Harrison Barnes showed the fight that this young Kings squad has in their 127-120 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night at Golden 1 Center.
Speaking with NBC Sports California's Kyle Draper and Matt Barnes on "Kings Postgame Live," the veteran forward shared just what this win meant for a young Sacramento squad.
"It just means we're resilient," Barnes told Draper and Barnes on "Kings Postgame Live." "Sometimes you get knocked down, sometimes you're not going to have some games go your way but for us to battle back, like I said, against a really good team, it just shows what we're about."
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After being held scoreless against the Warriors at Chase Center on Monday in the Kings' controversial 116-113 loss, Barnes scored 20 points with nine rebounds three assists and two steals in 35 minutes of action against Cleveland.
Kings coach Mike Brown was glowing when asked postgame about Barnes' presence against the Cavaliers.
"I've said this before, I'm not worried about him," Brown told reporters postgame. "He's a vet, been around a long time but he's still been doing the little things for us.
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"To me, he was huge. He's been huge for us. I thought he had a couple key rebounds, a couple key defensive stops tonight."
Despite leading by as many as 15 points on Wednesday night, the Kings found themselves down six, 105-99, with just over eight minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Instead of folding and accepting defeat, like most young teams would when saddled with inconsistent foul calls in previous games, Sacramento instead fought back.
"We feel like we have a lot of talent on this team and every single night, we got different guys who are willing to step up, willing to make plays," Barnes continued. "Tonight, we did a great job executing down the stretch."
A big part of the Kings' execution was newcomer Malik Monk's calming presence on both ends of the floor. Monk played all 12 minutes in the fourth and had seven points and three assists in the quarter alone.
"I'm just trying to figure out my spots, when to score, when to pass the ball and when to be aggressive," Monk told Draper and Barnes. "I think I figured that out pretty soon and that's why we're rolling like this.
"I'm just trying to give everybody confidence because I know we're going to need them down the stretch."
Although he only is 24 years old, Monk is a six-year pro and is considered "the young vet" among his younger teammates.
That's why his stabilizing presence, especially when it first appeared that the game might sway in Cleveland's favor, was crucial.
Cavs' All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell had 31 points heading into the fourth quarter and looked to be on his way to another monstrous game.
However, Monk, Barnes and the rest of the Kings were able to settle down and held Mitchell to just seven points in the fourth quarter.
Overall, Brown was proud of how everyone that played contributed at a "high level" and the mentality the Kings showed against one of the Eastern Conference's best teams.
"Great team effort, staff was fantastic tonight, all across the board and the fans were phenomenal. So it feels good to get a win against a very, very good basketball team," Brown said.
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Just 10 games into the season and it looks like the Kings team that fans were hoping to see finally is starting to take shape.
Kings fans are hopeful that this team can take what they've learned and the resiliency they showed against a tough Cavaliers team to Southern California when they take on the Los Angeles Lakers (2-9) at Cypto.com Arena on Friday night.