It wasn’t pretty. Not at all. The Kings couldn’t hit a shot on their home court. They looked taxed mentally and in the end, the fell to the Los Angeles Lakers by a final of 101-86 on Saturday night.
De’Aaron Fox continued his breakout sophomore season, but there wasn’t a whole lot else to like as the Kings stumbled in front of their home crowd.
Sacramento currently stand at 7-6 on the season after the loss to LA.
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SIGN UP HERE Here is one positives and three negatives from the game.
POSITIVES
Swipa The Snipa
Coming into the league, there was concerns about Fox’s ability to shoot from the perimeter. He’s done a nice job of quieting those conversations early in Year Two.
NBA
Against the Lakers, Fox attacked the rim on multiple occasions, but his shooting from long range kept the Kings in the game during the first half.
Fox knocked down 3-of-6 from deep and is now shooting 41 percent from 3-point range on the season. He shot with confidence and was one of the few Kings players to put the ball in the bucket.
On the evening, Fox scored a team-high 21 points and grabbed seven rebound in the loss. This was the seventh time this season that Fox has cracked the 20-point plateau. He managed the feet just five times in 73 games as a rookie.
NEGATIVES
Dribble, Dribble, Dribble
When the Kings are at their best, they move the ball all over the court and find the open man. That is not the style of basketball they played against the Lakers.
The Kings over dribbled and tried to play hero ball all evening. The results showed up in the box score. Not only did the Kings’ offense come to a complete standstill, but they finished the night with just 11 assists and 19 turnovers.
The ball got sticky and it cost the team any chance of coming away with a win. The issue looks like an anomaly. Sacramento came into the night third in the league in assists per game at 25.5.
Either the Lakers figured out some magic pill to stop the Kings’ ball movement or the home team had a rare bad night on the offensive end.
Bricks
The Kings haven't had any issue putting the ball through the hoop this season, until Saturday evening at Golden 1 Center. Coach Dave Joerger pointed to mental fatigue following the game and he’s likely on to something.
Against a sub-par defensive team, Sacramento’s ball movement came to a standstill. They forced shots, over dribbled and turned the ball over.
On the evening, the Kings shot just 34.8 percent from the field and 24 percent from long range. They turned the ball over 19 times and scored a season-low 86 points.
This wasn’t the brand of basketball that the Kings have played through the first few weeks of the regular season.
Cold night
Buddy Hield has been played extremely well to start the season, but he struggled against the Lakers. He managed to post 12 points and added four rebounds in 25 minutes of action, but he struggled to hit a shot.
Known for his ability to knock down a shot, Hield hit just 3-of-17 from the field against LA. The Lakers' length on the perimeter appeared to bother the Kings’ leading scorer.
Even when Hield found open looks from the perimeter, they clanged iron. Hield came into the game a 45.5 percent shooter from behind the arc, but hit just 1-of-6 from 3-point range in the loss.