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Week in Review: Kings snap losing streak, finish on high note
After rough start, Kings finish week with a pair of wins
James Ham
January 15, 2022
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Kings record: 18-27
Kings record on the week: 2-2
In the span of a week, the Kings hit a season-high five-game losing streak, beat LeBron James and then moved back into position for the play-in tournament. This is the 2021-22 Kings in a nutshell.
After disappointing losses to the Atlanta Hawks and Denver Nuggets to round out last week, the Kings had an epic flop against the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday at the Moda Center.
Missing Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum and Norman Powell, the Anfernee Simons-led Blazers had no problems taking a big lead and holding onto it for the entire game, while the Kings struggled with the basics. The end result was an embarrassing 103-88 defeat and another reminder of this team's lack of ability to rise to the occasion.
On the second night of a back-to-back, the Kings faced an extremely tall Cavs team at Golden 1 Center. Playing in front of a meager Golden 1 Center crowd, the Kings gave a much better effort against a very tough matchup team.
De'Aaron Fox had a 16-foot jumper rim out with a second remaining on the clock and the Kings fell by a final of 109-108. Rookie Neemias Queta played well in his first extended look, finishing the night with 11 points and 5 rebounds in 24 minutes.
The Kings came into Wednesday night riding a five game losing streak. They went toe-to-toe against James and the Lakers and somehow survived a late charge by the four-time MVP to come away with a 125-116 win. Fox was dominant going to the basket and Harrison Barnes notched his first 20+ point game since December 17.
Riding high off the Lakers win, the Kings made it two straight on Friday when they outlasted the last place Houston Rockets. It wasn't pretty, but Fox had another big night and Marvin Bagley posted his best game of the season in the 126-114 victory.
Injuries
Richaun Holmes and Damian Jones have both cleared health and safety protocols, but have yet to return to action. Holmes was coming back from an eye injury when he fell into protocols. He will need time to regain his conditioning. Jones missed Friday's game, but his return is around the corner. Tristan Thompson has missed the last three games, first with a quad injury and then due to a non-covid illness. With the development of Jones, the return of Holmes and Alex Len's presence, Thompson is not likely part of the rotation moving forward.
Robert Woodard entered health and safety protocols late this week. He is the 11th Kings player to enter protocols. Assistant coach Doug Christie also entered protocols on Friday. The Kings are down to just six players who have not entered the league's protocols, including Thompson, Tyrese Haliburton, Harrison Barnes, Buddy Hield, Jahmi'us Ramsey and Moe Harkless.
Player of the Week: Marvin Bagley
This is a shocker. After starting the season out of the rotation, Bagley has continued to work and stay ready. He's not only back in the rotation, but he's started 11 straight games and he's starting to make an impact. Over the four games this week, Bagley averaged 14 points, nine rebounds and .8 blocks per game. He's playing defense, playing within the flow of the offense and maybe more importantly, he's fighting through a right hand injury and staying on the court. With the trade deadline set for Feb. 10, there are plenty of uncertainties with this roster, but Bagley is playing some of his best basketball and making a positive contribution.
Previous winner: De'Aaron Fox
Stats of the Week
11: The Kings' loss to a depleted Trail Blazers on Sunday was one of the low points of the season. When they dropped another game on Monday night to the Cavs, they fell to a season-low 11 games under .500.
26: Bagley broke the 20-point barrier for the first time in the team's win over the Rockets, finishing with 26. His 13 rebounds were also a season-high and the double-double was his fourth of the season.
10: It doesn't matter how poorly the Kings play, they seem to end up back in the 10th seed in the Western Conference playoff chase. At this point, the play-in tournament is turning into an epic game of "not it," giving the Kings fans at least a sliver of hope that the team will snap their 15-season playoff drought...if we count the play-in tournament as part of the playoffs.
Tweet of the Week
Why the Kings didn't jump in the Cam Reddish sweepstakes...a Tweet thread:
Cam Reddish to the Knicks for a 1st round pick? Why the Kings didn’t get involved tweet thread. First up, the Knicks have a ton of picks, including all of their own & an extra first in 2022 & 2023. They also have 8 extra 2nd round picks. This is solid asset management.
— James Ham (@James_HamNBA)
Jan 13, 2022
Reddish isn't worth a top 8 pick. He could develop into a player worthy of that, but that isn't who he is now. And there is also something specific about the pick that the Knicks received that should be pointed out. The pick NY received is exactly why Kings didn't make this trade
— James Ham (@James_HamNBA)
Jan 13, 2022
Stepien rule doesn't allow you to trade consecutive years of first round picks. Because the pick isn't guaranteed to be relayed, you can't trade any of these years or the 2026 pick, because there is potential that the 2025 pick is the one that goes in the trade.
— James Ham (@James_HamNBA)
Jan 13, 2022
There are ways around this, like acquiring another first round pick from another team, but even that costs an asset. The Kings' picks are likely their most attractive asset heading into trade season. More attractive than Fox or even Haliburton.
— James Ham (@James_HamNBA)
Jan 13, 2022
Hopefully this helps in understanding this specific trade. monte McNair can't tie up all of their assets in a deal that in reality does very little to move the needle. Reddish isn't a game changer, but a trade for him by the Kings would be as far as asset management.
— James Ham (@James_HamNBA)
Jan 13, 2022
The Kings need to be active. They need to change their core. They also have to be smart about how they do that. A Reddish deal would have ended any hope of something more substantial.
— James Ham (@James_HamNBA)
Jan 13, 2022
Quotes of the Week
"It's not good enough. We've got to be a lot better. We harped on it, like, we've got to be better when teams are missing their best players." -Haliburton on the lack of competitive fire in loss to Blazers
"No. 1, as the coach I've got to continue to try do everything I possibly can to motivate them, but at some stage, there has to be self motivation also. You've got to have a little self pride I think." -Gentry on the bad loss in Portland
"We're not in a position to have pity parties and it's the old adage about 'tough times don't last, tough people do.' And so we have to make sure that we're the tough people that survive in this thing because it's no fun at all what we're going through right now." -Gentry
"I felt good on the floor. I felt I was able to help the team go play defense and just rebound and just be a presence in the paint." -Neemias Queta on his first shot to play major minutes
"I'm just excited for him. He came here and made plays, made good defensive plays, made layups for us, set great screens, just had a good overall game. He's been playing well in the G League. It's not much of a surprise, we know what he's capable of and I'm just really excited for him." -Haliburton on Queta
Videos of the Week
Kings flop in Portland:
Tyrese Haliburton on the Kings’ lack of competitive fire in the loss to Portland:
— James Ham (@James_HamNBA)
Jan 10, 2022
No time for pity parties:
“No time for pity parties.” -Alvin Gentry
— James Ham (@James_HamNBA)
Jan 10, 2022
Queta has a career night:
Neemias Queta on his first big NBA opportunity:
— James Ham (@James_HamNBA)
Jan 11, 2022
Haliburton the philosopher:
“I believe in playing the right way. I believe when you don’t play the game the right way, I think the basketball gods kinda don’t let you make shots.” -Tyrese Haliburton
— James Ham (@James_HamNBA)
Jan 13, 2022
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What's next?
Kings vs. Houston Rockets, Golden 1 Center, Sunday 3PM
Kings vs. Detroit Pistons, Golden 1 Center, Wednesday 7PM
Kings vs. Milwaukee Bucks, Fiserv Forum, Saturday 5PM
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