Murray’s Debut Spoiled As Kings’ Free-Throw Woes Cost Them In Loss To Clips

Oct 22, 2022, 10:36 PM | Updated: 11:03 pm

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 22: Keegan Murray #13 of the Sacramento Kings goes up to shoot and...

(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

Editor & Kings Beat Writer

They call them ‘free-throws’, but nothing about them seems free for the Sacramento Kings right now.

Sacramento’s woes from the charity stripe continued on Saturday night as the Los Angeles Clippers benefitted from the Kings’ 11 missed free-throws during a narrow 111-109 win at Golden 1 Center.

For the second-straight game, the Kings (0-2) had their chances down the closing stretch of play but ultimately fell short as they are still seeking their first win of the regular season.

Keegan Murray checks in for the first time 👏 pic.twitter.com/z3AjNubUI4

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) October 23, 2022

Rookie forward Keegan Murray got his offense going early as the rookie quickly got on the board after checking in at the 7:30 mark during the first quarter. Kings fans have been fired up for Murray’s debut, and they let the rookie hear their support when he checked in for the very first time.

The Iowa product led all scorers with eight points (two-of-two from three-point range) during the first quarter, but Los Angeles took a slim 29-26 lead into the second as the Kings’ defense struggled to keep the Clippers out of the paint.

Both teams heavily relied on the three-ball during the first half as Los Angeles shot six-of-13 (46%) from beyond the arc, while Sacramento converted nine of their 19 attempts (47%). Murray finished the half with 10 points as the rookie hammered home an alley-oop jam off a lob from Kevin Huerter that brought all of Golden 1 Center to its feet.

Thanks to a strong quarter from the rookie and 13 first-half points from De’Aaron Fox, the Kings ended up outscoring the Clippers 27-20 during the second quarter to take a 55-52 lead into the halftime break.

Huerter to Keegan for the alley-oop 😱 pic.twitter.com/wc1iSDaw2f

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) October 23, 2022

Outside of Fox and Murray’s contributions, nobody else on the Kings could seem to find their offense during the third period, something that would prove to be problematic as players like Domantas Sabonis and Harrison Barnes continued to struggle.

Adding in the fact that Sacramento squandered several free-throw opportunities, Paul George and the Clippers went on to outscore the Kings in the third by a tally of 34-25 to take a six-point advantage into the fourth quarter. If the Kings were going to secure their first win of the season, somebody else outside of Fox and Murray would need to step up down the closing stretch.

Unfortunately for Fox and Murray, that help would never come.

Los Angeles completely took over in the fourth quarter as a helpless Kings defense displayed a marathon of breakdowns during the final 12 minutes of play. The Clippers opened up a double-digit lead during the opening minutes of the fourth while Paul George rested on the bench and that pretty much put a pin in it for Sacramento.

A final Kings run during the closing minutes of play would come up just short as De’Aaron Fox’s buzzer-beating triple cut the final deficit to two–a painful end result as Sacramento missed 11 free throws during the losing effort.

When you look at Saturday’s loss as a whole, that’s what sticks out the most: free throws.

After shooting 63% from the line during Wednesday’s opening night loss to Portland, Sacramento had an encore performance in the form of a 15-of-26 (57%) showing from the line against Los Angeles. Fox and Sabonis shot 50% from the line. Harrison Barnes finished the night four-of-seven.

That simply cannot happen for this team regularly, and it has happened in two-straight games to open up the season.

You have to imagine that Mike Brown is going to have this team shooting a lot of free throws during the next time the Kings hold practice–and having his players run or have to go through some form of punishment following each miss will be a strong probability.

Look at what Brown had the Kings doing during training camp. Expect to see more of these types of clips in the coming days.

Free throws for sprints here at the end of Kings practice. pic.twitter.com/Xy1nk2inNG

— Frankie Cartoscelli (@FCartoscelli3) September 27, 2022

Murray Magic & Mr. Fox

The positive from Saturday’s loss: Keegan Murray is very much for real.

