The winds of change are beginning to blow in Sacramento with a little over two months remaining before February’s NBA trade deadline, but change can’t come soon enough.
The Kings suffered another ugly loss on their homecourt Wednesday, falling 112-100 to the Phoenix Suns in an NBA Cup game at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
Mark Williams put up 21 points and 17 rebounds for the Suns (12-7). Collin Gillespie also scored 21 points. Devin Booker finished with 19 points while Dillon Brooks added 13.
Keegan Murray and Russell Westbrook both posted 19 points and eight rebounds for the Kings (5-14), who were booed off the court after trailing by 25 points in the first quarter.
“It was rough,” Murray said. “It wasn’t our brand of basketball at all.”
Malik Monk came off the bench to score 15 points for Sacramento. Precious Achiuwa had 14 points and five rebounds. Zach LaVine scored 13 points.
Earlier in the day, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported the Milwaukee Bucks have “conducted background due diligence” on LaVine, suggesting Milwaukee might have trade interest in the two-time All-Star. Scotto also noted that the Indiana Pacers are among the teams showing interest in Kings guard Keon Ellis.
Halftime report
Phoenix raced out to a 7-0 lead after LaVine committed two turnovers in the first 57 seconds of the game, including a careless pass that led to a 3-pointer by Brooks.
“I probably should have called a timeout in the first six seconds with the very first turnover,” Kings coach Doug Christie said. “We all need to be better, me included. I’m right there with my guys. They’ll be better. We’ll be better, but when you come out and dig yourselves that kind of hole, you can’t win like that.”
Sacramento Kings head coach Doug Christie reacts after the end of the first quarter with the Sacramento Kings trailing the Phoenix Suns during a game at Golden 1 Center on Wednesday. PAUL KITAGAKI JR. pkitagaki@sacbee.com
The Suns led 25-8 after going 9 of 12 from the field and 4 of 6 from 3-point range over the first 5:13. They went up by as many as 25 points in the first quarter and led 41-16 going into the second.
“It’s just hard to get wins when you’re down 41-16 in the first quarter,” Monk said. “It’s almost impossible to come back and win a game.”
The Kings committed seven turnovers in the opening period. They were outscored 12-2 in points off turnovers, 14-8 on points in the paint and 7-2 in second-chance points while getting outrebounded 14-8.
Sacramento cut the deficit to 18 after opening the second quarter with a 7-0 run, but the Kings couldn’t string together enough stops to get back in the game. The Suns led 67-45 at the halftime break. They shot 49% from the field while holding the Kings to 40.9%.
Second-half summary
The Kings came out of the break with much better energy and effort. They got within 16 after outscoring the Suns 6-0 to start the second half and didn’t stop there.
Murray hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the deficit to nine. The Kings got within eight on a 3-pointer by Monk with 2:25 to play in the third quarter. The Suns led 83-73 going into the fourth.
The Suns opened the fourth period with a 7-0 run to extend their lead to 17. The Kings made one more charge to cut the deficit to eight on two free throws by DeRozan with 8:00 remaining, but the Suns answered with an 8-0 run to push the lead back up to 16.
Up next
The Kings will have a day off for Thanksgiving before visiting the Utah Jazz on Friday at Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
The Jazz (5-12) has lost four in a row, including a 14-point loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, a 32-point loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder and a 17-point loss to the Golden State Warriors.
Lauri Markkanen is averaging 29.3 points and 6.1 rebounds for Utah. Keyonte George is averaging 23.1 points and 7.2 assists.
This story was originally published November 26, 2025 at 9:44 PM.
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Jason Anderson
The Sacramento Bee
Jason Anderson is The Sacramento Bee’s Kings beat writer. He is a Sacramento native and a graduate of Fresno State, where he studied journalism and college basketball under the late Jerry Tarkanian.
