Resilient: Victorious Kings show Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell ‘where they want to go’
Donovan Mitchell put on a show Wednesday night at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, but it was the Kings who showed Mitchell something in their most impressive performance of the season.
Veteran forward Harrison Barnes looked more like himself. Rookie forward Keegan Murray looked like he was happy to be home. Domantas Sabonis did a little bit of everything. De’Aaron Fox, Kevin Huerter, Malik Monk, Trey Lyles and Davion Mitchell all did their part, and the Kings emerged victorious, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 127-120.
“I want to say, they just look hungry,” Mitchell said after matching his season high with 38 points in a losing effort. “Not to say that they didn’t before, but they look like they have a hunger about them collectively.
“They got the pieces. Fox has been doing this since our rookie year. You add Sabonis. You have a veteran that does it all in Harrison Barnes. Keegan Murray, who is finding his way; Kevin Huerter, who can shoot; Davion, obviously we know what he does; Malik. If you look down the line, you got guys that are playing for each other, and that’s great to see out of them. Unfortunately, it was our loss tonight, but after seeing them for so many times, I would say this is one of the first times where I see this group and you know where they want to go.”
Sabonis led seven players in double figures for the Kings (4-6), who bounced back in a major way after suffering controversial losses to the Miami Heat and Golden State Warriors during their recent road trip.
Sabonis finished with 21 points, five rebounds, six assists and three steals. He made five of his eight field-goal attempts and went 11 of 12 at the free-throw line.
Barnes matched his season high with 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting, going 2 of 4 from 3-point range. He also had nine rebounds, three assists and two steals, silencing some of the criticism he faced after struggling to start the season.
Barnes noted that the Kings have shown resiliency after Last 2 Minute Reports confirmed officials blew crucial calls in their losses to Miami and Golden State. An ornery Sacramento crowd booed the referees when they were introduced prior to Wednesday’s game and later showered them with chants of “Ref you suck.”
Lyles came off the bench to score 16 points with four 3-pointers. Kevin Huerter had 14 points, two steals and one blocked shot. He threw up three fingers to the crowd after burying a big 3-pointer in the fourth quarter.
Monk continued to emerge as an essential piece of the Kings’ rotation, giving Sacramento 14 points, five assists and an emphatic blocked shot on Jarrett Allen during an electric sequence that led to a 3-pointer from Monk at the other end.
“I think it was good to get a win,” Barnes said. “I think last game, we felt like we should have won, like we put ourselves in position to win, and to not get that one was tough, but to battle back tonight was big.
“I think the story of our team so far this season is that we’re a resilient group. We have a lot of depth and different guys will step up on different nights, but collectively, as long as we have that buy in, we’ll be alright.”
Caris LeVert had 21 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Cavaliers (8-3), who have the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. They are third in the NBA in defensive rating and seventh in scoring defense, allowing just 107.4 points per game.
Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff said he has been impressed by Sacramento’s play under coach Mike Brown.
“They’re a feisty team,” Bickerstaff said. “ I’ve watched them play a bunch. Mike Brown and I are really close. I spend a lot of time watching and I see their games. They are in games at the end of the game. They’ve had some unfortunate circumstances that haven’t gone their way in games, but they’ve got individual talent. They’re a team that appears to be bought in to one another. After the way that Golden State game ended, after the Miami game ended, it’s easy to fracture when bad things happen. You can tell that this team has gelled together, and they want to go out and compete to be good together.”
Sacramento jumped out to an early lead after holding Cleveland to 25% shooting over the first six minutes. The Kings started the game with a 10-3 run and led by as many as 12 before the Cavaliers cut the deficit to five at the end of the first quarter.
Barnes, who has been the subject of increasing scrutiny after shooting 16.7% from 3-point range over the first nine games, looked like a man on a mission. He scored with efficiency while aggressively chasing rebounds, posting five points, six boards, three assists and one steal in his first nine minutes.
The Kings kept cooking in the second quarter, going up by as many as 14 points before carrying a 69-58 lead into the locker room at the break. They turned in, perhaps, their finest half of the season, shooting 57.5% from the field and 47.6% from 3-point range with 17 assists and three turnovers.
The Kings also got a resurgent performance from Murray, who averaged 7.0 points on 31.4% shooting while fretting over a family matter during the team’s four-game road trip. Playing in front of an adoring Sacramento crowd for the first time in 11 days, Murray shot the ball with confidence, knocking down four of his first six shots, including three 3-pointers.
Murray finished 5 of 10 from the field and 2 of 4 from 3-point range with 14 points, three rebounds and two steals. In his courtside interview with Kings public address announcer Scott Moak, Murray said it was good to be back in Sacramento.
“It feels like home,” he said. “Any time I come here, it feels like home.”
The Kings went up by 15 early in the second half, but then Mitchell got hot. He scored 17 points in the third quarter to help the Cavaliers cut the deficit to one before Lyles hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer, giving Sacramento a 97-93 lead going into the fourth quarter.
The Cavaliers tied the game on a driving layup by Mitchell and took their first lead of the game on a basket by Kevin Love with 9:18 remaining. The game was tied with less than three minutes to play when Huerter and Sabonis came up with two big baskets for Sacramento. Huerter followed up with a clutch 3-pointer, putting the Kings up 124-118.
The Kings shot 52.6% from the field, made 17 of 39 (.436) from 3-point range and converted 30 of 35 (.857) free-throw attempts. They had 30 assists on 40 made baskets while committing just nine turnovers.
Brown praised the whole team and his entire coaching staff following the game, specifically mentioning associate head coach Jordi Fernandez and assistants Dutch Gaitley and Deividas Dulkys.
“Obviously, it was a good team win,” Brown said. “Everybody that played contributed in some way shape or form at a pretty high level. I thought the crowd was fantastic every time I’ve come here, but tonight I felt their energy. I tip my hat off to Sactown and their fans. You guys were great helping us with the necessary energy down the stretch to get this win.
“Again, I felt we gave ourselves a chance because we won the possession game, free-throw attempts and turnovers. We did a great job nine for eight points. This team has done a good job of forcing turnovers, and then we found a way to do a better job of keeping them off the offensive glass in the second half. My coaches were fantastic. We ran the same play down the stretch at least 15 times, and that was Jordi’s call. Jordi suggested we run that action. Two young assistants in the back, Luke Loucks and Deividas Dulkys — I said, ‘Are you guys sure you want to do that?’ — and they looked at me and didn’t flinch. They said, ‘Yeah, we’re going to score.’ So, we did it. We scored twice in a row. Great team effort. Staff was fantastic tonight all across the board and the fans were phenomenal. Feels good to get one versus a very good basketball team.”
This story was originally published November 10, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
