Monster game by Isaac Jones sends Sacramento Kings to Summer League finals
The Sacramento Kings will play for another NBA Summer League championship after holding off the Toronto Raptors in Saturday’s semifinals.
Isaac Jones scored 36 points to lead the Kings to a 98-88 victory over the Raptors at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center.
The Kings will play the Charlotte Hornets in the championship game at 7 p.m. Sunday. The Hornets beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 109-80 in Saturday’s other semifinal.
Sacramento has a chance to become the first team to win three Las Vegas Summer League championships.
Mason Jones, who missed the last game with an oblique injury, came off the bench to post 15 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals for the Kings (5-0). Maxime Raynaud had 12 points and seven rebounds.
Jamal Shead had 24 points and 12 assists for the Raptors (4-1). Ja’Kobe Walter scored 19 points.
The Kings outscored the Raptors 10-2 over the first three minutes of the game. They went up 18-4 midway through the first quarter and led 28-16 going into the second.
Sacramento led by as many as 16 before Toronto staged an 11-2 run to cut the deficit to four late in the first half. The Kings led 48-42 at the halftime break.
The Raptors got within three early in the second half. The Kings responded with a 22-3 run to take a 70-48 lead.
Sacramento led 75-60 at the end of the third quarter. Toronto staged a 15-3 run at the start of the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to three after the Kings committed a series of careless turnovers.
The Raptors got within one on a 3-pointer by Jamal Shead with 3:56 to go. A three-point play by Isaac Jones helped the Kings hold on for the win.
The Kings defeated the Orlando Magic, Chicago Bulls, Phoenix Suns and Cleveland Cavaliers in the preliminary rounds to reach Saturday’s semifinals. Six teams went 4-0 in preliminary play. The four semifinalists were determined based on point differential with the Raptors (+15.8), Thunder (+14.8), Hornets (+12.7) and Kings (+11.5) finishing ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves (+9.5) and Atlanta Hawks (+8.0).
The Kings are seeking their third Summer League championship and their second since 2021. Ray McCallum Jr. was named championship game MVP when the Kings beat the Houston Rockets in the 2014 finals. Louis King was named championship game MVP when the Kings defeated the Boston Celtics in the 2021 finals while Davion Mitchell shared tournament MVP honors with Brooklyn Nets guard Cameron Thomas.
This story was originally published July 19, 2025 at 3:09 PM.
