Three Takeaways From Kings' Loss In Cleveland

Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley are always going to put up numbers, but tonight it was far too easy for them. Early in the game, Mitchell and Evan Mobley combined for 11 points before the Kings could even get on the jumbotron in the first quarter, and neither guy seemed bothered by whoever the Kings had in front of them. On top of the offense, Mobley was making life miserable for almost anyone who challenged him at the rim with four blocks on the night.

The Kings were able to slow the pair down a bit as the game went on, but it wasn’t enough to make a difference. While both players are challenging matchups for any team, Sacramento needs to find a better way to make life harder on stars like Mobley and Mitchell if they’re going to compete. Mitchell would finish with 33 points and 8 assists, and Mobley added 29 points, 13 boards, and 8 assists of his own in the win.

Keep Up The Pace

One of the biggest things you’ll notice when you watch the Kings is how slow their offense tends to develop when their starting lineup is on the court. The combination of DeMar DeRozan, Russell Westbrook, Zach LaVine, Precious Achiuwa, and Max Raynaud just doesn’t promote ball movement, which is becoming very problematic. The Kings simply do not have enough shooters on the roster to play a heliocentric style offense, and for some reason, that still seems to be the default.

The difference is night and day when Sabonis, Schroder, and Monk are in the game. Not only do they get into their offensive sets much faster, but everyone shares the ball in an effort to find the easiest shot possible. A lot of this comes down to Sabonis’ ability to orchestrate an offense as a big man, but the other guys deserve a ton of credit as well for knowing their role.

It was obvious how much harder the Cavs had to work to defend the Kings when they were moving the ball, and that’s especially important against a team like Cleveland that can be extremely hard to score on when they’re set. There was a possession with about 4 minutes left in the game where the Kings kept getting stonewalled on every drive, but continued to move the ball and took every second of the shot clock to get an easy look for Dylan Cardwell. I can’t remember the last time I saw that kind of patience and activity on offense for Sacramento, and I hope it can continue. 

The Wrap Up

Overall, this wasn’t an awful game from Sacramento, and they had every opportunity to get the win. Sabonis looks like his old self again after being ravaged by injuries throughout this season, which is great to see. The problem is that the issues have been the same for Sacramento most of the season, and it seems unlikely that things will change unless Sacramento makes some major moves at the trade deadline. If the personnel stay the same, Christie will have some big decisions to make when it comes to his rotation before Sacramento takes on East-leading Detroit Pistons on Sunday.

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