The road finale for the Kings’ regular season was a classic tale of two halves.
De’Aaron Fox and Keon Ellis combined for 11 3-pointers in the first half alone as Sacramento got out to a quick start.
But in the end, the Kings succumbed to a recurring theme in the 2023–24 NBA season: blowing leads. On Tuesday night at Paycom Center, they lost the regular-season road finale to the Oklahoma City Thunder, 112-105.
Although Sacramento was expected to win decisively on the road, they suffered a heartbreaking loss in the closing stages of the season. As the playoff push narrows to three games and the competition for the top spot heats up.
Brown told reporters, “I thought our ball movement was beautiful in the first half, and I thought we got bored with it in the second half.” “We made some difficult shots in the paint, had a few of our shots blocked, and evened the score with offensive rebounds.”
The Kings made just 20 of their franchise-record 58 3-point tries, capping what started off as a 3-point shooting extravaganza for Fox and Ellis, who against the Thunder set career highs in points scored (26) and 3-pointers made (8).
In 38 minutes, Trey Lyles, Davion Mitchell, and Harrison combined for two 3-pointers on 15 tries, while Keegan Murray finished with 15 points on 3-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc.
“Leaving behind a formula for success might be challenging. We had several wide-open shots, but we just turned them down and began driving in the defense, Brown continued. After that, a few players missed a few shots. In the NBA, if you foul on a wide-open shot, the basketball gods will punish you severely.
“It’s difficult to see how well we performed in the first half.” And we just played the proper way; it doesn’t matter if we make or miss shots. We tightened up and attempted to do too much on our own or missed easy opportunities in the second half. That seems like one of the main issues with the game to me.”
Domantas Sabonis’ record-breaking 61-game run of double-doubles ended despite his 13 rebounds; the Kings center was two points short of double digits and committed a team-high six turnovers.
Mike Brown and company aim to finish as high as the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference if they win out and the New Orleans Pelicans lose their final three games (against the Kings, the Golden State Warriors, and the Los Angeles Lakers). Now, the focus is on Sacramento, or the final three games at home this season.
But one thing is for sure: the Kings will need to play two full halves, not one, in order to secure the aforementioned best-case scenario.
