Same Story, Different Day: Shorthanded Hawks Hold Off Kings
Jan 5, 2022, 10:00 PM | Updated: 10:23 pm
(Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
(Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
Atlanta was without Trae Young, John Collins & Bogdan Bogdanovic on Wednesday–and it didn’t matter
Stop me if you’ve heard this story before:
The Sacramento Kings faced a shorthanded team that was without several of its key contributors and fell short in very frustrating fashion.
Well, the same story will be told once again on Wednesday night as the Atlanta Hawks marched into Golden 1 Center and picked up a 108-102 without three of its starters in All-Star guard Trae Young, forward John Collins and former Kings guard Bogdan Bogdanovic.
With the loss, Sacramento (16-24) falls to a season-low eight games below the .500 mark.
Atlanta opening Wednesday’s action up with a 13-5 run as the Kings looked a lot like they did during Tuesday’s tough closing stretch of the fourth quarter in Los Angeles. The Hawks used five offensive rebounds to add on some second-chance points to build a 33-24 lead after 12 minutes of play.
Sacramento took advantage of a stalled Hawks offense as the Kings used a 12-0 lead to take a 36-33 lead to open up the second quarter. Unfortunately, that run would act as most of the offense for the period as the Hawks answered with a 21-9 run to end the half and regain a 54-45 lead at the break.
The first half was ugly for a lot of reasons, but the fact that both teams shot under 40-percent from the field was enough to make fans in attendance yawn and rub their eyes as the lack of offense was truly tiring to witness.
Tyrese Haliburton drilled back-to-back triples almost immediately to open up the second half as the Kings used a 10-2 run to once again trim the Atlanta lead to just one point. Haliburton scored nine points (three-of-three from beyond the arc) in the third to cut the Hawks lead down to 78-75 entering the final quarter.
Atlanta regained control in the early moments of the fourth quarter as Hawks guard Kevin Huerter helped give his team an 86-78 lead with 8:21 remaining.
An impressive put-back three-point play from Haliburton was followed by a De’Aaron Fox floater to bring the Kings to within three points at 90-87 with just over four minutes to play, setting the stage for another close contest at Golden 1 Center.
After Fox sank back-to-back fadeaway jumpers to make it 96-95 Atlanta, Hawks forward Onyeka Okongwu hammered one home to put Sacramento down by three with just over 90 seconds on the clock.
Haliburton’s clutch step-back triple with 1:17 remaining sent Kings fans into a frenzy as the game entered a 98-98 gridlock. That tie would be short-lived however, as Hawks guard Cam Reddish silenced the crowd with a long-ball of his own to put Atlanta back in front by a trey.
Fox once again showed his clutch gene as he drove to the rack and converted a tough lay-in while absorbing contact for an and-one opportunity. After the made free-throw, things were once again tied up with less than a minute remaining.
Needing one stop for a chance to regain possession with a chance to win the ballgame, the Kings were unable to stop Huerter as the guard drove to the rack to score a go-ahead bucket with 37.7 seconds remaining to all but put this one away.
The Kings were unable to answer the bucket by Huerter, dropping their second-straight game and falling to a season-low eight games beneath the .500 mark.
Sacramento is playing like a broken record right now. It’s a similar story every night. Slow start, better second quarter, rough second half. The late-game execution is non-existent. In reality, the Kings are a Chimezie Metu buzzer-beater away from a 2-7 stretch–as if 3-6 is that much better.
Change is needed. Change is needed yesterday.
Reports have swirled that Kings GM Monte McNair has been given the green light to shakeup this roster. Will McNair make some much-needed moves? Or will this team continue to circle the drain of mediocrity?
Quick Stats
For the first time this season, De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton both topped the 20-point mark in the same game.
Fox, who topped the 20-point mark for the third-consecutive game, finished with a game-high 30 points on 12-of-23 shooting from the field to go along with six assists over 37 minutes.
Haliburton scored 24 points and knocked down five of his seven three-point attempts in the losing effort.
Injury Updates
Kings guard Terence Davis missed his fourth-straight game due to ankle soreness.
Davis was listed as questionable prior to tip-off, but the 24-year-old was ruled out shortly before tip-off on Wednesday. Davis is considered day-to-day going forward.
Richaun Holmes became the latest member of the Kings roster to enter COVID-19 Health & Safety protocols on Saturday afternoon. Holmes will be able to return to basketball activities after registering successive negative COVID-19 tests 24 hours apart.
The 28-year-old center has struggled to get back into a rhythm after suffering two separate injuries to his right eye in late November and early December. After missing 10 of 14 games, Holmes has averaged 6.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game over just 22.0 minutes per game, well below his season-averages of 12.6 points, 8.7 rebounds and 26.1 minutes per game.
Chimezie Metu entered COVID-19 Health & Safety protocols just a few hours before action tipped off on Tuesday. Like Holmes, Metu will be able to return to action after registering successive negative COVID-19 tests 24 hours apart.
Coming Up
For the first time in almost a month, the Sacramento Kings will exit the state of California for a short flight to Colorado where they will face reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets on Friday night.
Sacramento swept the three-game season series against Denver for the first time since the 2015-16 season, with the most-recent victory taking place on February 6, 2021 during a 119-114 win at Golden 1 Center.
Jokic dropped a career-high 50 points on 20-of-33 shooting, but the Kings were able to hold off the Joker as De’Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton, Harrison Barnes and Richaun Holmes all scored 20 points or more.
Be sure to get all of your Kings vs Nuggets coverage right here on Sports 1140 KHTK beginning at 4:30pm PST on Game Night with Scott Marsh and Henry ‘The High Flyer’ Turner prior to a 6:00pm PST tip-off from downtown Sacramento.
Upcoming Sacramento Kings Schedule
- January 7th @ Denver Nuggets
- January 9th @ Portland Trail Blazers
- January 10th vs Cleveland Cavaliers
- January 12th vs Los Angeles Lakers
- January 14th vs Houston Rockets
