The Sacramento Kings let this happen for the first time this season

The Sacramento Kings were not an elite team in 2024-25. At 6-5, the Kings are barely over .500. However, heading into their game against the San Antonio Spurs on Monday, the Kings had a chance to win every game they played.

Before the Spurs game, the Kings’ worst loss was by nine points. In the other three losses, they lost by four points or less, with two of those games (against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Toronto Raptors) coming down to the final shot.

In the nine-point loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, the Kings managed a ten-point lead despite shooting 11.5% from three (3-for-26). Meanwhile, the Clippers hit 46.7% of their shots from distance. Who knows what the result would have been if the 3-point percentage of both teams had been more even.

The Kings’ ability to keep each game close is a big reason they posted the seventh-best net rating (+4.6) in the NBA heading into their Monday night matchup. Unfortunately, her net rating after the Spurs game (+2.4) pushed her all the way up to 11th.

As we alluded to, the Kings were beaten by the Spurs in their first meeting since the Harrison Barnes trade. Barnes was solid in his first game against his old team, posting a box score of 10 points, five rebounds and two assists for a plus-minus of +14 in 30 minutes of play.

There is some justification for this defeat. First, the Kings were in the second leg of a series in which the first game required a fourth-quarter comeback and overtime. The Spurs were able to rest the day before.

And second, the Spurs were red hot from three attempts – they missed 22 of their 46 3-point attempts (47.8%). Meanwhile, the Kings were ice cold (a growing trend), completing just 26.3% of their 38 attempts.

The loss of Malik Monk was deeply felt. The Kings’ already struggling bench only managed to score 21 points. Additionally, Jordan McLaughlin – one of the players filling Monk’s minutes – scored an abysmal -14 in his nine minutes of action (he was being chased, as he usually does on the defensive side of the ball).

Considering the Kings will be without Monk for at least a few more weeks, there could be more games like this in the future. Unless they start hitting their threes and get a little more production from their bench.