Kings’ core struggles in 119-105 loss to Pacers
INDIANAPOLIS — Kings big men Richaun Holmes and Marvin Bagley III played well, but they didn’t get much help from their teammates in a 119-105 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Friday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
T.J. Warren scored 23 points to lead the Pacers (20-9), who have won five in a row. Myles Turner scored 17 points. Domantas Sabonis posted 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
Holmes had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Kings (12-16), who have lost three of their last four. He was 9 of 10 from the field. Bagley continued to show improvement since returning from a broken thumb, finishing with 17 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots.
De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield and Harrison Barnes all failed to score in double figures for Sacramento.
The Kings played without guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, who was held out due to right ankle soreness, and Trevor Ariza, who was away from the team for personal reasons.
The Kings led 32-30 at the end of the first period, but they let the game get away from them in the second quarter. The Pacers staged an 18-4 run to take a 55-42 lead on a pull-up jumper by T.J. Warren.
The Kings trailed by 14 before
Holmes scored the next eight points. Hield followed that outburst with a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to five with 1:40 to play in the first half, but a pair of 3-pointers by Aaron Holiday and Malcolm Brogdon helped the Pacers carry a 68-57 lead into the break.
The Pacers led by as many as 22 points on multiple occasions in the third quarter. The Kings closed the quarter with a 9-0 run to get within 13 going into the fourth, but they never got the deficit back to single digits.
Barnes has been one of the steadiest and most consistent players on the Kings’ roster this season, but he has been working through a bit of a shooting slump over the past couple of weeks. Barnes knocked down his first 3point attempt against the Pacers on Friday, but he was held to five points on 2-of-6 shooting, tying his season low.
In the previous nine games, Barnes shot just 38.7% from the field and 24.2% from 3point range. He made 6 of 17 field-goal attempts and 1 of 6 from beyond the arc in Tuesday’s loss to the Hornets. He was held to five points on 2-of-9 shooting in a win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Dec. 11.
Bogdanovic did not play after experiencing ankle soreness and swelling following Tuesday’s game against the Charlotte Hornets. Kings coach Luke Walton said he is considered day-to-day.
Bogdanovic said he wasn’t sure how the injury occurred. He missed practice Wednesday and Thursday. Bogdanovic said he felt a little better Friday.
Ariza was away from the team for personal reasons for the second time in about a month. He is expected to rejoin the team in time for Saturday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Ariza also missed the last six games in November due to personal reasons.