Jan 3, 2025; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox (5) dribbles the ball against Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaylen Wells (0) during the first quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

The Doug Christie era is off to a good start.

The Sacramento Kings put together one of their best offensive performances of the season as they took down the Memphis Grizzlies 138-133 for their third straight win. Malik Monk led the way with a game-high 31 points but he had plenty of help as six Kings players finished in double digits. Sacramento native and Folsom High School alum (Go Bulldogs!) Jaylen Wells led the way for Memphis with 30 points.

This game was fast and frenetic from the start. The Kings came out and played with a pace and energy that I hadn’t seen from this team since that first Beam Team year. The Kings were without Keegan Murray once again and so opted for a smaller but quicker lineup with Keon Ellis starting once again against a bigger, more physical Grizzlies team. Both teams came out firing from distance and making them too. By the 6 minute mark of the 1st quarter it was already 23-23 with five made threes for the Kings and six for the Grizzlies. The hot shooting for the Kings just kept coming for the Kings as well, as Trey Lyles came in and hit three triples of his own in the first quarter. Rookie Devin Carter also made his debut in the first quarter, and showcased his defensive intensity, a knack for rebounding the ball, and a nice ability to push the fastbreak himself. By the end of the first quarter, the Kings were up 46-32 and the Kings had already made 10 threes (out of 18 attempts). This Kings team has already had 14 games this year with 10 or fewer made threes for an entire game, so this was quite the surprise, but whether it was just opportunity or a new emphasis by Coach Christie, the Kings were letting it fly.

On the flip side it wasn’t only the offense that was looking like that first Beam Team year as the defense was also looking similar with Memphis getting basically whatever looks they wanted both inside and outside. The second quarter saw the Grizzlies outscore the Kings 40-32 while shooting 55.6% from the floor. Notably, Memphis was getting to the line a whole lot more than the Kings, a trend that continued throughout the night. Memphis’s size also gave the Kings trouble on the boards as they outrebounded the Kings 15 to 7 in that second quarter. Still, the Kings maintained a 78-72 lead heading into halftime and had a nice offensive flow.

That flow would come to a screeching halt in the third quarter for both teams however as the physical intensity ramped up on both sides. Keon Ellis picked up three quick fouls in the first two minutes, but responded with three excellent possessions in a row leading to easy Kings points and pushing the lead up to 87-72, the largest of the game.  From there though, Sacramento’s offense stalled. The pace we had been used to in the first half slowed way down and the outside shots that had been falling started drying up. Meanwhile the Grizzlies kept on coming, in particular the rookie Jaylen Wells who would not miss from three tonight. Wells scored 11 in the quarter, and was a perfect 3-3 from distance in the third (He would finish 8-9 from three). He’d score 11 points in the third while no Sacramento Kings player scored more than 5. The Kings also shot just 1-11 from three in the third, and even though they made one more field goal than Memphis in that quarter, were outscored 28-24 thanks to more threes, free throws and second chances. Thanks to a Trey Lyles cherry pick dunk at the end of the quarter, the Kings maintained a slim 102-100 lead heading into the final frame, but the momentum and style of play was decidedly favoring Memphis at this point.

The game had turned into a slugfest, and the Kings were getting a bit frustrated at the lack of calls on their end while Memphis would get to the line on the other end. After De’Aaron Fox got stripped on one end of the floor with the Kings up 109-108, he made an aggressive attempt to stop Scottie Pippen Jr. from scoring at the rim but missed the ball and hit Pippen’s head instead, resulting in a Flagrant 1. Pippen made both free throws and the Grizzlies took their first lead since the game had been 17-16. On the ensuing possession, Desmond Bane got Keon Ellis to bite on a pump fake but Ellis recovered enough to block the shot. The Kings came down on the other end and after Malik Monk was denied at the rim, got a second attempt thanks to some hustle from Trey Lyles and this time made a three to give the Kings the lead back at 112-110. It was Monk’s first points of the quarter but it would be far from his last.

A few possessions later with the Kings up one after a Scottie Pippen Jr. three, DeMar DeRozan hit a three off a nice dish from Keon Ellis to put the Kings back up 4. It was DeRozan’s 4th three of the night on 7 attempts, both season-highs. In fact, you have to go all the way back to March 9th, 2018 to find a game in which DeRozan has attempted that many threes. They were open looks and good shots, but oftentimes this season you’d see DeMar get that look and instead opt to drive it and settle for his patented midrange. Today though, he was looking to fire and it seemed to be by design. After the game, Coach Christie mentioned that he wanted the Kings to shoot at least 40 threes a game. They’ve only done that 8 times this season, including tonight. Domantas Sabonis was another player who seemed to make an emphasis on shooting from distance, shooting a season-high 6 attempts and making three of them as the Grizzlies opted to give him more space and crowd the paint.

