Kings fall to Raptors in wild finish after coming back to force OT; DeMar DeRozan scores 33
The Sacramento Kings went full tilt, came back from a 13-point deficit over the final six minutes of regulation and used their star players for 43 minutes on the second night of a back-to-back, but came up short after a wild finish Saturday in Toronto.
“We panicked,” Domantas Sabonis said of the team’s late response. “We needed to get a win. We can’t let these losses affect us. This is what happened last year. I think we’re all really made about it and we got to make up for (by) winning against Miami.”
De’Aaron Fox scored 14 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, DeMar DeRozan had 33 for the game and Sabonis added 17 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists, but the Kings succumbed in overtime to the Raptors, 131-128, at Scotiabank Arena.
Sacramento had a chance to tie it in the final moments, but DeRozan missed a corner 3 and Fox airballed a 3 from the top of the key just before time expired. The loss snapped the Kings’ three-game winning streak and dropped them to 3-3. The Raptors won just their second game of the season, improving to 2-5.
Fox and DeRozan had a forgettable first three quarters. The two combined to shoot 9-of-25 with eight turnovers to just five assists while the Kings appeared sloppy 24 hours removed from Friday’s win in Atlanta.
“We weren’t getting stops like we needed to,” DeRozan said. “We understood once we got stops, and we stopped turning the ball over so much, we’ll give ourselves a better opportunity. And we had spurts of that. But we let a lot of things get away when we were right there, especially towards the end of the game. (We) missed out on the opportunity to win this game.”
Malik Monk kept the Kings afloat while they struggled through the first three-plus quarters while finishing with 21 points off the bench. Monk wasn’t happy with the Kings’ 3-point defense on the night. The Raptors made 14 of 27 from distance through three quarters.
“Obviously, we weren’t ready, and we all know that,” Monk said. “Just gotta look in the mirror, especially on back to backs, and locking in even more. Because we know (the Raptors) play hard, super hard, especially on the defensive end, trying to speed us up. They just play hard. That’s a hard playing team.”
But Fox began to assert himself late in the fourth quarter, with 12 points over the final 5:52 while cutting the lead from 13 down to 2. The Raptors responded with a pair for 3s from RJ Barrett and Gradey Dick.
DeRozan made it a one-point game with 19 seconds remaining in regulation, leaving the Raptors with a 119-118 lead. Toronto drew the sixth foul on Keegan Murray on the following inbounds play, and Barrett missed the first free throw, leaving the door open for the Kings.
WIth 10.9 seconds left, DeRozan drove and missed a layup, but Sabonis was there for the game-tying put-back to send it to overtime.
Sabonis earned his third triple-double of the season.
The Raptors ranked 27th in the NBA in 3-point percentage at 31.5% coming and were 29th averaging 9.5 makes per game. They had nine made 3s by halftime and 14 through three quarters on just 27 attempts. They took a 96-86 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Kings outscored the home team 34-24 in the fourth to send it to overtime.
It was a rough night for DeRozan before scoring 10 in the fourth quarter and all 8 of the Kings’ points in overtime. He was recognized multiple times by the Raptors and their fans amid Vince Carter’s number retirement ceremony at halftime. DeRozan, who started his career with Toronto in 2009 and played more games than any other player in franchise history, notched his sixth straight game with at least 20 points; his 33 were the most since joining the Kings.
Fox missed all 11 of his 3-point attempts after coming into the game shooting 37% from distance.
Illness and injuries
Shooting guard Kevin Huerter was ruled out of Friday’s game hours beforehand with an undisclosed illness. Brown started veteran Doug McDermott in his place. McDermott had been out of the regular rotation to start the season, averaging 4.0 minutes per game and 2.7 points.
Starting McDermott allowed Brown to keep Monk and Keon Ellis in their normal rotation spots off the bench.
Both teams were on the second night of back-to-backs. The Kings, who are on their first multi-game road trip of the season, won Friday in Atlanta. The Raptors lost their fourth straight game Friday, to the Lakers.
