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Kings open up preseason with rough showing against Raptors

Following a 175-day hiatus, Sacramento Kings basketball returned to Golden 1 Center on Wednesday night.

Fans in attendance got their first look at a new-look Kings team that featured newly-signed point guard Dennis Schroder, rookie wing Nique Clifford (24th pick in June’s NBA Draft), and big man Maxime Raynaud (42nd pick in the NBA Draft) against the Toronto Raptors in the first of four preseason tune-up games.

Exhibition games are always a mixed bag–sporadic rotations, limited minutes, and in this case, no broadcast on local or national TV. Sure, the game was broadcast on Sactown Sports 1140 AM and Kings.com, but, like most preseason games, this one felt like a dress rehearsal for the real thing, which is a good thing from Sacramento’s perspective.

As was the case last season, the Kings struggled to contain the perimeter against Toronto, falling behind by double digits during the first half — a deficit that Sacramento never recovered from — before pulling its primary rotation players early in the second half.

Here are some thoughts and observations from the Kings’ 130-120 preseason-opening loss as we move closer to the season-opener on October 22nd.

😤 https://t.co/mUVM63ZDwo pic.twitter.com/UN6OS0rA8Q

— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) October 9, 2025

Sacramento Kings vs. Toronto Raptors recap & takeaways

Head coach Doug Christie kept his rotations and planned playing time close to the vest during this week’s practice sessions, but his plans were revealed on Wednesday.

New Kings big man Drew Eubanks was Christie’s first sub off the bench for Domantas Sabonis, allowing Sabonis to re-enter the game with Malik Monk, Keon Ellis, and rookie wing Nique Clifford on the floor. Second-year forward Isaac Jones was Christie’s first forward off the bench, rather than veteran Dario Saric or sharpshooter Doug McDermott.

Sacramento’s new-look rotations got off to a slow start early, falling behind by as many as 14 points during the first half as Toronto set fire to the nets from beyond the arc (11-of-20 from deep during the first half).

Zach LaVine, who logged 15 minutes of playing time in his preseason debut, scored 16 points on five-of-seven shooting from the field (three-of-five from downtown) to act as the head of the snake for the Kings’ offense.

Zach LaVin3️⃣ 🏹 pic.twitter.com/7GmdIpVT1y

— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) October 9, 2025

Sacramento’s primary rotation pieces departed the game near the end of the third quarter as the Kings faced an 18-point deficit, allowing second-year guard Devin Carter, two-way center Dylan Cardwell, forward Daeqwon Plowden, and Eubanks to get more action.

Fans in attendance could be heard audibly groaning, and in some cases, booing, as Sacramento struggled to keep up with the red-hot Raptors.

While the Kings trailed by double-digits for most of the night, the bench unit of Clifford, Carter, Cardwell, Maxime Raynaud, and Isaiah Stevens injected life back into the building by opening up the fourth quarter on a 30-20 run that trimmed the deficit to single digits.

“They brought the energy. Props to them,” Domantas Sabonis said of the late charge. “As starters, we should have done our job.”

Cardwell put on a show in the fourth, scoring all 12 of his points on six-of-seven shooting while putting down a few rim-rattling dunks that helped make things interesting late.

Although Sacramento’s bench unit scored 44 points on 65 percent shooting during the fourth quarter, too much damage was done early by the Raptors as Toronto held on for the win.

🤯🤯🤯 https://t.co/TVnnvsf8WH pic.twitter.com/G1n1fxDEW4

— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) October 9, 2025

Clifford, who has been rumored to be in the mix for some spot backup point guard minutes, finished the night with a team-high nine assists to go around with ten points. Raynaud added seven points and six rebounds over twelve minutes.

The Kings struggled to defend the perimeter last year (as well as most seasons over the past 20 years), a trend that continued against Toronto as the Raptors finished the night 20-of-37 (54%) from three-point land. Chrisite has preached improvements on the defensive end this year, and although it was just one preseason game, Wednesday was a tough start to the 2025-26 campaign.

Four of the Kings’ five starters–outside of LaVine’s 15 minutes–logged 24 minutes on Wednesday night, and those minutes are likely to increase over the final three preseason games.

Rounding Out The Box Score

Domantas Sabonis scored 19 points on seven-of-ten shooting from the field over 23 minutes.

Dennis Schroder struggled from the field during his unofficial Kings debut, going one-of-five from the field while pulling down six rebounds.

Sacramento finished the night 10-of-33 (30%) from beyond the arc during the loss.

When is the next Sacramento Kings game?

Sacramento will continue its preseason slate of games on Friday night when it travels to the Moda Center for a matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Be sure to catch all of the action right here on Sactown Sports 1140 AM, with pregame coverage beginning at 5:30 PM PT on Game Night before a 7 pm PT tip-off from Portland, Oregon.