The Beam Is Back: Kings steamroll Pacers in front of sellout crowd

Nov 30, 2022, 11:20 PM | Updated: 11:30 pm

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 30: Malik Monk #0 of the Sacramento Kings reacts after he made a ...

(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Sacramento Kings Beat Writer

The long-awaited matchup between the Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers was not much of a matchup at all.

Sacramento took control of Wednesday’s game early in the first quarter and never looked back as Domantas Sabonis put on a show against his former team during a 137-114 win in front of a pumped-up Golden 1 Center crowd.

Former Kings guards Tyrese Haliburton and Buddy Hield made their first appearances in Sacramento since February’s trade that brought Sabonis into town, but the main story on Wednesday night would be another explosive performance from the Kings’ offense.

Kings fans have waited a looooong time for moments like this. So much fun to watch.pic.twitter.com/CSyrtNqFN8

— Frankie Cartoscelli (@FCartoscelli3) December 1, 2022

Sacramento jumped out to a big lead early as Sabonis flirted with a triple-double before play even entered the second quarter. The big man was forced to exit the game due to foul trouble, meaning the Kings would need its supporting cast to step up while the two-time All-Star waited on the sideline.

While players like De’Aaron Fox and Kevin Huerter struggled to find consistent looks during the first half, Harrison Barnes did a great job of stepping up to take on a more-involved role on the offensive end during the first half.

Barnes scored 13 of his team-high 22 points during the first two quarters, as it was evident by the halftime break that the Kings were on their way to snapping a three-game losing streak. Sacramento took a 62-48 lead into the second half, but that was only the beginning of their offensive outburst.

The third quarter would act as the Kings’ highest-scoring period of the season as they scored 44 points on 14-of-19 (75%) shooting from the field.

With Sabonis continuing to battle foul trouble, players like Malik Monk (20 points over 20 minutes) and Terence Davis (15 points over 17 minutes) helped fuel a 19-8 run to put Sacramento in front by 23 points heading into the fourth.

The Kings scored 75 points on 59 percent shooting from the field during the second half, while the defense held the Pacers to just 40 percent shooting from the field during the win.

TD with the defense and the 3-pointer 👌 pic.twitter.com/js1pbiftK5

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) December 1, 2022

“Our guys did a great job with their defensive responsibilities, and I thought the guys did a great job communicating on that end of the floor,” Kings head coach Mike Brown said postgame of his team’s defensive effort.

Sacramento matched Indiana in blocked shots (five) during the win, which is notable considering that the Pacers entered play as the NBA’s runner-up in blocks per game (6.6), while the Kings currently sit at dead-last (3.2). Davion Mitchell finished the night with two blocks as the second-year guard gave Haliburton a tough time on the offensive end. Haliburton finished the game with just nine points on four-of-13 shooting over 25 minutes.

Another key to Wednesday’s win was the rebounding, as the Kings out-rebounded the Pacers 58-47 behind a 10-rebound outing from Sabonis and eight boards off the bench from Chimezie Metu. All of Sacramento’s starters finished the game with five rebounds or more, which is also an accomplishment against an Indiana team that sits at seventh in the league in rebounds per game (53.3).

This game meant a lot to the fanbase, and you can tell that it also meant a lot to the players on the floor.

Golden 1 Center was as loud as it has been since before the pandemic as a sellout crowd brought its A-game on Wednesday night. When you have that energy behind a high-powered offense, it’s a recipe for a lot of fun–and that’s exactly what transpired during Sacramento’s 11th win of the season.

If you add in the fact that 50 Cent helped Malik Monk light the beam, this game had a lot of reasons to smile about as the Kings (11-9) jumped back into sixth place in the Western Conference.

“I lit the beam with 50 tonight. That was legendary,” Monk said of the postgame ceremony. And legendary it was–it really was.

BEAM x @50Cent

🔦🟣 #BeamTeam pic.twitter.com/qwKO0aLTLc

— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) December 1, 2022

Sabonis Flirts With A Triple-Double

Domantas Sabonis might have posted a monstrous triple-double on Wednesday if he wasn’t battling foul trouble for most of the game.

The former Pacers center racked up seven points, six rebounds, and four assists in the first quarter, but the fouls began to add up as Sabonis went on to only log 23 minutes during his first showing against his former squad.

Those 23 minutes would be productive ones as the two-time All-Star finished the night with 11 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists during the winning effort. Sabonis’ 13th double-double of the season is second in the entire NBA and first in the Western Conference.

With Sabonis in foul trouble and De’Aaron Fox having a quiet night by his standards (19 points on seven-of-11 shooting), the Kings had their role players step up and play a pivotal role on Wednesday, and that’s a vital sign moving forward–the fact that even when Sacramento’s star duo isn’t firing on all cylinders, they are still able to get the job done.

Domas to Keegan for the slam pic.twitter.com/JEyaw77JnI

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) December 1, 2022

Notes

Keegan Murray had his highest-scoring game since November 13th as the rookie finished the night with 14 points and six rebounds over 26 minutes.

Malik Monk followed up a 30-point outing against the Phoenix Suns on Monday night with 20 points on six-of-nine shooting to go along with four rebounds and six assists over 20 minutes of action.

Mike Brown started his pregame press conference by stating that Monk should “be in the mix for Sixth Man of the Year,” and when Monk was asked about his thoughts towards Brown’s comments postgame, he quickly responded: “I’m not going to argue with the man.” If Monk continues acting as an automatic bucket off the bench and the Kings keep winning, he will be considered for the award this spring.

Terence Davis also acted as an automatic bucket for Sacramento on Wednesday, as the guard scored 15 points over 17 minutes. Davis was one of seven Kings players to finish the night in double-figures.

Quick Hits

Sacramento finished the night with 28 assists. They have handed out 24 assists in all but one of their games this season, with that game being a 20-assist outing against the Boston Celtics last week. The Kings entered play on Wednesday in fourth place on the NBA’s team leaders in assists per game (27.9)
The Kings held Tyrese Haliburton to single-digit scoring on Wednesday, making it just the second time this season that the 22-year-old has been held under 10 points.
Buddy Hield finished his return to Sacramento with 17 points on three-of-eight shooting from beyond the arc.

Postgame Show

Check out our Sactown Sports Kings Recap Show on the Sactown Sports 1140 YouTube channel!

Sactown Sports Kings Recap Shows will be happening all season long, immediately following each Kings game!

Next Game

Sacramento will travel to crypto.com Arena on Saturday for a matinee showing against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Be sure to get all of your Kings vs Clipper coverage on Sactown Sports 1140 starting at 11:30 am PST on Game Night before action tips off at 1:00 pm PST from downtown Los Angeles.