Kings Take Down Suns, Clinch Home Court for Play-In

It wasn't perfect, but the Sacramento Kings took care of business in the final game of the season, taking down the Phoenix Suns 109-98.

In a game that sped by, with only nine total free throw attempts, the Kings used a strong shooting performance from three-point range to pull away and never looked back. They finished the day 14-of-34 (41.2%) from deep compared to 15-of-44 (34.1%) for the Suns.

The biggest surprise of the day was Jonas Valančiūnas leading all players with 22 points. The backup big came in and instantly made his presence felt, going against the younger and smaller Suns backup bigs. Valančiūnas also chipped in 10 rebounds and 4 assists, while shooting 10-of-11 from the field.

And it wasn't just Valančiūnas who played well off the bench. Trey Lyles chipped in 11 points and Devin Carter continued to impress with energy and hustle. He only had five points, but added five rebounds and continued his full-court pressure and disruption of opponent's ball handlers.

For the Suns, Grayson Allen led the way with 20 points and 5 assists, but with the three-point shot going cold, they weren't able to get much of anything going on offense.

It's the exact type of storylines you want out of a game like this. With the Suns resting their stars, the Kings were able to coast for most of the game. Outside of a stretch in the second quarter where turnovers led to easy buckets for the Suns, they held control and were able to lean on their reserves rather than the stars of DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, and Domantas Sabonis.

While they didn't have to play big minutes, all three of the Kings stars looked good in their time on the court. Sabonis specifically showed his range from beyond the arc, making all four of his three-point attempts.

His four threes tied his career-high for made threes in a game, and is the most he's made this season. While Sabonis has had his best shooting season from beyond the arc, him making four of four heading into the the play-in game should be huge for his confidence.