SACRAMENTO — Whatever the final score ended up being Monday night, the story was going to be Kevin Huerter. The Kings’ guard went down in a heap after being fouled by Desmond Bane on a fast break opportunity just 1:51 into the game against the Grizzlies, going from the floor to the locker room with what would later be called a left shoulder injury.
Huerter would not return to the game, and the energy reflected that of a team down a starter; the air was sucked out of the game and the arena until a late run by Sacramento in the second quarter that put the home team up double-digits.
But the Grizzlies, short-handed though they may be, still possess some of that Grind City mentality, and refused to go away quietly behind the efforts of Desmond Bane – in his second game back from an injury that had cost him most of 2024 – and Jaren Jackson, Jr, who put together a well-rounded game of his own.
Bane did much of his damage from the charity stripe; just 7-19 from the field, he connected on all eight of his free throw attempts at every King that attempted to slow him down found themselves sending him to the line.
But despite his heroics, his team trailed by 10 at the break, 57-47.
The third quarter saw Sacramento’s lead grow to as many as 12 and shrink to as few as one, until a 68 second De’Aaron Fox flurry from three saw it settle at 84-76. Fox drilled three straight from behind the arc as the third wound down, only to see Memphis answer each of his makes with a score of their own. In the third, Domantas Sabonis achieved his 50th straight double-double on a night when he would finish with 25/18/5. He is just the 10th player in NBA history to put together a streak of 50 or more double-doubles. It’s almost taken for granted at this point, but the greatness of Domas does not go unnoticed by his teammates or coaches, as has been made clear time and time again in post game press conferences. Post Grizzlies game, Coach Brown wanted to focus on his effort on defense against one of the best young players in the league.
“I thought Domas was really, really good on Jaren Jackson,” Brown said. “He’s an elite player – you’re not going to stop him, you just want to make it difficult on him. I thought Domas did that tonight.”
He also talked about Sabonis’ streak, and how it’s becoming almost expected from him.
“He cares a ton. His effort is unmatched when it comes to rebounding the ball especially,” Brown said. “After being around him,…
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