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Kings beat Suns 120-105
In this episode of The Royal Report I discuss the Kings bouncing back from a tough loss against the Celtics, the great game plan guarding Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, the active help defense of the Kings, and much more.
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Another bounceback win for the Kings and the trend continues of losing big but then immediately bouncing back with a solid win this one against a kind of depleted Phoenix Suns team the suns are now 14 and4 on the season Kings beat them 120 to 105 and the Suns did have
Kevin Durant and Devin Booker but we’re without Bradley Beal and Yousef nurkic Joshua kogi and so for an already thin Suns team where you’re invested in your top three guys and you don’t have much depth depth after that especially not having noric in this one was really tough for the
Suns and when I saw he wasn’t playing my nerves for this game just totally went out the window because I was like there’s no way the Kings lose when the suns are going to start Drew Eubanks at Center and they have you know I love my
Guy but they have voka a iuk coming off the bench and you know he wasn’t bad put up an 1111 game but you know that doesn’t scare me at all and immediately the Kings took advantage of Drew Eubanks inside especially sabonis scoring the first seven points for the Kings just
Going straight at Eubanks and the Kings just continuously attack the paint with very little shot blocking very little size they got two quick fouls on Eubanks forced as bouet to come in then it was two quick fouls on azabou the fouls didn’t end up being that big of a deal
For them but I love the way that the kings were just relentlessly attacking the paint early and the way that first quarter was officiated was not fun it was just foul call after foul call and felt like one of the slowest first quarters or quarters of the season and
They also had that weird clock issue where they just randomly added like 53 seconds onto the clock which could have could have had some implications like what if they didn’t realize until there was less than 53 seconds in the quarter and you know it made the Suns
Not go for a two for one so that was just a weird moment and I’ve never seen that happen but the officiate the way it was officiated everything was a foul there were lots of touch fouls on the perimeter uh Keegan picked up two touch fouls on the perimeter you know herder
Picked up in early one the suns were in the penalty about halfway through the first quarter and that was definitely a bit worrying because it wasn’t through them attacking the paint it was just the Kings trying to play physical defense on the perimeter and I mean I liked the way
The kings were playing defense I didn’t think they were being overly physical I thought they were doing it just the right amount of physicality against Booker against Kevin Durant trying to make them UNC comfortable and just the way the game was being officiated it kind of went against us at that point
And I’m not saying the officiating was against us because they were the same calls on both ends but I’m just saying in terms of the way the Kings wanted to defend Booker and Durant it it was difficult because of those touch fouls but I think the Kings never went away
From the physicality defensively against those two guys and they made it difficult and the offense in this game was solid but I think it was really the defense that was the the really bright spot for the Kings and the one thing that I really noticed was just how
Active the king’s hands were it was just constantly guys getting their hands on the ball steals deflections blocks whatever it was and the help defense was just really really good for almost the entire game Malik monk had three blocks I think it even could have been four like I I don’t I
Think they didn’t count the jump ball that he forced as a block so I it could have been even more he had a double block on one possession I thought he was particularly good in that area defensively Keon Ellis was Super Active defensively Fox had two blocks three
Steals herder was getting in the passing lanes and he was protecting the rim as well Barnes was Super Active three stocks and it was just the way the kings were helping against the likes of Devin Booker and Kevin Durant they were loading up against them and especially
In transition did a good job of loading up early not allowing them to get to the paint and I think they did that well for probably the first two and a half quarters and then they got up big like 29 Points and it just it just went away
The help defense just totally evaporated ated they let them you know score and transition and they just they didn’t totally finish the Suns you know it would have been nice to not have to play our guys at all in the fourth quarter you know obviously I can’t be too mad
Because it was a a really solid win and we held the lead throughout most of the game but there is a part of me that’s like why can the Kings just not totally put teams away when the opposite happens every time the Kings just con stantly
