That sinking feeling is back.
The Sacramento Kings made a nice recovery from their 0-5 start to begin the season, but they’ve once again fallen on hard times. After losing three of their previous four games, the Kings walked into Memphis and were beat handily by a young Grizzlies by a final of 119-115.
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Jaren Jackson led Grizzlies with 18 points, but he was one of seven players to score in double-figures for the home team.
Here are three takeaways as the Kings dropped their third straight game to fall to 12-17 on the season with the Grizz up to 11-19.
The Slump
Buddy Hield is either hot or he’s not. Right now, he can’t buy a bucket and it’s affecting every other aspect of his game.
NBA
Going into the intermission, the Kings’ leading scorer had just three points on 1-of-7 shooting, including three misses from distance. With the shots not falling, Hield became a gambler on defense and hurt his team even further.
Hield finished the night with eight points on 3-for-18 shooting from the field and 2-of-11 from 3-point range. He also turned the ball over four times and made multiple errors on the defensive side of the ball.
Welcome back, Mr. Barnes
Over the last 10 games, Harrison Barnes has struggled with his shot. The veteran forward is averaging just 13.4 points on 38.4 percent shooting from the field and 25.7 percent from behind the arc.
Early on, it looked like Barnes might have another rough shooting night, but then he woke up. Barnes scored a team-high 25 points on 7-of-19 shooting and 4-for-9 from behind the arc.
In addition to the points, Barnes chipped in five assists and four rebounds in 36 minutes. He was also one of the few players to run a positive in the plus/minus category.
Bogi on the bench
The Kings fell to 0-4 on the season when super-sub, Bogdan Bogdanovic missed a game. The third-year guard sat out for a second straight game with a sore ankle.
Not only does Bogdanovic run the second unit, but he’s one of the best 3-point shooters on the team. On the season, he’s hitting 40.1 percent on 6.7 attempts per game. Without him on the floor, the spacing closes down with the second unit.