The Sacramento Kings headed into the Mortgage Matchup Center Wednesday night for their 2025-26 regular season debut against the host Phoenix Suns without a couple of key starters.
Keegan Murray (tore UCL), Domantas Sabonis (hamstring), and Isaac Jones (illness) were all unavailable for head coach Doug Christie. Phoenix was without new additions Jalen Green and CJ Huntley.
Despite building a 20-point advantage (and 71-point first half), Sacramento was unable to contain Phoenix’s second-half shooting, as the Kings were outscored 66-45 in the second half, resulting in a 120-116 loss in Game 1.
Devin Booker recorded a game-high 31 points along with five rebounds and three assists on 10/19 shooting and 10/15 from the free-throw line.
Zach LaVine (30) and DeMar DeRozan’s (29) combined 59 points weren’t enough to get the job done, with DeRozan’s uncharacteristic five misses from the line proving crucial.
Surrending 18 offensive rebounds, committing 13 turnovers, and converting just 13/23 from the line as a team caused the game to slip away.
Sacramento Kings @ Phoenix Suns Game Notes
Nique Clifford, drafted 24th in the 2025 NBA Draft, got the start in his first NBA game. Drew Eubanks started in place of Sabonis.
Zach LaVine claimed his defense is underrated, and he had a chance to show that by being assigned to guard Booker from the jump.
As is often the case for game one, it was a chaotic first stretch of basketball for both sides. Sacramento committed three turnovers in the first four minutes of action, falling behind four points early. But, that ended up being the Suns largest lead of the half.
Eubanks excelled in protecting the rim, tallying a few blocks early on, while Sacramento’s ‘make them feel us’ defensively mentality was on display.
Midway through the quarter, a few new faces made an appearance with a lineup of Russell Westbrook, Malik Monk, Keon Ellis, Dario Saric, and Maxime Raynaud.
That unit suffered with turnovers as well, but overall was successful in extending the early advantage. Monk reminded everyone why he’s a regular Sixth Man of the Year candidate by knocking down looks, creating for himself and teammates.
Raynaud had typical rookie struggles as Christie eventually moved Saric to center with DeRozan at the four.
Sacramento managed a 29-19 lead after one quarter despite seven turnovers and seven allowed offensive rebounds. Their shots were falling in Arizona.
Stars shone in the second as LaVine and Booker went bucket-for-bucket. The Kings guard attacked the baseline, showed off his stepback, and cut forcefully.
Booker’s 10 straight for Phoenix was countered by what felt like everything LaVine attempted going down.
16 of Zach LaVine’s 22 first-half points came in the second quarter. 9/13 FG.
Kings are shooting 64.4% (29/45) as a team, leading 71-54 at halftime in Phoenix. pic.twitter.com/XhRiT9eDiz
— Brenden Nunes (@BrendenNunesNBA) October 23, 2025
The 12th-year guard tallied 16 of his 22 first-half points in the second frame, contributing to Sacramento’s 64.4 percent shooting through 24 minutes.
Meanwhile, Phoenix converted just 39.3 percent of its looks — a credit to the Kings’ defensive efforts but also ice-cold shooting.
Up 71-54 at halftime, their brand of basketball was on full display.
The Suns must’ve saved all their makes for the second half, because the third quarter featured a barrage of shot-making for the Suns.
Missing a combined 20 rebounds per game between Sabonis and Murray, smaller lineups surrendered numerous offensive rebounds to make matters worse.
A once 20-point advantage was cut to 15, 10, and eventually two by the end of the frame.
Sacramento’s offensive flow disappeared as they became more isolation-focused in the second half, while Phoenix used their home crowd’s momentum to tally 36 points to the Kings 21 — Sacramento led 91-90 with one quarter to play.
At this point, everything was going in favor of the Suns. Tough DeRozan buckets helped keep it close, but Phoenix eventually retook the lead after a Devin Booker triple with 10:30 on the clock.
Shooters Royce O’Neale and Grayson Allen came alive, bringing more energy to the building.
Rookie big man Dylan Cardwell made his presence known on the defensive end and the glass, earning closing minutes in his first NBA (regular season) appearance alongside Schroder, Monk, LaVine, and DeRozan.
A clunky fourth quarter made for an exciting finish as Schroder’s defensive impact helped Sacramento stay alive. The offseason addition caused a pivotal eight-second violation and an offensive foul on Booker.
Attacking a closeout, Monk tied the game at 110 after a tough leaning mid-range look with 1:17 remaining.
But Booker wasn’t going to go down easy. He searched for advantageous matchups after switches and capitalized on them.
Book. Clutch. pic.twitter.com/enFtEwlHRs
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) October 23, 2025
DeRozan battled by getting to the line, but uncharacteristically struggled to convert from the stripe.
Unable to maintain their first-half defense, along with their shot-making slowing down, was too much to overcome.
Sacramento starts its 2025-26 NBA season by blowing a 20-point lead in Arizona, outscored 66-45 in the second half. The final score in Game 1 was 120-116.
Devin Booker recorded a game-high 31 points along with five rebounds and three assists on 10/19 shooting and 10/15 from the free-throw line.
Zach LaVine (30) and DeMar DeRozan’s (29) combined 59 points weren’t enough to get the job done, with DeRozan’s uncharacteristic five misses from the line proving crucial.
Surrending 18 offensive rebounds, committing 13 turnovers, and converting just 13/23 from the line as a team caused the game to slip away.
The Kings will head back to California’s capital, where they’ll host the Utah Jazz in Friday night’s home opener.
Upcoming Sacramento Kings schedule for the 2025-26 season
Friday, October 24th – vs. Utah Jazz – 7 PM PT
Sunday, October 26th – vs. Los Angeles Lakers – 6 PM PT
Tuesday, October 28th – @ Oklahoma City Thunder – 5 PM PT
Wednesday, October 29th – @ Chicago Bulls – 5 PM PT
Saturday, November 1st – @ Milwaukee Bucks – 2 PM PT
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