Are getting down by like 30 points when they’re losing big and it just totally feels like the Kings get put away whereas the Kings they let the other team back in the game they gave the Suns some hope but they were able to kind of maintain that 18 to 20o lead for for
Most of it the closest the Suns got was 15 in that run that they had late in the third quarter start of the fourth quarter you know I’m not including garbage time cuz obviously the game Ended as a 15-point game it was the the first half we kind of had the lead
Between 8 to 10 points and then the second half upped it to 18 to 20 points so it’s definitely hard to be mad at the Kings consistently holding the lead for the entire game and it never really felt like the Kings even when it was only an
8 to 10-point game it never felt like the kings were going to give it back because with watching the Kings most of the time I’m just terrified when’s that run coming when is the Kings defense going to just completely collapse the offense misses a few shots or turns the
Ball over and then the defense will just completely collapse and I really never felt that that was ever going to happen in this game and I mean it is what happened late in like the second half of the third quarter but at that point we
Were up 29 and so yeah it was like slightly nerve-wracking but when you’re up 29 you’re feeling pretty good but when we were up in that like 8 to 10 point range the defense to that point had just been really really good that I never
Felt like we were going to let the Suns go on this huge run and our offense was consistent enough and the ball movement was amazing sa bonis was awesome and so even when Kevin Durant would hit a really tough shot or Devin Booker would hit a tough shot where those shots that
You’re like nothing else you could do on that one those shots were not enough to keep up with the way the kings were playing offensively because they weren’t letting anyone else on the Suns really get into the game and you know I thought the king’s help defense was really good
But what it did kind of open up for the Suns was the lob and finding the guy at the dunker spot so there were definitely some easy buckets for the Suns in that area but I would much rather have that sometimes than when Devin Booker is able
To just drive by the first guy and get an easy layup you know I’d much rather force him to make a tough pass than obviously let him just get to the rim and make a a pretty uncontested layup it was interesting the way the Kings decided to defend Devin Booker and Kevin
Durant they put Keegan Murray on Devin Booker they put Barnes on Kevin Durant and my best guess for why we decided to do that was just the size and what I mean by that is sure we could have put Fox on Booker and Keegan on Durant but
That allows Devin Booker to shoot over Fox and Kevin Durant is going to shoot over pretty much anyone and so you might as well put Keegan on the quicker Booker and not allow Booker to shoot over Keegan as easily as he would be able to do against Fox and then of course Barnes
Is going to get shot over by Durant but he’s able to maintain his position with his strength in the post and force Durant into longer mid-range shots and you know Durant got his in the mid-range he was efficient 9 of 14 but they forced him into seven turnover overs and they
Were doubling him throughout most of the game the Suns did not knock down threes they went five for 25 only knocking down five threes is pretty crazy Grayson Allen had three of them Kevin Durant had two of them nobody else on the team hit a three Eric Gordon played 25 minutes
And only attempted Two Shots had zero points and when you’re playing against a team with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker but really nobody else like you need to make sure that Eric Gordon doesn’t get going because he’s that third scorer nobody else on that Sun’s roster is
Really going to get it going scoring wise their centers and and big guys may get dunks off of Kevin Durant and Devon Booker attracting attention but in terms of other perimeter players scoring you know Grayson Allen he’s going to sit outside and shoot threes so is udaan
Tabi ner little Sabin Lee Jordan Goodwin like none of those guys are going to create their own shots so Eric Gordon’s the only other guy and limiting him to only two shot attempts is a massive win and something that’s been an issue for the kings in the past two games that
Hasn’t been an issue all season has been the offensive rebounding or the the defensive rebounding allowing offensive rebounds they allowed 15 got outrebounded in this one allowed this the Suns to take more shots win the field goal attempted battle and there were definitely some frustrating moments when it came to the rebounding Barnes
Had one rebound herder had one rebound those are the the kind of guys that I look towards to determine how our rebounding has been because you know sabonis is going to get his rebounds Keegan’s been pretty consistent Fox is the smallest guy on the court but he
Still picks up his fair share but then it’s like R herder and Barnes oo contributing on the boards and it hasn’t been great these past two games and I think the main reason it happens that the kings are allowing these offensive rebounds is because they’ve been in
