Kings vs Pelicans Takeaways & Reaction – April 5, 2022
Apr 5, 2022, 9:43 PM | Updated: 9:50 pm
(Photo by Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)
(Photo by Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)
Davion Mitchell handed out 17 assists during Tuesday’s loss
Another season of Sacramento Kings basketball at Golden 1 Center is in the books.
Sure, the Kings are going to miss the postseason for an NBA-record 16th-straight season, but fans in attendance for the home finale were treated to an admirable performance on Tuesday.
Sacramento battled a New Orleans Pelicans team down until the final moments of the fourth, but the Pels were able to hold off the Kings late to secure a 123-109 win and secure a Western Conference Play-In berth.
There is some good news, though: due to Sacramento’s loss on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated from postseason contention.
Not a bad silver lining, right?
But really, I somehow caught myself late in the third quarter–dare I say it–enjoying this game. Maybe it was Davion Mitchell continuing to establish franchise records for a rookie on a nightly basis or Damian Jones continuing to show that he deserves some respect.
Maybe it was Chimezie Metu and Neemias Queta getting some minutes off of the bench.
Honestly though, it was the feeling of reluctance as I kept peeking at the game clock every few seconds, hoping that there was just a little more time left.
It’s been a year to forget. There have been plenty of those over the past 16 years. But I would be lying if I said that I won’t miss watching the Sacramento Kings play basketball at Golden 1 Center over the next six months.
We all can cross our fingers and hope that the right moves are made:
- A proper coaching search is conducted by the front office
- The Kings send a lucky charm to the Draft Lottery on May 17th and jump into the top-four
- Monte McNair finally constructs a winner
There are plenty of boxes to be checked before things tip off this fall, but at least for one last night we all got a chance to spend an evening–for better or worst–watching Sacramento Kings basketball in our very own Golden 1 Center.
Now, onto the takeaways before we set our sights on the offseason ahead:
Damian Jones Wants His Money
A free-agent-to-be? You don’t say.
Damian Jones continued his red-hot play as a starting center as the big man completed his sixth-straight game with 15 points or more on Tuesday night.
Jones flirted with his career-high of 24 points, but fell just short, scoring 22 points on eight-of-10 shooting from the field to go along with four boards and one block over 29 minutes of playing time.
The 26-year-old will become an unrestricted free agent come this summer, and goodness has he left everything out there on the floor during this closing stretch of the season.
Mitchell Keeps The Assists–And History–Coming
When covering Davion Mitchell during Summer League last July, I kept seeing a recurring complaint regarding the guard’s play style.
“Assist numbers are too low for a point guard.”
“What?! Two assists over 31 minutes?!”
“Needs to pass the ball more.”
Mitchell has more than addressed those concerns during the final month of the season.
For the eighth-straight game, the 23-year-old finished a game with seven-or-more assists during Tuesday’s loss, dishing out a career-high 17 assists (12 before the end of the third period) to go along with 15 points over 40 minutes.
Mitchell became the first Kings rookie in the Sacramento era (1985-present) to post 15+ points and dish out 17+ assists in a single game and just the fifth Kings player in that time-span to do so, joining Reggie Theus (three times), Spud Webb, Beno Udrih, and Jason Williams.
The ninth-overall pick from last year’s draft also became the first Kings rookie in the Sacramento era to post six-straight games with eight assists or more.
Funnily enough, Gentry said pregame that he was going to look to limit Mitchell’s playing time since the rookie was averaging 41 minutes per game over the past seven games.
After seeing Mitchell hand out a career-high in assists before the end of the third period, Gentry put his floor general back on the floor during the fourth as the Kings made their final push. Mitchell finished the night having played 40 minutes–his fourth game topping the 40-minute mark over the past eight contests.
Seeing Mitchell possess the ability to control an NBA offense is a great sign heading into the offseason, although the question of how the rookie will fit in a backcourt next to De’Aaron Fox will reign supreme this summer.
Over the past eight games, Mitchell has looked like a player that could not only run an offense, but thrive in that role.
Injury Updates
- Alex Len (back soreness) was inactive on Tuesday and is considered day-to-day.
- De’Aaron Fox (hand soreness) has not played since injuring his right hand on March 16th vs Milwaukee. Last week, Alvin Gentry told the media on Tuesday that Fox isn’t likely to play again this season unless he is feeling “110%”.
- Domantas Sabonis (left knee bruise) continues to work back from a knee injury that he suffered on March 20th vs Phoenix. Sabonis suffered no structural damage to his left knee and is expected to make a full recovery. More on Sabonis here.
- Richaun Holmes will miss the remainder of the season due to personal reasons. More on Holmes here.
- Terence Davis will be re-evaluated at the end of the season after undergoing successful surgery to repair a right wrist ECU tendon injury.
Coming Up
Sacramento will take a few days off before finishing the 2021-22 regular season on a back-to-back that will begin on Saturday night in Los Angeles.
The Kings will face a Clippers team that will likely be resting some of its big pieces as they gear up for a Play-In matchup against the 8th-seed Minnesota Timberwolves.
Over three matchups this season, Sacramento holds a 2-1 record against Los Angeles. The Clippers claimed the most-recent matchup between the two teams back on December 22nd–a 105-89 win at Golden 1 Center.
You can find all of your Kings vs Clippers coverage right here on Sports 1140 KHTK beginning at 5:00 pm PST on Game Night before a 6:30 pm PST tip-off from downtown Los Angeles.
Upcoming Sacramento Kings Schedule
- Saturday, April 9th @ Los Angeles Clippers
- Sunday, April 10th @ Phoenix Suns (Final game of the season)
- Tuesday, May 17th – NBA Draft Lottery
- Thursday, June 23rd – 2022 NBA Draft
