16 HRS AGO - Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images The Kings were outplayed for 48 minutes on Wednesday. The Sacramento Kings closed out their four-game home stand with a thud, falling 113-95 to the Toronto Raptors. Leading by eight points at the half, Toronto controlled the second half, not falling victim to any Sacramento run. Overall, Toronto’s length presented problems for Sacramento’s usually elite offense on Wednesday, This loss was the first game in several weeks that Sacramento didn’t compete in a major way. Here are three takeaways from Wednesday’s loss: Keegan Murray continues to look like a seasoned veteran Murray continues to impress just about every time he steps on the floor at this point. Once again, Murray was super solid, finishing with 16 points on ten shots, just a few days after dropping a career-high 29 points in the team’s win over the Grizzlies. Not only is Murray continuing to be on fire from three, but he’s also starting to flash more ability to drive to the Collapse

4 DAYS AGO - Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images Who will get the minutes come playoff time. The Sacramento Kings are competing at a high level and look as though they will be playing some postseason basketball in 2023. Though they are exceeding all expectations so far, there are still some questions regarding their sub-par defense. One question I have, is how would their defense look in a playoff series? The Kings have been a bottom-10 defense in the league all year and are currently seventh-worst going into the game against the Philadelphia 76ers with a defensive rating of 115.1. They are also the third-worst interior defense in the league, allowing 54.7 points in the paint each night. Not the stats you expect to see from a team currently in position to have home-court advantage in the playoffs... I love saying that. But is the Kings’ defense truly as bad as the overall stats say? On a recent episode of JJ Redick’s podcast, The Old Man and the Three, Redick breaks down some very Collapse

7 DAYS AGO - Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images Sacramento wins fifth straight in a crucial victory over the Los Angeles. No Domas...no problem, as the “LIGHT THE BEAM” chants rained down in enemy territory. The Sacramento Kings were able to defeat the Los Angeles Lakers on the road 116-111 to move into the third seed in the Western Conference on the heels of a five game win streak. The last time the Kings were performing this well over halfway into the season, I was in kindergarden (‘03-’04...ooof). Music to our ears #LTB chants break out in LA #BeamTeam pic.twitter.com/JCD4EHEvKk— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) January 19, 2023 There were many questions about how the Kings would perform without the help of Domantas Sabonis — and more importantly Matthew Dellavedova — due to the impact he has in every single facet of their nightly gameplan. Though they played against a below average team, it was a great chance to how the team would perform in this Collapse

1/16/2023 - Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports Here’s the lowdown. The Sacramento Kings started off a bit slow in this one with their defense once again being anissue but found a way to put it together late to defeat the San Antonio Spurs 132-119. Here are the takeaways: Harrison Barnes stays hot Harrison Barnes has been phenomenal for the Kings through their four-game win streak while averaging 25.5 points and 4.5 three-pointers per game. This will be a player to monitor heading into February’s trade deadline and if the Kings will look to move on from their veteran forward who is on the last year of his deal. However, his scoring and veteran presence has been a focal point for the team’s success. Defense has to improve While the Kings were able to hold on to win their fourth straight, there has to be a growing concern about the team’s defense. They are giving up an average of 114.7 points per game. While it hasn’t been an issue over these four games, the Kings will need to look to improve Collapse

1/12/2023 - Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images Sacramento ran away with the game in the final period. The Sacramento Kings did what they were supposed to do on Wednesday, defeating the reeling Houston Rockets 135-115. Facing a team who entered the game as losers of seven games in a row, Sacramento came out lackadaisical through the first three quarters before turning it on in the final period and completely blowing Houston out of the water. Here are four takeaways from Sacramento’s win: When the long ball is falling, the Kings are tough to beat Sacramento set its franchise record for three-pointers in Monday’s win over the Orlando Magic and followed that up Wednesday with an excellent encore. The Kings made 19 of 48 (39.86 percent) from deep, with their best three-point shooter Kevin Huerter sidelined with a non-COVID-19 illness. Much of the Kings’ identity is derived from how they make their kick-out three-pointers created by De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis’ gravity. On Collapse

1/8/2023 - Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images Sacramento lost an absolute heartbreaker. The Sacramento Kings lost an absolute heartbreaker to the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday, 136-134. There will be a lot of talk about missed calls, but this was a game the Kings absolutely should have found a way to win. Here are some takeaways from Saturday’s loss: The Kings are a bad defensive team Say whatever you want about foul calls, fast pace and the Lakers hitting tough shots. Ultimately, the final result was giving up 136 points to a team missing Anthony Davis, Lonnie Walker and Austin Reaves. When you give up that many points, it’s hard to blame the refs. Even Mike Brown himself after the game that the Kings are a bad defensive team. As of Saturday morning, the Kings are 25th in defensive rating, which is likely not going to be a good enough ranking to get this team to the promised land. While there could be some schematic and playing time adjustments, the Kings really don’t have Collapse

1/5/2023 - Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images Why the number four pick is starting to draw some eyes Guess who just won December’s Western Conference Rookie of the Month? Oh, just the guy many people thought the Sacramento Kings should pass over with the fourth pick. Not even halfway into his first NBA season, and Keegan Murray has shown he can live up to the hype. Kings rookie Keegan Murray adds another accolade to the list ✅ No. 4 Overall Pick✅ Summer League MVP✅ RT to congratulate the rook pic.twitter.com/tybIWVPoCI— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) January 3, 2023 Like most rookies, Murray has had his some down moments — including a slump where he shot just 3-for-22 from deep over a six-game span in November. However, he has had incredible moments as well. To go along with his impressive three-point shooting in December — 39-for-84 in total — Murray also continues to show signs of being a solid defender. He’s not the fastest Collapse

12/29/2022 - Photo by Kavin Mistry/Getty Images The Kings rallied for win in Sabonis’ return. The Sacramento Kings got their lick back against the Denver Nuggets with a little help from their All-Star and the dynamic duo from Kentucky. After being down as much as 19 points, the Kings were able to rally back and win 127-126 after a game-winning free throw from Malik Monk with just 0.7 seconds left in regulation. Checking in… https://t.co/PcncyDJ5ij pic.twitter.com/EUsF2bnSRQ— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) December 29, 2022 Here are six takeaways from game two of their back-to-back. Ice cold start “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” an untrue statement. Tonight the Kings started the game down 12-3 only a couple minutes in and were shooting 0-6 from the field. They didn’t make their first basket until almost four minutes into the first quarter and didn’t make their first three until there was about 5:30 left on the clock in the first. No matter how good you play in the Collapse

12/27/2022 - Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images Domantas Sabonis will not miss time with the hand injury he suffered in the Kings' loss to Washington (for now). The Sacramento Kings will avoid having have to play without their best player, at least for now, as the team announced on Monday that Domantas Sabonis is going to try to play through the fracture he suffered in his non-shooting hand. This news comes after Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported on Saturday that the All-Star center was getting further evaluation on the injury, which happened on Friday against the Washington Wizards. The Kings say Domantas Sabonis has sustained an avulsion fracture of the ulnar collateral ligament (right thumb) but will try to play through the injury on his non-shooting hand.Sabonis is listed as questionable for Tuesday’s game against Denver.More: https://t.co/LGN9cVpMwn— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) December 27, 2022 Woj gave more details on the injury in his story on Saturday. X-rays Collapse