Murray finished his NBA debut with 19 points on seven-of-10 shooting from the field (three-of-six from three-point land) to go along with five rebounds and two blocks over 33 minutes of play.

Not only was Murray knocking down looks from beyond the three-point stripe, but the fourth-overall pick was creating off of the dribble and making complicated shots look easy while attacking the Los Angeles Clippers defense.

Keegan beats the buzzer with a corner 3 👀 pic.twitter.com/F401WaXXyK

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) October 23, 2022

“I think that that’s going to be a classic Keegan Murray game,” De’Aaron Fox said of Murray’s performance. “He did a hell of a job. I think he had a great debut.”

Speaking of Fox, the star guard topped the 30-point mark for the second-consecutive game, becoming the fourth player in franchise history to score 30+ points in their first two showings of a season.

Over 32 minutes of action, Fox scored 36 points on 15-of-23 shooting from the field while knocking down three of his five attempts from beyond the three-point line. Turnovers plagued Fox during Wednesday’s opener as the guard turned the ball over eight times, but that wasn’t the case against the Clippers.

Fox was much more careful with the basketball on Saturday, turning the ball over three times while handing out four assists. On the defensive end, Fox was very engaged as he ended the night with a blocked shot and one steal.

During his time in Sacramento, Fox has been the face of the franchise and has received plenty of criticism due to his inconsistent shooting, but it’s clear that the 24-year-old is not the problem behind the 0-2 start to the season.

Through two games, Fox is shooting 61 percent from the field and 57 percent from beyond the arc. If that trend continues, Fox could find himself on the Western Conference All-Star team come February.

Swipa with the swipe and slam pic.twitter.com/TcEnvTKwgC

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) October 23, 2022

Struggles Continue For Sabonis & Barnes

For the second-straight game, both Domantas Sabonis and Harrison Barnes struggled on the offensive end during Saturday’s loss.

Sabonis was able to dust off a four-rebound performance during Wednesday’s season-opener by grabbing 10 boards and dishing out seven assists, but the two-time All-Star has yet to tap into his offensive game as the center finished the night with 11 points on four-of-12 shooting from the field.

Barnes followed up his nine-point showing in the debut with just eight points on Saturday, doing so on just two-of-nine shooting from the field.

De’Aaron Fox has been a terror on the offensive end over Sacramento’s first two games, averaging over 30 points per contest, but the star guard needs help. Keegan Murray’s debut was impressive and Kevin Huerter continues to be a threat from beyond the arc, but the success of this Kings team will hinge on the collective play of their top talents.

To put it bluntly, the Sacramento Kings will not win many games when Sabonis and Barnes are combining for 19 points on 28% shooting from the field.

It’s a long season, but with a rough schedule on the horizon, the Kings are going to be in sink-or-swim mode sooner than later if the key contributors are unable to snap out of their funk.

Notes

Paul George was a problem on Saturday as the All-Star forward scored 40 points on 16-of-31 shooting from the field.
Kevin Huerter tied his career-high for consecutive games with 5+ made three-point field goals (2 games). Huerter hit six triples on Wednesday and made five during the losing effort.
De’Aaron Fox is dunking again. After only dunking 14 times in 2021-22, Fox dunked twice against Los Angeles.

Injury Report

Kings rookie Keegan Murray made his return to action on Saturday after missing Wednesday’s season opener due to health and safety protocols

Coming Up

See you all tomorrow!

Sacramento won’t have much time to rest following Saturday’s game against the Clippers as they will be heading down I-80 West for a matchup with the reigning champion Golden State Warriors on Sunday afternoon.

Be sure to get all of your Kings vs Warriors coverage right here on Sactown Sports 1140 beginning at 4:00 pm PST on Game Night before a 5:30 pm PST tip-off from Chase Center in downtown San Francisco.