In a game that felt like the Kings could beat anybody after a great first half, the Sacramento Kings fell 116-120 to the Phoenix Suns in a tough season-opening loss. The Kings led by as many as 20 points, but the Suns used a second-half surge to pull ahead and never looked back once they stole the lead back.
It’s a tough loss, but the Kings looked great in the first half. Unfortunately, they couldn’t keep up the momentum, and the Suns got in the paint during the second half to exploit the Kings’ interior defense. Here are three key takeaways from the King’s first game of the year.
When Zach LaVine gets going on a heater, he’s nearly impossible to slow down. He’s one of the smoothest scorers in the league and put that on full display as he scored 22 points on 9-of-13, 69%, shooting from the field.
But much like the rest of the team, he slowed down in the second half. He still finished with 30 points to lead the Kings, but made just four of his eleven field goals in the second half. One of the knocks on LaVine has been how he disappears down the stretch of games. It’s just game one of the season and the Suns did improve after the half, but it’s something to keep an eye on in a ‘prove it’ season for LaVine.
Oct 22, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Sacramento Kings center Dylan Cardwell (32) blocks the shot of Phoenix Suns center Mark Williams (15) during the second half at the Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Maybe the biggest surprise of the night is the emergence of Dylan Cardwell, the undrafted, two-way rookie, getting 14:37 minutes of playing time. With Domantas Sabonis out, Doug Christie tried every option at the center position, as Drew Eubanks, Maxime Raynaud, Dario Saric, and Dylan Cardwell all played throughout the contest.
But it was Cardwell who closed out the game and got the clutch time minutes. He only finished with three points, but had two blocks and a steal along with his strong defensive presence. The Suns carved up the Kings inside during the third quarter, so Christie turned to Cardwell, the best interior anchor of the group.
Doug Christie has talked repeatedly about how he puts more focus on who finishes games compared to who starts, so it’s even more telling that he turned to the two-way rookie in Cardwell to close the game. I recently wrote about Cardwell being one of the team’s biggest X-Factors, and tonight was a glimpse at that vision.
The Kings are going to go into almost every game this season undersized, and that problem not only showed itself with the third-quarter inside scoring for the Suns, but also on the boards. The Kings were outrebounded 52-63, but more importantly, 9-18 on the offensive boards.
Everyone was talking about it in their interviews after the game, so it’s clear that the players and coaches are not satisfied with the performance on the glass. It’s going to be hard with their lack of size, but they’ll have to do a better job of team rebounding going forward.
It’s still early in the season, but the Kings will have to make sure this is a one-off performance on the boards and not the start of a season-long trend. They unfortunately have a matchup against the lengthy Utah Jazz next, in what will be another of many undersized matchups for Sacramento.