Clifford leads Kings to win over Cavs, 4-0 record in Summer League

It’s been a relatively stressless Summer League for the Sacramento Kings, with each of their first three wins including a lead of at least 15 points.

Wednesday’s matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers was a different story, as the Kings spent the majority of the game attempting to create space from their opponent in hopes of remaining undefeated.

Sacramento did enough in crunch time to complete a 94-86 win at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, ensuring a 4-0 finish to the first leg of Summer League action.

Now, the Kings (+11.5) will watch the rest of Wednesday and Thursday’s game before the final standings are determined by point differential. If Sacramento’s 4-0 record and 11.5-point differential place them among the top four teams, they will participate in a single-elimination, two-round playoff tournament this weekend, culminating in the championship game on Sunday.

Nique Clifford showing off a turnaround step-back for the bucket pic.twitter.com/VOme5aWyHx

— Chris Watkins (@ChrisMWatkins) July 16, 2025

Summer League takeaways & observations

Things got hairy late for the Kings due to Cleveland’s dominance on the offensive glass.

The Cavaliers ended the day with a whopping 23 offensive rebounds (versus 20 defensive boards), leading to outscoring Sacramento 24-10 in second-chance points.

The Kings evened the scales by capitalizing on ten Cleveland turnovers, scoring 18 points on the break to maintain the lead for the majority of Wednesday’s action.

Nique Clifford has been the player to watch in Sacramento thus far, and the 24th overall pick has continued to display his ‘Swiss army knife’ skillset, which has scouts, analysts, and media gushing all around the league.

Clifford finished with a team-high 19 points on eight-of-15 shooting, doing most of his damage in the second half (13 points) while showing off the self-creation aspect of his game. The Colorado State product also corralled seven boards and handed out nine assists while turning the ball over just once over 31 minutes.

In four games, Clifford has scored 17+ in each contest while also grabbing 5+ rebounds in two games.

While Clifford led the way on offense, he got assistance from Isaac Jones (17 points), Isaiah Stevens (13 points), and Taevion Kinsey (12 points) during the win.

42nd overall pick Maxime Raynaud returned from a one-game absence that was due to wrist soreness, adding 10 points, five rebounds, and three blocks over 23 minutes.

Lunchtime buckets for Nique Clifford 🤌

👑 19 PTS
👑 9 AST
👑 7 REB pic.twitter.com/ACwPaD8bDk

— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) July 16, 2025

When is the next Summer League game for the Kings?

Sacramento will be back in action this weekend, but the date, time, and opponent are currently TBD. An updated schedule will be provided following Thursday night’s action in Las Vegas.

More Sacramento Kings content from Sactown Sports

The Sacramento Kings are turning heads in Las Vegas Summer League thanks to the strong play of rookies Nique Clifford and Maxime Raynaud, as well as second-year guard Devin Carter.

Kings TV play-by-play voice Mark Jones joined The Carmichael Dave Show with Jason Ross to share his observations of the newest members of the Beam Team, contemplate if more moves are on the way in free agency, and much more.

Be sure to check out the entire interview with Mark Jones on the Sactown Sports 1140 YouTube page.

Listen to The Carmichael Dave Show with Jason Ross from 6 – 10 a.m. PST, Monday through Friday, on Sactown Sports 1140.

Click here for full episodes of The Carmichael Dave Show with Jason Ross

Mark Jones on the Kings’ youth movement in Vegas & outlook of the roster

What’s next for the Sacramento Kings offseason?

The NBA free agency window is wide open, meaning teams around the league will make signings and trades in the coming weeks and months ahead of the 2025-26 season.

Aside from free agency, the NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League is set to begin on Thursday, July 10th, giving Sacramento Kings fans a first look at rookie talents like Nique Clifford and Maxime Raynaud, as well as second-year guard Devin Carter.

Be sure to stay locked into Sactown Sports 1140 each weekday from 6 am-6 pm for live analysis and around-the-clock coverage, as well as sactownsports.com for breakdowns for every move

Upcoming offseason schedule for the Sacramento Kings:

• July 10th-20th – Las Vegas NBA Summer League
• August TBD – Release of 2025-26 regular season schedule
• September TBD – Start of NBA training camps for the 2025-26 season

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