What we learned when Kings turnovers led to preseason loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

BOX SCORE

SACRAMENTO – The Kings have had their ups and downs this preseason, and Sunday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Golden 1 Center certainly falls into the latter category.

While there were some signs that things were going in the right direction, there wasn’t a lot of consistent cohesion on both ends of the floor and the end result was a 105-85 loss that dropped the Kings to 0-3 in the preseason with less players. then two weeks before the regular season starts.

De’Aaron Fox gave the Kings the lead with 11 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals, but he committed five errors in the first half and finished minus-19. Keon Ellis also scored 11, Keegan Murray had 10 points, Domantas Sabonis added nine points, eight rebounds and seven assists, while DeMar DeRozan had eight points, four assists and a minus-33.

Alex Len added 13 points, while Jordan McLaughlin scored 10.

Preseason scores don’t matter much in the grand scheme of things, so there’s not much reason to get overly concerned or pessimistic. But head coach Mike Brown has to worry about the problems his team had against a Trail Blazers team that was missing two of its best players and will almost certainly be one of the bottom in the Western Conference.

Portland was particularly effective at getting inside and scoring in the paint almost at will. Even when they failed to score down low, the Blazers repeatedly grabbed the offensive board and racked up a quick putback score.

Sabonis and Monk had a good rhythm early, and Murray gave the Golden 1 crowd some energy late in the second quarter when he dunked a lob pass from Sabonis, then made a steal on the Blazers’ ensuing possession and drove into the lane for a jam with one hand.

Sacramento couldn’t keep the momentum going for long, giving up 35 points to Portland in the second quarter as the Blazers went on a 9-0 run and then closed the first half with three straight scores from Scoot Henderson.

Things didn’t get much better in the second half

The Kings trailed by as many as 24 and remained 24 points below their preseason scoring average.

Now it’s time for the final two preseason games in Sacramento before the regular season begins at home on October 24 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

These are the conclusions from Sunday’s match:

Monk back in the mix

Malik Monk did not play in Friday’s 109-106 loss to the Golden State Warriors for personal reasons, but he was back in uniform on Sunday doing what he does best: playing both ends and providing a high level of energy.

Monk had eight points on 3-of-10 shooting to go with two rebounds and two steals. Monk was aggressive almost every time he touched the ball and quickly attacked the rim. That style made him a top candidate for the NBA Sixth Man of the Year award last season and it’s one that will keep him in the thick of things for the Kings in the 2024-2025 season.

Ball security

The Kings have a lot of explosiveness on offense, but it doesn’t matter much if they struggle to control the ball, which was the case a lot on Sunday. Sacramento committed 27 turnovers (14 in the first half), leading to 33 points for the Blazers.

The problems came from almost everywhere. Sabonis turned the ball over five times, while Fox and Monk each had four turnovers.

Spread the wealth

One of Brown’s fundamentals is ball movement, and the Kings did a pretty good job of that against the Blazers.

Sacramento had 25 assists on 35 shots made, a fantastic number that kept Portland from focusing its defense on one player. Four Sacramento players had three assists or more.

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