Domantas Sabonis’ frustrations got the best of him as he was ejected for the first time of his career in the Kings’ disappointing loss to the New York Knicks at Golden 1 Center on Monday night.
After blowing consecutive 19-point leads against the San Antonio Spurs and the Dallas Mavericks, the Kings blew a 20-point lead vs. the Knicks and ended up losing by a final score of 131-115.
“It was a frustrating game,” Sabonis told reporters after the loss. “We keep getting these leads, playing the right way and then we just can’t come out in the second half. It gets frustrating. I don’t know what it is but we have to come out at halftime and get a better warm-up in and do whatever we can. Every team is going to fight back, just like we would. So we just got to figure that out.”
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Sabonis got hit with a technical towards the end of the fourth after he was upset with a foul called against him, and then was ejected with 4:35 remaining after bumping into an official.
It was the first time in his seven-year NBA career that he was ejected from a game, which he noted is rare to let his emotions take over as they did on Monday.
After being up 63-48 at the half, the Knicks went on to outscore Sacramento 83-52 in the final two quarters.
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And it was Julius Randle’s 46-point, 10-rebound double-double that stole the show and secured the Knicks' second straight win after losing seven in a row.
As the Knicks figured out how to snap their skid, the Kings need to do the same. After watching a team collapse late three games in a row, the root of the problem needs to be addressed.
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“Incomplacency,” Harrison Barnes told reporters. “As a team, we just have to have the maturity that teams aren’t going to lay down, it doesn’t matter if you’re up five, 10, 15, just because you got into a flow and a lead doesn’t give us a license to then just take our foot off the gas.”
That foot will need to press the gas a little further. The Kings’ playoff chances are slimming, but there are still 15 games remaining in the regular season.