Poor free-throw shooting plagues Kings in ugly loss to Hornets

Dec 20, 2022, 12:05 AM | Updated: 12:11 am

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 19: Theo Maledon #9 of the Charlotte Hornets shoots the ball agai...

(Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)

Editor & Kings Beat Writer

They might be called ‘free-throws’, but nothing about them was free for the Sacramento Kings on Monday night.

Sacramento struggled from the line during a disappointing 125-119 loss to the Charlotte Hornets–a team that entered play on an eight-game losing streak and as the owners of the NBA’s worst record.

The story of the loss was free-throw shooting, as the Kings finished the night 17-of-31 (54%) from the charity stripe in a game that was there for the taking late.

In front of an energized, sold-out crowd at Golden 1 Center, Sacramento (16-13) fell flat in a game that could have pushed the team to five games over the .500 mark for the first time since 2006.

De’Aaron takes it to the hoop for the clutch bucket pic.twitter.com/KydzyG4a4M

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) December 20, 2022

While the free-throw shooting acting as the main storyline on Monday, head coach Mike Brown made sure to highlight the team’s poor defense against a Hornets team that entered play averaging 110.3 points per game (25th in the NBA).

“We didn’t lose because we didn’t make free-throws. Obviously, if we had made free-throws, we might have stolen the game, but we didn’t,” Brown said following the loss Charlotte. “The way we played, we didn’t deserve to win. Our guys may look at it and saw we missed free-throws, but that’s not the case. If you really analyze that game and see how we played, especially without a presence defensively, we didn’t deserve to win.”

Brown has a point, seeing that Sacramento got pummeled in the paint by the Hornets (72 points allowed), while Charlotte shot 51 percent from the field during the game–their highest field goal percentage since December 7th.

LaMelo Ball torched the Kings defense for 16 points during the fourth quarter, which very well could have been the final dagger for Sacramento. Even when the momentum began to swing the Kings’ way, Ball extinguished each run with a triple (shot four-of-six from three-point land during the fourth quarter) to keep the Hornets’ lead out of reach.

The Kings might have been playing on tired legs after spending the past two weeks on the road, but Charlotte was the team that was truly playing on zero rest as they had just played on Sunday night against the Denver Nuggets.

To put it bluntly, it was a bad loss for Sacramento–their worst of the season.

These types of games happen in the NBA. Over the weekend, the Boston Celtics–owners of the NBA’s best record–dropped two games to the Orlando Magic. The Kings aren’t going to win every game, but the timing of this loss was tough, considering how much buzz there was inside of Golden 1 Center for a Monday night game.

It’s rare to see an above-capacity crowd at Golden 1, but the fact that 17,803 fans packed the house for a Monday night game against the Charlotte Hornets speaks to the excitement that this team has generated.

Keegan from way downtown 😱 pic.twitter.com/eTUXahhyRK

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) December 20, 2022

Unfortunately, fans wouldn’t be able to build on that excitement and the beam would not be lit as Sacramento delivered its most disappointing loss of the season.

Each game is a learning experience in the NBA, and Browns said that the Kings will have an extensive film session on Tuesday to find out what went wrong on the defensive end down the final stretch.

And yes–Brown also said that Sacramento will be shooting plenty of free-throws when they take the floor at practice.

Sabonis, Fox, and… that’s pretty much it

The Kings’ star duo of Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox both looked like stars on Monday night, but the rest of the offense struggled to find its footing on Monday.

Sabonis had a historic first half, scoring 14 points, pulling down 16 boards, and dishing out five assists to set a new Kings franchise record for rebounds in a single half. The big man finished the night with a season-high 28 points (12-of-19 from the field), 23 boards, and seven assists over 40 minutes.

Domas' leadership is on full display tonight pic.twitter.com/qv49YmImy9

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) December 20, 2022

The two-time All-Star posted 20+ points and 20+ rebounds in a single game for the third time this season. No other player in the NBA has done so in more than one occasion this year.

De’Aaron Fox further proved that he is feeling healthy as the guard scored 37 points on 14-of-25 shooting from the field while grabbing five rebounds over 33 minutes. Fox–who will turn 25 years old on Tuesday–said that he feels much better after sitting out two games during the recent road trip to rest his bruised foot.

Outside of Fox and Sabonis, the Kings didn’t get much from the other members of the offense during the losing effort:

De’Aaron Fox & Domantas Sabonis vs Charlotte: 65 PTS | 26/44 FG (59%) | 28 REB | 9 AST

The rest of the Kings vs Charlotte: 54 PTS | 19/51 FG (37%) | 14 REB | 14 AST

Ball movement wasn’t notable during the loss, as Sacramento fell to 2-7 this season when they fail to top the 24-assist mark.

Injury Update

Harrison Barnes (right quad contusion) exited the game during the second half and is considered day-to-day.

Postgame Show

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Next Game

The Kings will continue a six-game home stand on Wednesday night when they face LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, who will be playing without the injured Anthony Davis.

Get all of your Kings vs. Lakers coverage on Sactown Sports 1140 starting at 5:30 pm PST on Game Night before action tips off at 7:00 pm PST from downtown Sacramento.