A youth movement is underway in Sacramento, where the Kings are clearly emphasizing the development of their young players in hopes of building a brighter future.
A collection of youngsters nearly knocked off one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, but they came up short in the end, falling 132-125 to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday before a crowd of 16,212 at Golden 1 Center.
The Kings lost their 12th game in a row, tying the 1997-98 team for the longest losing streak in the Sacramento era, but Kings coach Doug Christie was proud of the effort.
“The name of the game is to win the game, so that part hurts, but to watch these guys begin to find their way, find their rhythm and compete against some really good teams and put themselves consistently in position to win the ballgame (is encouraging),” Christie said. “Now, there’s a learning curve of how to do it, and it’s difficult. It’s difficult to win in our league.”
There was no shortage of storylines and subplots in Saturday’s game. James Harden made his Cavaliers debut while Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis faced their former team for the first time a week after the Kings traded them to Cleveland, but Sacramento’s youngsters nearly stole the show.
Rookie first-round draft pick Nique Clifford scored a career-high 30 points to lead the Kings (12-42) on a night when Zach LaVine, Domantas Sabonis, Keegan Murray and Malik Monk sat out due to injuries and illness. Clifford went 12 of 19 from the field and 5 of 9 from 3-point range.
“I got some good looks tonight and my teammates were finding me, putting me in good positions to score the ball, and the shots were falling for me tonight,” Clifford said.
Russell Westbrook had 21 points and nine assists for Sacramento. Second-year guard Devin Carter scored 18 points. Two-way player Daeqwon Plowden had 16 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Rookie center Maxime Raynaud had 14 points and seven rebounds. Undrafted rookie Dylan Cardwell had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Donovan Mitchell scored 35 points for the Cavaliers (32-21). Jarrett Allen had 29 points and 10 rebounds. Harden added 23 points and eight assists in his first game since the Los Angeles Clippers traded him to Cleveland.
Schroder had seven points, three rebounds and four assists. Ellis had six points, three rebounds and three assists.
The Kings came out running, gunning and rebounding while the Cavaliers struggled to find a rhythm with Harden joining the starting lineup. Sacramento went up by 11 midway through the first quarter and led 31-25 at the end of the opening period. The Kings outshot the Cavaliers 50% to 36.4% while outrebounding them 15-10.
The Cavaliers opened the second quarter with a 15-2 run to take a 40-33 lead on a 3-pointer by Ellis. The Kings trailed by nine before coming back to cut the deficit to two at the halftime break.
The Kings led 96-93 following a third quarter that featured six ties and five lead changes. They went up by seven on a dunk by Cardwell with 3:56 to go, but the Cavaliers came back to take a 122-121 lead on a 3-pointer by Harden with 2:39 to play.
The Kings tied the game on a 3-pointer by DeRozan with 42.5 seconds remaining, but Harden and Mitchell knocked down free throws to secure the win while Westbrook, DeRozan and Clifford missed 3-pointers in the final 23 seconds.
Up next
The Kings will hit the road to play the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday and the Utah Jazz on Wednesday.
The Pelicans (14-40) are coming off a surprising 119-115 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. They are led by Trey Murphy III, who averages 22.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists.
The Jazz (16-37) has lost six of its last eight going into Monday’s game against the Miami Heat. The Jazz will have a formidable frontline after adding Jaren Jackson Jr. to a roster that already features Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler.