Kings eliminated from NBA Cup after frustrating loss to Blazers appeared originally on NBC Sports Bay Area
The Kings’ pursuit of an NBA Cup title will have to be put on hold until next season.
Sacramento is officially out of the NBA regular season after a 115-106 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night at the Moda Center.
The Kings’ loss to the Blazers leaves Sacramento as the only winless team in Western Conference Group A, currently 0-3 in the tournament’s group stage. Sacramento has the difference in the group minus 25 points.
Malik Monk led the way for the Kings with 29 points and Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox combined for 43, but it wasn’t nearly enough to overcome the lack of scoring elsewhere as Sacramento trailed by double digits for much of the second. half on Friday.
The Kings’ showing in the league’s second straight season is on par with Sacramento’s rocky start to start the 2024-25 NBA season, sitting at 9-11 entering the season. deep playoff run.
Instead, a quarter of the way through the season, the Kings sit in the 12th seed in the Western Conference playoffs, with a steep hill to climb in a conference where even the bottom feeders present a tough challenge on any given night.
Six-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan continues to deal with an ailing back, missing his fifth game of the season on Friday. The Kings are 2-3 without DeRozan, whose absence has been noticeable as Sacramento has struggled to create a consistent offense against Portland.
So far, things have not gone according to plan. Coach Mike Brown digs deep to find a spark for his team – including an open exchange with the referee that earned him a hefty fine.
Fortunately, there is still plenty of time to right the ship, and the Kings certainly have the pieces to come together.
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