Toronto was missing forward Scottie Barnes due to a fractured orbital bone during the team’s overtime loss Monday to the Denver Nuggets. The Raptors announced he would be out at least three weeks. Barnes was in headlines during the offseason after signing a max extension worth some $225 million with a chance to escalate to $270 million with incentives.
The Raptors were also without Bruce Brown (knee), Kelly Olynyk (back) and Immanuel Quickley (pelvic contusion).
Davion Mitchell: No ill will toward Kings after trade
The Kings played against their former point guard Davion Mitchell for the first time on Saturday since trading him to Toronto on the second night of the NBA draft over the summer.
Mitchell was tapped with the No. 9 pick in the 2021 draft despite Fox and Tyrese Haliburton already being on the roster. He posted the best numbers of his career as rookie, averaging 11.5 points in nearly 28 minutes per night.
But his production cut roughly in half when Brown became head coach. In his second season, his minutes dropped to just over 18 while he scored just 5.6 points. Mitchell never appeared to be a strong fit for Brown’s motion heavy offense, and he found himself in and out of the rotation despite being one of the team’s best on-ball defenders.
The Kings traded Mitchell in a move that appeared to largely be about cutting costs. Mitchell went to the Raptors with forward Sasha Vezenkov with Jalen McDaniels going back to Sacramento. Mitchell is the only player still on either team that was part of the trade. Vezenkov was waived before the season to return to Greece and the Kings traded Jalen McDaniels to the Spurs.
Despite the Kings essentially moving Mitchell for salary cap relief — the team saved roughly $8.4 million in cap space with Fox, Sabonis and Malik Monk on big contracts, and Keegan Murray slated for a new deal soon — Mitchell said he had no ill will toward the organization.
“I’m just a believer in everything happens for a reason,” Mitchell told The Sacramento Bee before Saturday’s game. “If I didn’t get traded, I’d be playing in Sacramento right now. I didn’t think (the trade) was a disappointment, just a new opportunity in a new place, see new faces, meet new people. That’s the biggest thing, just meet new people and just play basketball.”
Mitchell, 26, has been in the starting lineup for six of Toronto’s seven games this season, and his age lines up with the Raptors as they find their footing with a mostly young roster.
With his new team, Mitchell before Saturday was sixth on the Raptors in minutes at nearly 28 per game with 8.8 points and 6.0 assists per game, while playing his usual pesky defense.
“Davion is a very competitive player,” Raptors coach Darko Rajaković said. “Very clear demands from him that he needs to carry our defense. He needs to be really aggressive on the ball. He needs to play the right way, to (play make) for his teammates. I generally don’t like the term ‘point guard.’ I like to call players in that role ‘play makers.’ That’s old school 70s, you know. And I think that has to be his role. He needs to be able to touch the paint and then make the right decisions for his teammates.”
Mitchell was a thorn in the Kings’ side early on Saturday. Wearing the jersey No. 45 he wore while helping Baylor win a national championship, he guarded DeRozan on the ball and helped force a pair of turnovers in the first quarter, and made a fast break layup after a steal leading to a Kings’ timeout. He drew a loud reaction from the crowd with a cross over dribble on Jordan McLaughlin during a fast-break layup in the second quarter.
Mitchell later stole a pass from McLaughlin leading to a dunk for Ochai Agbaji, and then stole a pass from DeRozan on a fast break leading to another layup for Agbaji. He ripped his fourth steal of the game from Fox in the third quarter.
Mitchell finished with 4 points and seven assists to go with five steals on defense.
“I think the biggest thing was I learned from it,” Mitchell said of his time in Sacramento. “I got a really good point guard I learned from, De’Aaron Fox. A lot of good vets. I think I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Sacramento. They gave me an opportunity, they gave me a chance to show what I could do. And now I’m here. ... I have no bad blood for Sacramento.”
The Kings will wrap their four-game road trip Monday in Miami before a two-game home stand, with their second game against the Raptors followed by the Los Angeles Clippers.
This story was originally published November 2, 2024 at 8:10 PM.
