The Sacramento Kings are looking to carry their momentum into Thursday night’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Sacramento secured a 120-111 win over the Houston Rockets on Tuesday, breaking out of a recent slump. Before this victory, the Kings had only won 1 of their last 7 games. They used strong team play to get their first home win of December.
“We had 47 made field goals and 33 assists,” said Kings coach Mike Brown. “We made the game easy for one another, we played together.”
Brown added that the performance against the Rockets was how he wants the team to play.
“That’s our standard,” Brown said. “We have to compete and we competed for 48 minutes.”
Malik Monk played a key role with 17 points and a game-high 12 assists. Domantas Sabonis led the team with 27 points, and De’Aaron Fox contributed 22 points and seven assists.
“Having the ball in your hands a lot during the game,” Brown said about Monk. “To have 12 assists and no turnovers shows you what he is capable of.”
Brown mentioned that the Kings didn’t change their approach to break their slump.
“I told them we are a lot better than we’ve been playing, and they went out and (played better),” Brown said. “We didn’t do anything different or tricky.”
The Grizzlies had their six-game win streak ended on Tuesday with a loss to the Mavericks.
Dallas made a comeback from a 15-point deficit in the final quarter to win 121-116. Memphis led 111-103 after a Ja Morant 3-pointer with 3:31 left but the Mavericks closed the game on an 18-5 run to win the NBA Cup game.
Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins was upset with the free throw discrepancy, as Memphis shot only three free throws in the fourth quarter, compared to 26 for the Mavericks. Jenkins pointed out that his team plays an aggressive style.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, the 23 free throw difference was the largest in a quarter in an NBA game since 2015.
“I don’t know how in an NBA Cup game you have that big of a disparity,” Jenkins said. “I’m going to be careful with my words and stuff, but in an NBA Cup game, I don’t know how you have a team shoot 30 more free throws.”
Despite the loss, Memphis still has a five-game home win streak at FedEx Forum on the line Thursday night.
There are positive signs for Memphis. Morant led the team with 31 points against Dallas and seems to have recovered from a hip injury. Desmond Bane, who had missed several games with a strained oblique, ended his shooting slump with 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting.
Rookie Zach Edey is close to returning from an ankle injury, and rookie Jaylen Wells continues to impress. Wells was named NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month for October and November. A second-round pick from Washington State, Wells has averaged 12.2 points and shot 45.4 percent in 20 games, 15 of which he started. He leads all Western Conference rookies in scoring.
