Lesson not learned: Kings suffer another dispiriting loss to struggling Washington Wizards
The Kings’ season through the first 30 games has been defined by good vibes predicated on winning. The “Beam Team” came into Friday night against the lowly Washington Wizards sitting in at 17-13, good for sixth in the Western Conference, while playing a brand of basketball that should have them in the mix for the playoffs come April.
But having a good record and being capable of playing a winning style doesn’t guarantee anything in the NBA. And it’s a lesson the Kings should have learned earlier this week when they dropped a game on their home floor against the Charlotte Hornets.
That six-point loss came via defensive lapses, an overall lack of intensity, and missing 14 free throws. The Kings have acknowledged that they would have “stolen” the victory against the Hornets had they shot well enough from the charity stripe to win.
Which is what makes Friday’s defeat to the Wizards that much more confounding. The lesson was obvious on Monday: don’t take any team for granted.
But on Friday, the Kings got blown out by the Wizards, falling 125-111 in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated. They trailed by as many as 30 points in the second half, and never strung together enough defensive stops or shared the ball like they typically have to make the game close.
“I didn’t think they felt us at all the entire game,” Kings coach Mike Brown said. “I don’t think our physicality was there. They went where they wanted to go and the game was real easy for them.”
The Wizards had lost 14 of 16 and were on the second night of a back to back, as were the Hornets when they played in Sacramento on Monday. It was the last stop on a six-game West Coast road trip for the Wizards. The Kings will surely regret having two home losses against inferior teams when they look at the standings and see the top 10 teams in the Western Conference separated by just five games.
With back-to-back games against the first-place Denver Nuggets on Tuesday and Wednesday after Christmas on Sunday, the Kings have to regroup and avoid Monday and Friday’s performances becoming a trend that continues.
“I’m always concerned with that,” Brown said, “because we have a lot of players on this team that hasn’t won at a high level consistently. So all this is new for us as a group, and we have to understand no matter who’s in front of us, how hard we have to play, and how unselfishly we have to play offensively in order to get a win.
“If we think we’re just going to show up and go through the motions because our record is what it is, we’ll be in for a rude awakening.”
The Kings on Friday got strong performances from a small group of players. Domantas Sabonis registered his second consecutive triple-double with 20 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists, though he left the game late with an apparent hand injury. Brown said after the game he was unsure of the severity. Sabonis has been one of the NBA’s best players in December. Any missed time could be a huge blow.
Trey Lyles gave Sacramento a spark off the bench with 14 points while making all six of his shots. The Kings were plus-8 in his 23 minutes. Malik Monk scored 16 points with five rebounds and four assists. But the rest of the team offered little.
Kevin Huerter was plagued by foul trouble and was minus-20 in 24 minutes. Harrison Barnes made just 4 of 13 shots with two turnovers and no assists. Keegan Murray had three points in 22 minutes.
The Wizards shot 55.7% from the floor and responded just about every time the Kings made a run. There was a chance to swing momentum with a 15-5 run midway through the third quarter after Washington had taken a 30-point lead moments earlier, but the Wizards continued to respond with buckets.
“We gotta guard the ball,” Monk said. “Too many straight-line drives, too many fastbreak live turnovers. Too much everything. We let them do whatever they wanted to do.”
What’s next for the Kings during their three-day Christmas respite will likely include a harsh film session and practice on Monday that will harp on playing better defensively. The Kings allowed 70 points in the paint on Friday after the Hornets scored 72 on Monday.
“The first thing, you keep telling the truth,” Brown said. “Keep showing them film. We’re going to keep drilling things the right way. And I’m going to keep demanding them to be better.
“And if they don’t, it’s my job to throw somebody else out there.”
Brown’s experimentation with the second unit continued. Sabonis’ spike in production has come while just about all of his backup options have struggled. Brown on Friday went back to Neemias Queta, who had one rebound and one foul while the Kings were outscored by seven over a four-minute stretch late in the first and early in the second quarter, just as the Wizards started to take over the game.
It led to Richaun Holmes getting six minutes instead, but he had more fouls (two) than rebounds (one) over his six minutes. Brown said after the game he’ll continue to search for options when Sabonis isn’t on the floor.
“I don’t think it was anything (the Wizards) did,” Lyles said. “We came out lackadaisical. We didn’t play any defense tonight. Offensively, we didn’t share the ball. And it just showed in the outcome of the game.”
This story was originally published December 24, 2022 at 12:48 AM.
