Time is of the essence for the Sacramento Kings, whose tenuous grasp on a spot in the play-in tournament weakened over the past week.
Sacramento (33-33) has lost four straight heading into a matchup against the visiting Memphis Grizzlies on Monday and is ninth in the Western Conference standings.
The Kings are hoping for a fresh start when they open a season-most seven-game homestand against the Grizzlies (43-25), who are in fourth place in the tight Western Conference standings.
Sacramento turned in another disappointing defensive effort in a 122-106 road loss to the Phoenix Suns on Friday. Phoenix made 24 3-pointers and scored a season-high 38 points off 19 Sacramento turnovers.
“I feel like it’s just our bad offense that is leading to their great offense,” Kings guard Malik Monk said. “I feel like if we cut the turnovers down — I feel like the turnovers are not coming from a bad spot. We’re trying to make the right play. But we’ve got to make the (right) play now, because obviously it’s not going our way. If we don’t figure it out, we’ll be home in April.”
Domantas Sabonis returned after six games with a hamstring injury and had 12 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds against Phoenix. DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points but was left baffled by the Kings’ poor play over the past week.
“I don’t know,” DeRozan said. “I’ll probably need tonight just to think about it. It sucks, losing. It’s been a crazy week. The way we lost a couple games. Maybe just, this is where we’re at. We got (16) games left. It’s going to be a dog fight. We’ve got to figure it out.”
One key part of that puzzle is guard Zach LaVine, who scored 14 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter on Friday. Sacramento coach Doug Christie is looking for more early-game assertiveness from the two-time All-Star.
The Kings are monitoring the status of Sabonis, who exited Friday’s game in the fourth quarter after appearing to reaggravate his hamstring injury. He was not listed on the injury report on Sunday.
Sacramento has split its first two meetings against Memphis this season. The Grizzlies won 115-110 on Dec. 5 and the Kings posted a 138-133 victory on Jan. 3.
Memphis is opening a five-game road trip after beating the Miami Heat 125-91 on Saturday.
Jaren Jackson Jr. had 31 points to lead the Grizzlies, who never trailed. Desmond Bane added 22 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.
Bane bounced back after being held to 12 points in a 133-124 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday.
“It’s basketball,” Bane said. “Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I trust my work.”
Memphis faced Miami without Ja Morant (sore right shoulder), Vince Williams Jr. (ankle) and Santi Aldama (calf), but all three are expected to return on Monday.
The Grizzlies have won five of their last six games, but forward Brandon Clarke knows the team needs to improve its effort on the defensive end. Memphis allowed 75 points in the first half of Friday’s loss to Cleveland.
“I think we just kind of have to get back to our rhythm we had defensively,” Clarke said. “The past month or two, we kind of struggled with that, so I think it’s about taking pride on that end, finding ways to get stops.”
