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The biggest weakness the Sacramento Kings have demonstrated in a season of so much frustration has been a stunning lack of 3-point shooting in the modern NBA game.<\/p>\n
That weakness was on full display in a nationally televised game against the Phoenix Suns as the Kings opened a five-game homestand Tuesday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.<\/p>\n
Devin Booker, Collin Gillespie and Grayson Allen combined to make 13 of Phoenix\u2019s 19 3-pointers in a 114-103 victory over a Kings team that made only seven 3s.<\/p>\n
Going into the game, the Suns were fifth in 3-point attempts (40.6) and 13th in 3-point shooting (.360). The Kings were 30th in both categories, shooting 33.6% while averaging 30.1 attempts.<\/p>\n
Phoenix went 19 of 49 from 3-point range, shooting 38.8%. Sacramento went 7 of 27, shooting 25.9% while getting outscored 57-21 from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to be able to shoot the basketball,\u201d Kings coach Doug Christie said. \u201cWe shot 25%, but even then a lot of those 3s came in transition, which is crazy. Minus 36 at the 3-point line is just tough to survive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jalen Green scored 20 points to lead the Suns (35-26), who are two games behind the Los Angeles Lakers for the final automatic playoff berth in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n
Allen came off the bench to score 18 points. Gillespie had 17 points, six rebounds and nine assists. Booker had 17 points, four rebounds and five assists.<\/p>\n
Rookie center Maxime Raynaud had 22 points, 10 rebounds and four assists for the Kings (14-49), who are closing in on 50 losses for the 19th time in the Sacramento era. Precious Achiuwa had 18 points and nine rebounds.<\/p>\n
Raynaud noted that the Kings gave up 18 offensive rebounds, which allowed the Suns to amass a 27-13 advantage in second-chance points.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t remember how many second chance points they got because of that, but quite a lot, so I think that was the game right there,\u201d Raynaud said.<\/p>\n
Mailk Monk came off the bench to provide an immediate spark for Sacramento, scoring 11 points in his first four minutes. He went 4 of 4 from the field with three 3-pointers, including a one-legged bank shot as the shot clock expired.<\/p>\n
The Kings led 30-22 at the end of the first quarter, but the Suns went up 41-32 after outscoring Sacramento 19-2 to start the second quarter. The Kings responded with a 13-5 run to cut the deficit to one on an emphatic dunk by Achiuwa. They went into the halftime break trailing 59-55.<\/p>\n
The Kings and Suns exchanged leads a couple of times early in the second half before Phoenix staged a 14-0 run to take a 76-63 lead following back-to-back 3-pointers by Royce O\u2019Neal. The Suns led 90-75 after hitting seven 3-pointers in the third period.<\/p>\n
Phoenix led by as many as 20 in the fourth quarter. The Kings cut the deficit to nine on a basket by Raynaud with 1:23 remaining, but they couldn\u2019t get any closer.<\/p>\n
Up next<\/p>\n
The Kings will play host to the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The Pelicans (19-44) will come to Sacramento as part of a six-game road trip after losing to Lakers 110-101 on Tuesday. They had won four in a row before suffering a 137-117 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The Pelicans beat the Kings 120-94 in their first meeting on Feb. 9 in New Orleans. Trey Murphy III scored 31 points in that game. Zion Williamson had 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting with five rebounds and six assists.<\/p>\n
This story was originally published March 3, 2026 at 10:57 PM.<\/p>\n
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