Rotation so much especially in this one when they’re doubling Durant and then rotating around the perimeter when a shot goes up they’re not as locked in on getting the rebound of preventing their man from getting the rebound because they’ve been rotating and so I think that’s the one
Thing if I were to say anything that they needed to clean up defensively the bench was interesting in this one like the starting lineup was great sabonis amazing 28 points 12 assists 11 rebounds got his triple double was just awesome all game efficient going right at Eubanks making the correct decisions
Pushing it in transition just doing everything he does Barnes had 19 points went four for eight from three the biggest thing for me I mean maybe his threep point shooting is the biggest thing because that’s really important and he’s been shooting it really well this season but it seems like Harrison
Barnes is back and it’s because he’s getting to the free throw line he was five for six from the free throw line had that big and one at the end of the third quarter when the suns were kind of making a run they were within 16 and
Then with like two seconds on the clock or whatever he or might have been like 7 on the clock I think actually he was able to draw an and one on of fade away in the mid-range to push the lead to 19 and he was able to do his Slow Rolling
And get to the line a few times and he was just attacking the rim he’s been playing so much better offensively lately and he was really solid defensively against Durant I thought and so that is going to be key if he can keep playing like this for the Kings
Even at his Peak he’s not the guy that’s going to totally change this team especially on the defense end where the Kings kind of need it but it’s still a huge deal when he can give you those 15 points on offense and just get to the free throw line and knock down threes
And speaking of getting to the free throw line the rhythm of this game was totally taken out of it by the officiating like I talked about the officiating in the first quarter but I didn’t really talk about how it affected the game in terms of just the rhythm totally being taken
Out out of it the kings were not able to push the pace like they want to and so then when the officiating kind of stopped being as much of a factor you could see the Kings pushing the pace more and they got some easy buckets on some you know long kind of touchdown
Passes that always make me incredibly nervous but they hit like four of them just to get easy layups and I say easy layups there was that one sabonis to Fox where Fox caught it in his right hand and you know never touched it with his
Left and then just put it off the glass his off hand which was super impressive in a tough layup and he had another one of those kind of where he just never touches it with his other hand but that one was his with his left hand where he
Just goes zooming right by a guy and goes high off the glass but the Kings kind of got the pace back into it which I think helped them a lot but again going back to going through the starting lineup Keegan Murray defending de Booker and then he started off a little slow
Missing his first I think three threep point attempts and I’ve noticed recently like his release has gotten quicker and in the past few games they’ve been going down that quick release shot in this one those quick releases weren’t quite going down he he got you know okay looks I
Wouldn’t call them great looks and then he was able to get a better look from three he knocked it down and that kind of got him going he hit a few step backs and those are the kind of shots that make you think this guy could be a star
And he had that one in the mid-range I think when he was being guarded by Booker he got hit in the face and still knocked down the the long mid-range and again he’s just doing it all within the flow of off the offense but he was just
Hitting huge shots and then hit a couple of floaters which at this point I’ve come to just kind of expect that they’re going in for him and I also just expect anytime he steps back I expect it to go in Fox you know just a light 23 points I
Said the three steals two blocks seven assist six rebounds just a chill game for him but he really he really had it going in the first half and then just didn’t have to do much in the second half it was kind of everyone contributing especially Barnes in the
Second uh second half the Third quarter there and sabonis was picking him apart but in the first half he knocked down that first three and I think that really changed everything because they went under the screen I think it was Grayson Allen and it’s like you just can’t go
Under the screen on this guy anymore he’s so consistent from Deep so he knocked that one down and then that kind of totally opened up the rest of his game because he another play like right after that he catches the ball at the three-point line and Devin Booker just comes
Running out closing out super hard and fox just goes right by him and fox was using his his super speed a little bit more in this one than I think we’ve been seeing as of late and he had that huge first quarter and first half against the
