.|《 #NBA 🎙🕶🎙》| Sacramento Kings Finish Homestand With 2-5 Record, Lose Final To NOLA 128-123
Marvin Bagley III Records 26 Points, 10 Rebounds
New Orleans Pelicans point guard Eric Bledsoe tries to get a shot over Sacramento Kings center Richaun Holmes at Golden 1 Center. Sacramento, Calif. Publicity Agents photo art by T. Ray Harvey. Jan. 17, 2021.
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Sacramento, Calif. — .The Sacramento Kings (5-9) rank last in the National Basketball Association (NBA) in defense (30th), and perhaps, at the bottom of the heap in consistency, too.
.On a seven-game homestand at Golden 1 Center, unsteadiness has been the story for the Kings. The team also went from giving up major production to opposing teams to providing career nights and season-best players looking for a boost of confidence.
.The New Orleans Pelicans (5-7) limped into Sacramento with a five-game losing streak. But thanks to the Kings, New Orleans found renewed confidence to claim a 128-123 victory. The Pelicans began the season 4-2.
The conclusion of the second quarter spelled it and dictated the results to the Sacramento Kings.
“In the NBA it’s hard to come back from a 20-point deficit,” Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox said. Obviously, we still gave ourselves a chance to win, but that end of the first quarter and the early second quarter it was hard to come back. We were coming back and Eric (Bledsoe) hit a three as the clock was winding down. I think if he misses that shot it’s an entirely different game. That’s a vet making a play.”
.De’Aaron Fox had career-high 43 points, 13 assists, four rebounds, and four steals in a losing cause for the Kings that averaged giving up 130.4 points per contest during the seven-game span.
.Two days before the team lost 138-130 to the Los Angeles Clippers. The Kings were down as many as 19 points against the Pelicans. Zion Williamson had 31 points for the Pelicans while Bledsoe and six rebounds.
.It doesn’t look good on paper, Sacramento has been fighting the good fight but breakdowns on defense, sustaining leads, losing leads, and playing catch up apparently is where the battle is with the team.
“We still gotta be pissed off. We’re still giving up 120 points a night,” Buddy Hield said following the lost to the Pelicans. “I like our fight. We came back from a big deficit. But we can’t keep digging ourselves in a big hole.”
.Hield had 18 points, four rebounds, and three assists in the final game of the homestand.
.In addition, the Kings did not defend well is well documented in the last seven games. Opposing teams 3-points shooting glares out into space. The visiting teams made 112 3-pointers out of 226 attempts (49%). That's an average of 16 3-points shots made per game.
.After a 3-1 start, the Kings have lost eight of their last ten games and are currently on a three-game losing streak. They have a couple of days off before playing the Los Angeles Clippers again on the road on Jan. 20.
By T. Ray Harvey | PA Public Information Officer and Photographic Artist
Twitter: Tony Ray Harvey @PublicityAgents
T. Ray (Antonio) Harvey is a Public Information Officer and Photographic Artist for Publicity Agents. Harvey is also the author of The HOMICIDAL HANDYMAN OF OAK PARK: MORRIS SOLOMON JR.
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