Kings fall to Memphis despite Ja Morant’s off night, ejection. Monk stays in starting lineup
The Sacramento Kings’ monthlong search for consecutive wins will continue.
The Kings couldn’t follow up their impressive performance over the Houston Rockets and fell to the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday night at the FedEx Forum, 115-110.
The story of the game was bench scoring. The Grizzlies boasted one of the deepest groups in the league while Sacramento has struggled to complement their main scorers, De’Aaron Fox, DeMar DeRozan, Domantas Sabonis and Malik Monk. The Kings’ bench was outscored 60-15.
Sacramento had its chances down the stretch, including a game-tying 3 attempt from Monk between two Memphis defenders that missed wide right with 6.0 seconds remaining.
“The little things that piled up for us down the stretch in that game, (that’s) definitely where we lost,” Fox said.
Coach Mike Brown mentioned three missed box outs, including one on a missed free throw, and not getting back in transition that ultimately doomed the Kings. Sacramento allowed 17 fast break points in the second half, including a dunk to backup center Jay Huff, who scored 11 points while finishing plus-30 in 20 minutes on the floor.
“We had three missed box outs — three,” Brown said. “That’s just a small detail that you should embrace, especially at the end of the game, and try to do your job at the highest level.”
Sacramento dropped its 10th game in the last 15 and hasn’t won back-to-back games since winning in Miami and at home against Toronto, Nov. 4 and Nov. 6 respectively.
The bench production which has plagued Sacramento throughout the season continued to be problematic. The Kings’ reserves getting outscored by 45 points allowed Memphis to overcome a rough night for All-Star guard Ja Morant, who was ejected midway through the fourth quarter after receiving a second technical foul and scoring a season-low 8 points.
The Grizzlies had four reserves score in double figures while only two players scored points off Sacramento’s bench: Isaac Jones (9 points) and Kevin Huerter (6 points).
The Kings struggled to slow Marcus Smart (18 points, four made 3s), Santi Aldama (15 points, 3-of-3 from distance), Huff and Jake LaRavia (12 points).
There’s been speculation about the Kings’ need to add depth before the trade deadline while they’ve dealt with injuries to reserves throughout the season, including Monk, who missed seven games with an ankle injury before getting elevated to the starting lineup. Forward Trey Lyles remains sidelined with a grade-1 calf strain. The team announced he would be re-evaluated in three-to-four weeks on Nov. 26, meaning Sacramento isn’t expected to have him back any time soon.
Fox took some blame off Sacramento’s bench when asked about the disparity in production from reserves.
“They did a majority of that against us, as starters,” Fox said. “That’s pretty much on us. They even finished the game for them, so their reserves did a great job tonight. They weren’t even playing their starters how you would because their reserves played so well.”
The Kings got 26 points from DeRozan, but it came inefficiently on 6-of-15 shooting. Monk scored 23 and De’Aaron Fox had 18 while going 8-of-23 from the floor. Sabonis had 17 with 13 rebounds and six assists. Keegan Murray had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The Kings shot 40% from the floor and 8-of-35 (23%) from 3-point range. Grizzlies reserves made 10 3s, while Sacramento’s lone triple off the bench came from Jones.
Morant was ejected with 6:45 left after getting called for his second technical foul. He took issue after he was called for a foul while contesting a jump shot by DeRozan.
The Grizzlies may have been better off without their superstar given how the night was going. The Kings outscored the home team by 32 points in his 28 minutes while Morant went 2-of-13 from the floor and missed all six of his 3-point attempts.
There was a 2-minute delay with 6:53 remaining in the second quarter due to a clock malfunction. The Kings led 51-40 at that point, and were outscored 23-11 over the remainder of the first half. Memphis took a 63-62 lead at the break.
The Kings offense flowed well in the first half. They had 16 assists on 23 made baskets and 24 points in the paint. They made six of 17 3-point attempts.
They had just eight assists on 17 made baskets in the second half — and went just 2-of-18 from distance.
The issues were highlighted by the efficiency numbers from Fox and DeRozan in particular, who combined to go 14 of 38 from the floor (37%).
“I think we stopped being aggressive,” DeRozan said. “I think we settled a couple times. We kinda got out of our rhythm. We went away from what was working. We settled a little bit.”
The Grizzlies were without rookie center Zach Edey, who missed the previous eight games with a left ankle sprain and is expected to be out multiple weeks, Memphis head coach Taylor Jenkins said pregame.
Jenkins has regularly used one of the deepest rotations in the NBA through the first two months. The Grizzlies had no players averaging more than 30 minutes per game, while Sacramento had four: Fox (37.7), Murray (36.9), Sabonis (36.4) and DeRozan (36.2).
The Grizzlies have won eight of their last 10 games and are fourth in the Western Conference standings. They had a seven-game winning streak stopped earlier in the week with a road loss to the Dallas Mavericks. The loss dropped the Kings to 10-13, twelfth in the Western Conference and two full games back of the play-in tournament.
The Kings will play the second night of their back-to-back Friday in San Antonio. The Spurs hosted the Chicago Bulls on Thursday and lost, 139-124.
Monk shining in Kings’ starting lineup
The Kings had been searching to shake things up after losing six of eight before Tuesday’s victory over the Houston Rockets. It led to Mike Brown inserting Malik Monk into the starting lineup for the first time since he came to Sacramento in 2022.
Monk in his two games starting before Thursday scored 19 and 17 points, respectively, while making 9-of-18 from 3-point range. For the season Monk has been Sacramento’s best volume catch-and-shoot 3-pointer shooter, shooting 41.3%. It’s a small sample, but it follows a trend dating back to the last time Monk was a regular starter with the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2021-22 season.
Monk that year started 37 games for a team that featured LeBron James and Anthony Davis coming off their championship finish in the Disney World bubble after the pandemic-shortened season.
Monk with the Lakers saw his 3-point shooting efficiency increase from 34.9% off the bench to 42% as a starter. The similarity between then and now for Monk is being on the floor with other playmakers, rather than having to carry the load as the primary ball handler with second units.
“I got a lot of catch-and-shoot shots,” Monk said at a shootaround in Memphis before Thursday’s game. “Because LeBron and A.D. were getting a lot of double teams. And they are not selfish. So they were kicking it out to me, and I was knocking them down.
“Being in the starting unit (with the Kings), there’s more options, more threats, like Fox, DeMar (DeRozan) and Domas (Domantas Sabonis), instead of me and Trey (Lyles) or me and Kev (Kevin Huerter). So most of the focus is not on me. So I can sneak some stuff in at a certain point and still play with the second unit, like I do sometimes, and just get my regular stuff off there.”
Monk rejoined the Kings on a four-year deal worth up to $78 million over the summer as an unrestricted free agent, and made it clear he preferred to start. Brown had been hesitant to make that decision because of Monk’s value to the second unit.
“It’s definitely hard,” Monk said. “Knowing you’re going to finish the games, knowing what you bring. But that’s a whole other conversation to start with Mike. That’s his job. That’s what he gets paid to do.”
Monk has often been on the floor in closing lineups, and has often contributed with big performances late in games. Monk has been fifth on the Kings in minutes per game the past two seasons after being sixth during his first season in Sacramento.
“I’ve never said he’s not a starter,” Brown said. “But I felt he was best coming off the bench and bolstering our second unit based on the rotations and when Fox’s is off the floor. But ... with our struggles, throw him out there, change things up, see if it helps us out as a team, and hopefully it does. There have been some bright spots, but it’s a small sample size, and we’ll see down the road.”
This story was originally published December 5, 2024 at 8:05 PM.