Celtics in the last one that was kind of wasted and so I felt like he was kind of he’s kind of like I I got to do that again because I got to get the win in it this time and not have a a waste of a performance and then Kevin herder was
Knocking down a couple open threes missed a couple others but he was getting inside Drew an and one was kind of part of that early Onslaught at The Rim against Drew Eubanks and then I thought he just had a really solid allaround game I think he’s just been struggling with getting less touches
Last season I would say he was that third guy that the kings were you know drawing up plays for and now kegam Murray has taken those looks away from him I think and I think he’s just struggled a bit with not touching the ball as much and not
Getting as many shot attempts as he’s been used to but I think he’s finding his way in terms of finding other ways to impact the game and hopefully he can start knocking down his open threes at a little better rate than has been recently but the starting lineup
Definitely carried this one the bench was a little odd that um Trey lyes only played 11 minutes I thought he attempted only one shot you know no points didn’t attempt to three had four rebounds in 11 minutes and then we had Sasha vezenov play six minutes and he came in
Immediately knocked down a three and I thought he had had kind of a a first stint that was close to being great but he just like kind of made the wrong decisions at the key points like passed up a few open shots and just didn’t like
He was so close to being having just a a great stint and he was just like barely making the wrong decisions but he definitely has the green light from Mike Brown and he immediately came in and knocked down that three when he follows through on his three-point shot it is going down
Almost every time but again only 6 minutes and I think it was just I mean one the starters were playing Super well but also two when you’re going up against Kevin Durant and Devon Booker you don’t want those guys in In Trey L and Sasha vezenov really being switched
Onto them and I think the defense was playing a lot better with you know Keon Ellis in there Monk was playing well defensively I’ll get to javil but then the starters were just playing really well so we didn’t need those guys to play huge minutes but it definitely was
Weird not seeing TR Al play a lot of minutes but going to dvil McGee 10 minutes and he had a solid outing I would say it definitely wasn’t perfect there were some mistakes like closing out too hard and chimzi metu at the three-point line and then closing out too hard on someone
Else as well his Closeouts were were really bad and but but he was providing a deterrence at the rim and he was getting inside he got to the free throw line a a couple times had a nice dunk from the dunker spot and I would say it
Just wasn’t as chaotic as it has been in recent games and so that’s just it’s a step forward for him I think it it wasn’t amazing but it wasn’t bad like his last performances have been monk I talked about his defense his three-point shot wasn’t going down but I think him and
Domas getting into the twom Man game especially early in that fourth quarter that kind of put this game away him you know maybe it was a little over dribbling but it was working with him in domas in the two-man game when the offense had kind of gone stagnant the
Suns were were within a run of making this interesting and they kind of just kept pace with the Suns in terms of scoring because of that monk domas 2oman game and so that was key another five assist night from him Keon wasn’t knocking down his open shots
And was part of that um second half of the third quarter where the Kings just couldn’t hit anything and they were settling for too many threes when the Suns did not have a center in the game but he he got open looks and just didn’t knock him down but his defense was
Really good the best part of this game was undoubtedly the start of the third quarter where the kings came in with an 11-point lead and then just went on a massive run at the start of the third quarter they hit 11 their first 11 shots
From the field and went two for two from the free throw line they were pushing the pace herder CAU an oop from Fox in transition you had domas dominating inside Keegan knocking down his threes and they didn’t allow the Suns to score for a while and and the suns were
Missing some open shots and they were getting offensive rebounds so they were getting multiple looks and they still were missing but the Kings just absolutely punished them for those misses Keegan on fire fox just finishing at the rim and then we had a lineup with
No Fox and no monk which you know I’m not the biggest fan of but we didn’t collapse you know we kind of were just maybe giving up a few points with that lineup but then it was the lineup when Fox came back in and it really just went went South where the
Kings just weren’t getting to the rim enough and again those are the moments the Kings need to clean up but it didn’t end up mattering because they had uh such a big lead some other moments from this game that massive Malik Monk dunk after the the Keon Lis
