Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown was extremely disappointed with the way his team played in the first half Friday night.
The Kings were sloppy, sluggish and slow in a 104-88 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers in an NBA Cup in-season tournament game at Intuit Dome in Inglewood. The Kings fell behind by 25 points and couldn’t recover despite playing a better second half against a shorthanded opponent.
“They outcoached and outplayed us tonight, so we’ve got to give them their due respect,” Brown said. “That first half, if it wasn’t the worst half of basketball I’ve seen us play since I’ve been here, it was close.
“We were not a step slow. We were three or four steps slow to whatever was going on at both ends of the floor. There was very limited aggressiveness to us offensively and same defensively, and when you are on your heels in this league, teams will make you play, and the Clippers did.”
James Harden had 22 points, six rebounds and nine assists for the Clippers (10-7). He went 5 of 18 from the field and 2 of 10 from 3-point range but knocked down all 10 of his free-throw attempts.
Derrick Jones Jr. scored 17 points. Kevin Porter Jr. came off the bench to score 14.
De’Aaron Fox had 29 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Kings (8-8). Domantas Sabonis had 24 points and 15 rebounds. DeMar DeRozan added 16 points and six rebounds.
DeRozan and Sabonis returned to the lineup after missing recent games due to lower back tightness. Brown said he was happy to have them back, adding that neither player would be subject to minutes restrictions.
“Any time anybody is out, it’s always good to have them healthy and in the mix again and give a boost to your team, so that’s a good thing,” Brown said.
It should have been, but the first half was an atrocity.
The Clippers went 1 of 10 from the field and 0 of 6 from 3-point range over the first four minutes, but early turnovers prevented Sacramento from creating much separation. In fact, the Kings found themselves trailing 16-8 after the Clippers awoke to stage a 14-0 run.
The Clippers led 26-12 at the end of the first quarter. The Kings looked completely out of sorts in the opening period, going 4 of 21 (.190) from the field and 1 of 9 (.111) from 3-point range with five turnovers.
Fox, Huerter and Murray all missed their first five shots. The Clippers led by 14 in the first quarter, went up by as many as 25 in the second and carried a 51-29 advantage into the halftime break.
The Kings shot 24.4% from the field, 11.8% from 3-point range and 63.6% at the free-throw line. They were outscored 24-10 on points in the paint, 10-3 on second-chance points, 10-2 in fastbreak points and 8-2 in points off turnovers.
Fox was held to four points on 1-of-6 shooting in the first half, but he came out in attack mode to start the second half. Fox scored 11 points over the first five minutes to fuel a 22-7 run as the Kings stormed back to cut the deficit to seven.
The Clippers led 76-64 at the end of the third quarter and went up by 19 in the fourth. The Kings made one more push to get within eight on a dunk by Sabonis with 2:47 to go, but the Clippers got big baskets from Harden, Jones and Porter in the final minute.
Sacramento Kings schedule
Nov. 24 vs. Brooklyn Nets
Nov. 25 vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
Nov. 27 at Minnesota Timberwolves
Nov. 29 at Portland Trail Blazers
Dec. 1 vs. San Antonio Spurs
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