After DeMar’s final three, Malik Monk decided to take over. After Zach Edey hit a vintage 90’s era half hook over Sabonis to put the Grizzlies back within two, Malik came down and hit a three. Desmond Bane tried responding with a deep three of his own but it was off, and Malik came right back down and took it right to the rim to put the Kings up 123-116. Memphis called a timeout and ended up getting a good look for Bane from three, which he hit, but unfortunately for him and fortunately for the Kings, his heel was out of bounds and the shot didn’t count. Monk got a switch on Zach Edey on the other end, sized him up and then hit a step back three over him to give the Kings a 10 point lead with 4:21 left.

The Grizzlies wouldn’t go away however, and Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. kept attacking the Kings inside and forcing their way to the line. At one point, Desmond Bane had a wide open path to the rim, and instead of rising up to dunk it as he easily could have, sprayed it out to Jackson for three, which he hit to bring the Grizzlies back within 6. DeMar DeRozan got Jackson to bite on a three point attempt on the other end though and got to the line for three. The normally accurate DeRozan however only made 1 of his 3 attempts, but managed to make up for it by scoring again on the next possession.

In a game where Sacramento’s offense was doing so well, one guy was actually having a very rough night overall and that was De’Aaron Fox. Fox finished the night with 23 points on 7-23 from the field (including just 1-8 from three) and was particularly frustrated with the officials in the second half after drawing contact multiple times on drives and not getting to the line. This led to a scary moment where Fox had an open lane to the rim at the end of the game and looked to unleash some of the frustration with a thunderous dunk, but as he leaped and pulled back, Jackson undercut him resulting in a scary fall. Thankfully, Fox didn’t suffer a serious injury and Jackson was assessed a flagrant foul, resulting in an ejection as it also counted as his 6th personal foul. Fox made both free throws, and then on the ensuing possession, DeMar DeRozan essentially closed the book on the game with a driving reverse dunk on Jake LaRavia.

It was a fun basketball game from start to finish, and exactly the kind of performance the Sacramento faithful at Golden 1 Center have been hoping to see all year. This was a team that played with joy and leaned into their strengths from start to finish. It wasn’t a perfect game by any means, but it might have been the most fun one and that’s something that’s been missing for a while now. Hopefully the Kings can carry this momentum forward and resurrect what had seemed to be a dead season.

The Kings will look to extend their winning streak on Sunday as they’ll face the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco for the first time this season.

Random Observations:

• 0 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 fouls in 10:48 for Devin Carter’s debut. I thought it was a fine effort for a rookie who hadn’t played much in 6 months. His knack for rebounding was evident, grabbing multiple boards over bigger defenders, and he had a particularly nice possession where he snatched the rebound and pushed the pace and found Alex Len for an easy dunk at the rim. Offensively I think he tried to force things a little, taking a heavily contested three and an off balance floater off a drive, but I think you can chalk that up to first game jitters. Overall, it was nice to see him on the floor and you can definitely tell he brings some qualities this team was lacking.
• Mike Brown might still have a job if he didn’t have a weird fixation for not playing Keon Ellis. Ellis isn’t a superstar by any means, but he is a guy who makes plays that help this team win. He’s incredibly dynamic defensively, disrupting passing lanes, drives and shots with those long arms. Offensively, he’s one of the more reliable shooters this team has. I’d like to see him continue to stick with a larger role on this team even when Keegan comes back. If that means Kevin Huerter gets only 10-15 minutes a night, so be it. Huerter isn’t providing nearly what Ellis does at the moment.
• Trey Lyles continues to play very well off the bench. Lyles was perfect from the floor tonight: 16 points on 6-6 from the field and 4-4 from three with 6 rebounds. I know that Lyles would be one of the more intriguing trade options we might have for other teams but I would hesitate to give him up unless you’re bringing back something similar since we’re already so lacking in size and shooting.
• Jaylen Wells is a stud. Memphis continues to find gems in the second round and Wells is no different. Career-high for him in front of his friends and family, and he plays solid defense as well.
• Memphis has so many guys I would love as depth pieces for the Kings. For example, Brandon Clarke would be the perfect bench big for this team.
• I was skeptical about Zach Edey’s fit in the NBA and while I still don’t think he’s ever going to be a star, he’ll probably be a solid big man for years to come. He’s an absolute mountain of a man, and he’s got a good touch in the post. He could be a better version of Steven Adams, and that’s pretty damn good.