Steel amazing you know Keegan gives it a three out of 10 that means it was amazing you had heard her putting pressure on Durant and forcing a backcourt violation which was awesome Frank vogle got got so mad because you know you say and herder’s pushing him
Which like it it was not a foul but in terms of what they’d been calling up to that point I get why he was mad because they had been calling every little touch foul up to that point but that’s when they you know started changing how they were calling the game and definitely
Changed it for the better no one wants to see all those touch fouls but that was really good from Kevin herder Frank vogle picked up a a tech Kevin Durant picked up a tech Devin Booker picked up a tech it’s always fun to to have the opponent pick up technical fouls I don’t
Know why but it just you know it makes the it makes the crowd go crazy and then I guess just one other thing at the start of the second quarter and at the the last possession of the first quarter actually Sabin Lee came in and it was a
A horrible possession you know the king’s trying to run the clock down and get the final shot javil McGee comes to set a screen for Fox Fox passes it to monk so javil runs over to set a screen for him monk passes it back to Fox
Jail’s just like what are we doing you know like I’m trying to set a screen for you guys and you’re just passing it to the other guy and then and fox gets blocked by Sabin Lee not a good possession but you know solid defense from Sabin Lee solid ball pressure and
He came out in the second half and was really you know trying to bring the intensity on Fox and and trying to put pressure on him and it just didn’t work at all Fox just maintained his head you know he stayed calm and got the ball
Knocked away from him at one point but then you just run right by Sab Le and get into the paint and so it’s fun to watch just a guy come in and just totally try to put pressure on Fox and it just not phased fox in the slightest
And fox was able to just get wherever he wanted sa Lee was putting pressure on him and he just gets into the mid-range takes the javil McGee screen walks around it right into a midi and knocks it down and he just looked so in control
He didn’t need to do too much in this game but was efficient when we needed him this next game is the game that we really need the Kings to just at least make it close because it is the second night of a back toback where the Kings
Continually get blown out it is against the top team in the west the Minnesota Timberwolves they’ll be without Carl Anthony towns but honestly does that even matter because Nas Reed just comes in and kills the Kings every time and NS Reed will take all of his minutes and I
Just want to see some fight we may not win this game but we got to at least make it close like I just I cannot watch another blowout in this type of game the last time the Kings played the Timberwolves was an inseason Tournament game Kings came out on top Fox had 36
Points he wasn’t super efficient from the field but you know sometimes you got to do what you got to do to get your points and the main thing that I remember from this game was just Anthony Edwards getting to the free throw line like 20 times it must have been close to
That let me check yeah it was 18 times he shot 17 for 18 from the free throw line and I mean we just we we cannot let that happen again the help defense and the way we defended Devon Booker and Kevin Durant is definitely encouraging but the Timberwolves are not the Phoenix
Suns they have more help around their guys obviously no Carl Anthony towns will help but it’s definitely going to be tougher but I think we we have to play him a similar way that we played probably Kevin Durant of course the difference between guarding Kevin Durant and guarding Anthony Edwards and this
One is we’re GNA have Keegan Murray on Anthony Edwards but also I think Kevin herder and Harrison Barnes are going to be huge especially Kevin hder because you know Rudy goar is in there inside the the timber roles are a very long team and that can cause problem problems
For the Kings getting into the paint and scoring in the paint and we’re going to have to knock down our threes to win this game and we did last time against the Timberwolves we knocked down 17 and we don’t necessarily have to shoot around 50% again but we do need
Our Shooters to to knock down their shots keika Murray didn’t play in the last game against the Timberwolves so that should help in terms of the Anthony Edwards getting to the free throw so much but just the only thing I asked for is that we we see a little fight from
The Kings and we just see it until the very end even if they don’t win this game because no matter what we’ve locked up a winning home stand we are four and one so far in the home stand going into this final game and so no matter what it
Has been a successful home stand I think but this would if we won against the Timberwolves that would I think give us so much momentum anyways that is it for this episode of the royal report I will be back tomorrow night to recap the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves so
I’ll see you guys then peace
1 Comment
Durant is sure cursed