The Sacramento Kings Continue To Put Their Fans Through Hell, This Time Blowing A Game To The Suns When They Had A 99.9% Win Probability

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Last season the Sacramento Kings burst onto the scene as one of the best stories in the entire league. The Victory Beam seemed to help change the entire vibe of the organization, which tends to happen when a team wins. One thing that made Kings games so fun to watch was the fact that they always seemed to find themselves in clutch time situations. They finished the year 25-19 in the clutch with the NBA's #1 clutch time offense and 4th best clutch time net rating. Hell, De'Aaron Fox won the NBA's first ever Clutch Player of The Year award for how awesome he was in the 4th quarter and in the clutch over the course of the season

Fast forward to 2023-24 and things are a bit different. Now that the Kings aren't surprising anyone this year, things have turned a little bit. So far through half of the season this year, the Kings rank 19th in clutch time offense and 12th in clutch time net rating. After dominating these situations just a year ago, Fox is shooting just 39.6/0% in the clutch so far this season. 

So what's going on? Well, I think it's fair to say that the Kings have had some trouble closing out games, instead choosing to put their fans through absolute hell in back to back losses 

First, there was the ending of the SAC/MIL thriller from the other night. Both Malik Monk and De'Aaron Fox gagging from the FT line with an opportunity to bury the Bucks on their own floor in the final seconds of OT. That definitely stings. 

But the good news is in the NBA, you get an immediate chance to redeem yourself and help your fans forget all about the heartbreak from the prior game. For the Kings, this meant a date with the new look Suns. As chaotic as they've been through 40 games, the Suns have been playing better as of late (7-3), and we're finally getting to see what this roster looks like with all three of their stars healthy.

A nice bounce-back win over a healthy Suns team would be big for the Kings considering they're chasing PHX in the standings, and last night was an opportunity for SAC to officially win the H2H season series, which could ultimately matter once we get to seeding/the Spring. For a while there it looked like they were going to pull it off too. Fox was awesome, Sabonis threw up another triple double, the Kings as a team shot 18-40 from deep and 50% of the floor. We got to just over midway through the 4th quarter and they found themselves with a 99.9% win probability. Surely they'd be able to close this game out right?

Wrong.

A 22 point comeback with just over 8 to play. A 17 point lead with 5:11 to play. A 6 point lead with 2 minutes to play. What happened to the clutch time Kings? All of a sudden they can't close a game for shit, and to gag like this in back to back games on the road against two good teams is rather brutal. Just when you thought the suffering from Kings fans might finally be over, here we are.

Of course, part of this comeback speaks to the brilliance of Kevin Durant, you know, one of the greatest offensive players the NBA has ever seen. But I'll tell you this too, don't sleep on KD's defense. Over the last 4 or 5 games he's really turned it up on that end and it's made a huge difference for the Suns. With him playing at this level, all I want to see is a sustained run of health for PHX so we can actually get an idea of what they are. Maybe that's too much to ask, but last night was exactly why I want to see it.

Meanwhile, the Kings, have now dropped 3 in a row and 4 of their last 6, with their only wins coming against the Pistons and the Hornets. That's not great. During this stretch, we've seen them get blown out by 33 against the Pelicans, lose by 19 to the Sixers, and then the heartbreak these last two games against the Bucks and Suns. Is it time to panic? Maybe not. Is it a sign that the team has to do something at the deadline? That was probably the case anyway, but my guess is they're going to do something. Flip Harrison Barnes and picks for something, preferably a wing would probably help. They do need more size there.

Perhaps the larger story here is actually around ESPN's analytics. Speaking from experience, fuck those numbers. 

I'm starting to think those nerds have no idea what they're talking about and all these numbers are simply made up. They can take their TI-86 calculations and shove em. I can't remember the last time their analytics were right. Whether it was in the ECF or the NBA Finals or some random game in January. Fans see a 99.9% win probability and are filled with false hope. In reality, Kevin Durant still exists and I'm thinking ESPN didn't factor that into their calculations. Whoops!

On a serious note, the Kings have to figure their shit out. The West is too competitive to be dropping games like we've seen them do over the last few days. When you have the opportunity to step on an opponent's throat and bury them, you have to do it. That's what the contending teams do, and we all know that's where the Kings want to be.