Week in Review: A beatdown in Boston and more NBA trade rumors

Kings stumble through another disappointing week

Author

James Ham
January 29, 2022

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Kings record: 18-32

Kings record on the week: 0-3

At some point, we may need to change the title of this piece to the weak in review, not the week in review. 

After bad losses to the Rockets and Pistons to finish off the Kings' five game home stand, the team traveled to Milwaukee to play a Giannis Antetokounmpo-less Bucks squad. Harrison Barnes dropped in a team-high 29 points and Tyrese Haliburton chipped in 24 points and 12 assists in front of plenty of family and friends, but it wasn't enough.

Khris Middleton posted 34 points and Jrue Holiday was impactful to lead Milwaukee to a 133-127 victory. The loss was the third straight for Sacramento and started the road trip on the wrong foot.

The Kings were competitive against the Bucks, but they lost that fight somewhere between Milwaukee and Boston. From the opening tip, something looked wrong. The Kings couldn't hit a shot and the Celtics jumped all over them early, mounting a 33-7 lead with 2:46 remaining in the first quarter. It only got worse from there.

Sacramento trailed by as many as 60 points as the Celtics ran roughshod over the visiting team. The final score was 128-75, which is the worst loss for the Kings' franchise in over three decades.

After a brutal showing in Boston, the Kings flew to Atlanta where they faced the Hawks on the second night of a back-to-back. It was a better effort, but that's not saying much.

Barnes put up 28 points and nine rebounds and rookie Davion Mitchell dropped in 20 in his second career start, but the Hawks managed to come away with the 121-104 win. 

The 0-3 week dropped the Kings down to thirteenth in the Western Conference standings. Like the previous week, the Kings were once again the talk of the rumor mill. They have been connected to almost every big name available heading into the Feb. 10 NBA trade deadline. 

As of Friday, league sources confirmed that the Kings have ended their pursuit of the 76ers' Ben Simmons, but the team still plans to be aggressive in remaking the roster. 

Injuries

Terence Davis was playing his best basketball of the season coming into Tuesday night. He had scored a combined 57 points over his previous two games and then it all came crashing to a halt, literally. Davis attacked the rim in the mid second quarter and was fouled by Aaron Nesmith. Davis lost his balance on the play, came down awkwardly and hit his head on the floor. He was bleeding and the immediate concern was a possible concussion. Unfortunately for Davis, he injured his right wrist on the play, doing damage to his ECU tendon. The team is still evaluating the injury, but it appears that Davis will be out for a while. 

In addition to Davis, De'Aaron Fox sat out the entire week with a sore left ankle. He is still questionable heading into Saturday's matchup against the Sixers. Chimezie Metu missed a pair of games as well with a sore left knee.

Player of the Week: ...

When you play like the Kings did this week, no one deserves a player of the week honor. Harrison Barnes came the closest to earning the nod, but his four points in the loss to the Celtics took him out of the running. 

Previous winner: Terence Davis

Stats of the Week

  • 14: After a miserable week of losses, Sacramento is now a season-worst 14 games under .500. For reference, a less talented Kings team was 22-28 at the same point last season.

  • 53: The beat down in Boston was one of the worst losses in franchise history. The 53 point margin of defeat was the worst for the Kings since a 153-91 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Nov. 2, 1991. Tristan Thompson is the only current Kings player that was alive in 1991. He was eight months old.

  • 30.5: In the loss to the Celtics, the Kings shot 30.5 percent from the field as a team. The trio of centers -- Richaun Holmes, Damian Jones and Neemias Queta, combined to hit 8-of-12 from the field. The rest of the team shot 21-for-83 (25.3%).

Tweet of the Week

Kings out on Simmons:

Portugal gets it:

Will of Tha People has a great idea:

Quotes of the Week

"We haven't stopped anybody. Everyone we're playing are having career nights. Everyone we're playing is having a field day. Until we get the defensive side of the ball consistently under control, it's not going to matter whether we score 98 points or 130." -Barnes

"This team is not the least talented team I've been on. That's what's frustrating." -Barnes

"Obviously, the Kings haven't won in the past, haven't been to the playoffs for 15 years, but I refuse to let the culture what the Kings have been in the past to take over who I am as person. It's dark right now. We're not where we want to be, but there's still a lot of season left throughout this year and I'm a member of the Sacramento Kings. I'm going to help fix this. I don't know how long it'll take. It ain't going to be in a day, it ain't going to be in a month, but I'm going to be here and we're going to make it work. I promise that." -Haliburton

Videos of the Week

Holmes' after the loss to the Celtics:

Haliburton on not letting the losing change who he is:

Barnes reaches a milestone:

Weekly Reading

Weekly Podcasts

In addition to audio options, we now have the podcasts available on YouTube. Subscribe to the YouTube channel and give us a thumbs up!

What's next?

Kings vs. Philadelphia 76ers, Wells Fargo Center, Saturday 4:30PM

Kings vs. New York Knicks, Madison Square Garden, Monday 4:30PM

Kings vs. Brooklyn Nets, Golden 1 Center, Wednesday 7PM

Kings vs. Golden State Warriors, Chase Center, Thursday 7PM

Kings vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden 1 Center, Saturday 7PM

Kings Beat Notes

We are continuing to build out The Kings Beat, with more exciting add-ons coming over the next few weeks. The Kings Beat Discord channel for premium subscribers is set to go live soon. We upgraded the look and feel of the YouTube, with the help of The Kings Pulse's Brenden Nunes.

The Off the Record with The Kings Beat virtual Happy Hour part deux was a huge success! Over 60 members of our growing community attended and it went into overtime. We are already looking at dates to schedule episode 3, but with the uncertainty surrounding the NBA trade deadline, we are going to start looking at dates after February 10.

Lastly, a huge shoutout to Jim Espinosa at Brickhouse Industries who created The Kings Beat logos. There is potential for Kings Beat merchandise in the near future.

Thanks again for your continued support!

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