was funky for several reasons last season, including the programming.
The game came a night after Sacramento had pulled off a nearly 20-point comeback at Golden State on a game-winning field goal by Malik Monk. The next night, the Clippers took a 22-point halftime lead and never looked back.
Game 2 was a two-game affair for both teams, but Sacramento struggled to slow down Kawhi Leonard en route to 31 points on 11-of-14 shooting. The first time they played the Clippers on at least one day’s rest, they beat them by 14 points.
Paul George didn’t play in that game, but he won’t be around next season. Sacramento’s starters combined for 98 of their 123 points. Fox scored 33, while Sabonis had 17 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists.
Their last game was one of the best defensive performances of the season. They managed to win despite shooting 28.6% from three-point range. Including that game, the Kings were 4-13 when shooting less than 30% of their three-pointers.
Leonard averaged 28.3 points, seven rebounds and three assists on a ridiculously efficient 64/44.4/85 shooting ratio over the three games.
It was one of those series that highlighted the Kings’ poor three-point defense. The Clippers shot 39.6 percent from three-point range over the four games, while Sacramento converted just 31.8 percent.
It might be different without George, but they either have to be able to keep up or improve in that aspect or both.
Portland (season series 2-1)
- November 8 against Portland: Kings win 121-118
- December 26 in Portland: Kings lose 130-113
- March 14 against Portland: Kings win 121-82
Let’s be honest. The Trail Blazers (23-24) were a horrible team. Not Detroit or Washington, but they deserved to be at the bottom of the Western Conference. But Sacramento often struggled last season against lower-tier teams for inexplicable reasons.
Their first game against Portland was a tough one, after just seven regular season games. The game was very close all night. Fox was on the sidelines, but that shouldn’t matter.
Jerami Grant effortlessly converted 38 points on 5-of-8 shooting from three-point range. It was his second-most prolific game of the season. His best output came in February against the league-worst Pistons.
Sacramento missed 10 of 38 free throws, which was a sign of things to come. But a win is a win… I guess.
Portland scored 130 or more points six times and won every game. They went 15-61 outside of those offensive bursts. Fox and Sabonis combined for 77 points on 66.7 percent shooting, but the rest of the team shot 31.3 percent, including 3-of-27 from three-point range.
Sometimes these kinds of nights happen on offense. Defense was the problem. You might remember that game against Doup Reath, where he scored 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds. There’s not much more to say.
The third and final showing came when Sacramento finally took over and held the 29th-ranked offense to 82 points. Hopefully the Kings won’t be guilty of playing to the level of their opponents in the season tournament.
Houston (season series 0-3)
- November 8 in Houston: Kings lose 107-89
- November 6 in Houston: Kings lose 122-97
- March 3 vs. Houston: Kings lost 112-104
I don’t know what was worse, Houston’s season series or Portland’s, but it’s not an encouraging run for Sacramento.
Fox was inactive for the back-to-back games earlier this season against his hometown Rockets, but both losses were crushing.
So it was March, when everyone was healthy. The Kings had a disconcerting inability to score the ball against this team.
They averaged 96.7 points in the three meetings, shooting 42.6/27.4/72.6 from the field. Meanwhile, the Rockets averaged 113.7 points, shooting 49.6/41.7/77. It’s a losing formula and a clear sign that they weren’t playing their free-flowing style of basketball.
It’s hard to understand why, of the nine games the Kings failed to reach 100 points, three of them came against H-Town. No other team held them below that threshold more than once.
Simply put, they need to be better there. But with a team that is largely returning, I bet they will remember these matchups heading into the 24-25 games of the season tournament.
Sacramento Kings 2024-25 Schedule
Pre-season
- Wednesday October 9th – vs. Golden State Warriors – 7:00 p.m. PDT
- Friday October 11 – @Golden State Warriors – 7:00 p.m. PDT
- Sunday October 13th – vs. Portland Trail Blazers – 3:00 p.m. PDT
- Tuesday October 15 – @ Utah Jazz – 6:00pm PDT
Regular season
- Thursday October 24 – vs. Minnesota Timberwolves – 7:00 p.m. PDT
- Saturday October 26 – @Los Angeles Lakers – 7:30 p.m. PDT
- Monday October 28 – vs. Portland Trail Blazers – 7:00 p.m. PDT
- Tuesday October 29 – @ Utah Jazz – 6:00pm PDT
- Friday November 1st – @Atlanta Hawks – 4:00 p.m. PDT
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