The Sacramento Kings did not begin their crucial road trip the way they wanted to.
Sacramento was outscored by 17 points in both the first and third quarters Saturday against the Orlando Magic. Interim head coach Doug Christie emptied the bench in layers throughout the fourth quarter while the Magic’s lead hovered around 30 points, and the Kings ultimately lost to Orlando, 121-91.
The loss came in the first game of the Kings’ six-game road trip, which ties their longest of the season.
The Kings entered the day in the No. 9 seed, and fell to 36-38 with the defeat. They dropped a game in the loss column after entering the contest a half game ahead of the No. 10 seed Dallas Mavericks and 1.5 games ahead of No. 11 Phoenix. The Kings, now with eight games left to play, fell into a tie with the Mavericks in the standings after Saturday’s loss, with Dallas set to tip off against the Chicago Bulls later that evening.
Saturday’s contest was a rematch of the Feb. 5 matchup between the Kings and Magic, when Zach LaVine made his debut with Sacramento. The Magic won that game, 130-111, while LaVine scored just 13 points on 4-of-13 shooting. Sacramento was outscored by 26 points during LaVine’s 30:38 on the floor.
The rematch wasn’t much different. LaVine exited with 9 minutes remaining with just 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting. He had five turnovers to three assists. And the Kings were outscored by 34 points in his 29 minutes. Keegan Murray had similar numbers, scoring just 9 points while going 1-of-4 from 3.
Christie has said he wants both players to get at least 10 attempts from distance each game. They combined for six on Saturday.
The Kings came in having snapped a four-game losing streak Thursday, against the Portland Trailblazers, ending a stretch in which they lost eight of 10 games. Orlando had won five of its previous eight games.
Top performers
DeMar DeRozan paced the Kings with 21 points in 29 minutes. Domantas Sabonis had 14 points and 13 rebounds, but shot just 4-of-12 from the floor. Neither played significant minutes in the fourth quarter of the blowout.
For Orlando, Paolo Banchero had 24 points and Franz Wagner added 21 while making eight of 12 shots. The win led the Magic (36-39) to take both games in the season series. Caleb Houstan added 18 points and Goga Bitadze logged 12 points, 10 rebounds and five assists off the bench.
Kings sticking with new starting lineup
Christie stuck with Keon Ellis in the starting lineup and Malik Monk working as a reserve. Monk missed three games before returning to action Thursday during the win over Portland. It was the first time Monk came off the bench since he was moved to the starting lineup Dec. 1.
Monk finished second in Sixth Man of the Year voting last season behind Minnesota’s Naz Reid. He said before Saturday’s game he dealt with a slew of different symptoms while suffering from an undisclosed illness. It came after Monk was having one of his best stretches of the season. He averaged 21.7 points and 5.7 assists while shooting 34.8% from 3-point range.
“The sacrifice that Malik is willing to make for his teammates is something that you need to write about, because that’s huge,” Christie said pregame. “There’s a lot of people that talk about stuff — talk about, ‘I’ll do anything.’ Talk about, ‘whatever you need.’ But when someone steps up and puts their money where their mouth is, that’s huge. And knowing him and watching Malik as he’s grown ... he never fails to surprise.”
Monk on Saturday had 9 points and two assists with six turnovers. Ellis went scoreless in his 18 minutes while dealing with foul trouble.
Injury report
Kings rookie Devin Carter left the game late in the second quarter with a right shoulder injury. He was immediately removed from the game and went to the locker room.
It was not the same shoulder that Carter had surgery on over the summer that prevented him from playing during the first half of season. Carter had a torn labrum in his left shoulder which the Kings knew bout when they took him 13th overall on the 2024 NBA draft out of Providence.
Carter left Saturday’s game after just one minute. He came in averaging 4.0 points and 2.2 rebounds in 10.2 minutes per game.
Before the contest, the only injured player on Sacramento’s injury report was reserve forward Jake LaRavia, who missed his second straight game with a bone contusion in his left thumb. The Kings on Friday said LaRavia had imaging and he would be re-evaluated in seven to 10 days, making it likely he returns during the second week of April.
For the Magic, guard Jalen Suggs had surgery to repair a trochlea cartilage tear in his left knee and was ruled out for the season earlier this month. Moritz Wagner, who is also out for the year, suffered a torn ACL in December.
Halftime report
The Kings hit the halftime break down 61-46 and trailed by as many as 20 in the second quarter. They missed their first seven shots from distance before DeMar DeRozan hit one from the left wing with 6:30 remaining in the half. The Magic went 8 of 20 from 3 while the Kings made 1 of 9.
Banchero scored 13 first-half points while Franz Wagner had 11. DeRozan had 18 points and Sabonis had 13 with 9 rebounds. Sacramento had just six assists on 16 made baskets while the Magic had 17 on their first 23.
What’s next
The Kings’ current road trip is tied for their longest of the season at six games. They play next Monday in Indiana, followed by Wednesday in D.C., Friday at Charlotte, April 6 in Cleveland and April 7 at Detroit.
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Chris Biderman covered the 49ers from 2013 to 2021 and started with The Sacramento Bee in August 2018. He previously spent time with the Associated Press and USA Today Sports Media Group. A Santa Rosa native, he graduated with a degree in journalism from the Ohio State University.