Rinse & Repeat: Kings Fall Asleep In Second Half During Blowout Loss To Grizzlies
Dec 26, 2021, 5:51 PM | Updated: 6:04 pm
(Photo by Kavin Mistry/Getty Images)
(Photo by Kavin Mistry/Getty Images)
We’ve all seen this story before.
Once De’Aaron Fox hammered in a jaw-dropping dunk at the beginning of the third quarter, it seemed as if Sunday’s matchup between the Sacramento Kings and Memphis Grizzlies would be a competitive matchup until the end.
Instead, the competitiveness ended right at that moment for the Kings.
Memphis outscored the Kings 78-52 in the second half as they completely dismantled a sluggish Sacramento offense during a 127-102 win at Golden 1 Center.
Even though Sacramento had its head coach in Alvin Gentry and several key contributors return from COVID-19 Health & Safety protocols, the Grizzlies once again picked the Kings apart for the third time this season in an embarrassing fashion that nearly mirrored the previous two matchups.
With the loss, the Kings (13-21) continue to spiral towards the bottom of the Western Conference standings and have lost four of their last five games.
With De’Aaron Fox back in the fold and Tyrese Haliburton coming off of four-straight games with 20 points or more, the first quarter offense would instead run through backup center Damian Jones.
Jones scored nine points on a perfect four-of-four shooting from the field over seven minutes in the first period to help the Kings erase an early eight-point deficit and take a 24-20 lead into the second quarter.
Sacramento built a 41-34 lead with 4:30 remaining in the half before Memphis responded with a 15-7 run to take the lead. Fox drove right down the middle of the lane to score a go-ahead bucket right before time expired to give the Kings a slight 50-49 edge at the half.
Damian Jones led all Kings scorers with 11 points during a very competitive first half between these two Western Conference foes–one that included seven lead changes over the first 24 minutes of play.
As fun and competitive as the first half was, the third quarter would turn into a familiar nightmare for the Sacramento Kings.
Memphis burst out of the gates with authority after opening up the second half on a 34-13 run to take a commanding 20-point lead with less than five minutes remaining in the period. Sacramento trimmed the 22-point deficit to 89-77 entering the fourth quarter after showing some signs of life at the end of the quarter.
The Sacramento offense could not find any consistent offense in the fourth quarter as the relentless Grizzlies defense would not yield en route to another win at Golden 1 Center.
After holding a one-point lead at the beginning of the second half, the Kings looked like a different team during the final two quarters. Not only were key contributors like Richaun Holmes and Buddy Hield unable to find themselves on offense, the Grizzles defense turned up the intensity and Sacramento had no answer.
Holmes and Hield combined for two points on 0-for-six shooting from the field over 37 combined minutes, while players like Damian Jones and Terence Davis did their best to pick up the slack.
It wasn’t enough.
Above all else, the Kings defense deserves the blame once again. For the sixth time over the past eight games, Sacramento allowed 110 points or more. Stops simply are not happening for this team.
“This is the most disappointed I have been in 34 years in the NBA,” Alvin Gentry said after the game. “That performance was absolutely ridiculous. At some point, there has to be a bette sense of individual pride.”
How do you fix a team that has talent, but seemingly falls asleep at the wheel for at least one quarter on a nightly basis? That question remains.
It’s going to be hard to fully fall out of the race for the 10th spot in the Western Conference standings, but the Sacramento Kings are doing their best to bow out of the race with this recent stretch of play. Will this play continue, or will improvements arrive on Tuesday night?
The roller coaster continues.
King of the Night
Tyrese Haliburton’s hot-streak would not fall victim to Sunday’s unfortunate showcase.
Haliburton scored 18 points, pulled down five rebounds, dished seven assists and swiped three steals over 32 minutes of action. The second-year guard is the first Kings player to post at least 18 points, seven assists and two steals in four-consecutive games since Mike Bibby did so in February of 2005.
Injury Updates
De’Aaron Fox, Marvin Bagley III, Terence Davis, Louis King and head coach Alvin Gentry all were back in action on Sunday after missing time due to COVID-19 Health & Safety protocols.
Alex Len, Davion Mitchell and Neemias Queta remain in the league’s protocols and will be able to return to basketball activities after registering successive negative COVID-19 tests 24 hours apart.
Coming Up
The Kings will take Monday off before playing the first game of a back-to-back set on Tuesday night when they face the Oklahoma City Thunder at Golden 1 Center.
Back on November 12th, Sacramento suffered a devastating loss in Oklahoma City after blowing a big second-half lead that was capped off by a game-sealing turnover by De’Aaron Fox in the closing seconds.
Following Fox’s turnover, Thunder guard Lu Dort went coast-to-coast for the game-winning basket to claim a 105-103 win.
Be sure to get all of your Kings vs Thunder coverage right here on Sports 1140 KHTK beginning at 5:30pm PST on Game Night with Scott Marsh and Henry ‘The High Flyer’ Turner prior to a 7:00pm PST tip-off from downtown Sacramento.
Upcoming Sacramento Kings Schedule
- December 28th vs Oklahoma City
- December 29th vs Dallas Mavericks
- December 31st vs Dallas Mavericks
- Happy New Year!
- January 2nd vs Miami Heat
- January 4th @ Los Angeles Lakers
