The Sacramento Kings have been one of the most pleasant surprises in the NBA this season.
But they’re still a young team learning the ropes of winning basketball, so they’re not exempt from some mental meltdowns every now and then.
That was the case last night during a close loss to the Atlanta Hawks, as Domantas Sabonis could’ve put the game almost out of reach with a couple of free throws, yet he couldn’t connect on either of them.
Notably, the Kings had knocked down 25 of 25 freebies before those misses, and they may have been a turning point that eventually cost them the win.
“It sucks, you know. I feel like we should’ve put ourselves in a better position throughout the game. So, it didn’t have to come down to that,” Sabonis said postgame. “We made the late run, you know, we pretty much had the game there, and we just couldn’t finish it. Today was one of those days when we couldn’t finish it.
Domantas Sabonis not pleased with the two free throws he missed to snap the perfect streak in tonight's game, doesn't like seeing his Kings letting so many games be decided in the final seconds, like tonight's loss to the Hawks. pic.twitter.com/Sc4k2FMCeY
— Sean Cunningham (@SeanCunningham) January 5, 2023
“Things like that are going to happen,” coach Brown said. “Like Fox’s turnover, things like that are going to happen. You can’t give up two stone cold layups and one of them being an and-one in the final three possessions or something like that.
Even so, the Kings have fared quite well for most of the season, but they’ve also starred in more close games than they’d want to.
This team has plenty of potential and the De’Aaron Fox – Domantas Sabonis duo is definitely going places, but they need to learn from these tough losses if they want to be taken seriously.
NEXT: The Resurgence Of The Kings Is Real