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“The sky is falling, the sky is falling!” - Henny Penny, aka Chicken Little, after being struck with a falling acorn

The Sacramento Kings are 0-2. Panic has set in. The fanbase has turned to social media to express their concern. X was already a dark place, but stay away from my timeline if you value your mental health. 

After a disappointing home opener that saw the Kings fall to the Minnesota Timberwolves by the final of 117-115, Mike Brown’s squad stumbled again Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena. 

A 39-year-old LeBron James put the Kings on blast in a wild opening three minutes and 37 seconds of the fourth quarter. James torched the visiting team for 16 points during this stretch as part of a 21-0 run by the now 3-0 Lakers. The NBA legend finished the night with 32 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists, reminding fans everywhere that he is still a problem.

How did this happen? How did the Kings go from leading by seven points heading into the fourth quarter to down 14 in the blink of an eye? 

For one thing, James turned into prime Damian Lillard, hitting from 28 feet twice, plus another 27-footer during the run. When a 6-foot-9, 250-pound superstar starts knocking down lasers from all over the court, it makes him impossible to defend. 

Brown called a timeout with 9:57 remaining in the period and the Lakers run at 14. He subbed in Domantas Sabonis, Trey Lyles and Malik Monk. Eight seconds later, the Kings turned the ball over again.

By the 8:23 mark, Los Angeles’ lead was at 14 and Brown made three more subs to try and stem the tide. From this moment on, the Kings recovered and made an impressive run. They cut the Lakers’ lead to two points with 55 seconds remaining, but couldn’t get the stop they needed.

Following the game, Brown spoke to media members in LA. He complimented James’ breakout game, but also explained why he didn’t burn additional timeouts trying to stop the run.

“I give LeBron a lot of credit,” Brown told reporters in Los Angeles. “He went on a 21-3 or 21-0 run to start the fourth. [I] burned a timeout [and] didn't want to lose another one. Maybe I should [have], maybe I shouldn't [have]. I don't know, but our guys fought to get back in the game and it was a one possession game. The timeouts were definitely needed down the stretch, but I thought we took some steps forward tonight.”

Whether another timeout would have made a difference or not is tough to gauge. James was stepping into long range shots with confidence and his teammates worked to get him free. The larger problem is that this was a second straight game where a big forward busted up the Kings for big numbers.

In the first two games of the season, Sacramento’s defense has allowed a combined 65 points to James and the Timberwolves’ Julius Randle on 9-for-15 from 3-point range. 

The Kings lack depth at the four, especially with Trey Lyles working his way back from a groin injury that cost him five weeks of inactivity during training camp and preseason. Keegan Murray has done his best, but he’s also being asked to defend players like Anthony Edwards. 

Lyles will need time to get back into NBA shape and also time to acclimate to the Kings’ new additions and schematic changes. The Kings could also use another experienced, defensive-minded wing big enough to slow down some of the bigger forwards in the league.

Two weeks ago, Keon Ellis was the Kings’ starting shooting guard. After starting the final 15 games of the 2023-24 campaign, Ellis suited up at the two for all five preseason games. 

In a surprise move, just days before the start of the season, Brown announced that Kevin Huerter would regain his starting position and Ellis would move back to the bench. It was assumed at this time that Ellis would still be a major part of the rotation, but that may not be the case.

Ellis played just 11 minutes in the opener, finishing with two points and two steals. He got a quick hook from Brown a couple of times in the opener as the Kings’ coach searched for answers.

On Saturday night, Ellis was a healthy scratch for Sacramento as Huerter and Malik Monk split all of the minutes at the two.

With his team trying to build chemistry after missing both Huerter and Lyles throughout training camp and preseason, it appears that Brown has cut his rotation down to just eight players. Jordan McLaughlin was a ninth player who saw action, but he played a total of three minutes and 11 seconds. 

It is jarring to see a promising young player sit, especially Ellis, who is one of the best defensive players on the team. There was an opportunity for Ellis to win the shooting guard spot during camp, but he didn’t stand out during the preseason schedule.

Preseason isn’t a great indicator for future success, but it was an opportunity for Ellis. Now in the regular season, Brown is trying to connect his team on the fly. A shortened rotation is expected, at least in the short term. Once some continuity is built, Brown will likely expand his rotation, at least a bit. Whether that includes Ellis or not is unknown at this time.

We will try to get further explanation from Brown on this situation in the coming days with the team returning to Sacramento for a matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.

Plus/minus is part of every NBA boxscore, but it’s a tough stat to look at for an individual game. On occasion, the number matches what the eye sees, but there are too many variables to make any real judgment without a much larger sample size.

On Saturday, Huerter posted a -29 for the game. That means that during the 26 minutes and 22 seconds that Huerter was on the court, the Kings were outscored by a total of 29 points, with 21 of those points coming in the first 3:37 of the fourth quarter.

With a lot of fans clamoring for Ellis to play, Huerter and his -29 became a target on social media following the loss to the Lakers. After diving into the tape, the Huerter frustration looks misguided.

At the 11:47 mark of the fourth, Huerter’s man, Dalton Knecht buried a 26-foot jumper from the corner. Huerter was screened on the play by Jaxson Hayes, but still recovered to get a hand in Knecht’s face. Alex Len should have done a better job of stepping around the screen and putting a hand in Knecht’s face.

Outside of this play, Huerter was run over by James in the key on one play, but it wasn’t a shooting foul. On one other defensive sequence, Huerter left Knecht in the corner and tried to help De’Aaron Fox in the post. He was a little late on the rotation, James hit the bucket and Fox fouled him.

During the 21-0 run, Huerter was on the court, but he never took a shot, received a pass or turned the ball over. The one bucket he conceded was a quality play by the Lakers.

Huerter wasn’t perfect on the night. He is still working his way back after missing seven months due to shoulder surgery. But in this game, he shot 4-for-7 from three, scored 14 points, grabbed two rebounds, picked up two steals and was credited with six deflections in 26 minutes. 

This was a huge step forward game for Huerter. The Ellis situation is baffling, but Huerter had a quality performance, even if his plus/minus was a holy mess. I highly recommend rewatching the final quarter of the loss to the Lakers. There were some crazy negatives, but also a lot of good things happened as the Kings battled back.

The Kings return to Golden 1 Center on Monday night to host the Portland Trail Blazers. Sacramento is still looking for their first win, as are the Blazers who currently sit at 0-2.

Following the battle with Portland, the Kings venture out onto the road beginning Tuesday in Utah.