The Sacramento Kings played back-to-back games against potential playoff matchups on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Kings fell to the Suns, 130-125, but bounced back against the Nuggets, 102-98.
Second-year forward Keegan Murray logged a pair of insufficient performances with nearly identical numbers in each contest.
Murray played 35 minutes and recorded six points, five rebounds, one assist, one steal, and one block while shooting 3-of-9 from the field and 0-of-2 from three in Tuesday’s loss to the Suns. Those numbers seemingly had no impact on the game as he finished with a plus-minus of zero.
Murray registered the same statline of six points, five rebounds, one assist, and one block in Wednesday’s game against the Nuggets. However, he didn’t record a steal and struggled shooting the ball more in this matchup, going 2-of-8 from the floor, 0-of-4 from deep, and 2-of-2 from the free throw line. He also recorded a plus-minus of negative six – the only negative plus-minus in Sacramento’s starting lineup in the win.
The 23-year-old participated in the NBA Rising Stars game during All-Star Weekend on Saturday. He finished with five points, three rebounds, and two assists on 2-of-4 shooting from the field and 1-of-3 from beyond the arc in 10 minutes of action for Team Tamika Catchings. Team Jalen Rose defeated Team Tamika Catchings in the first round, limiting Murray’s participation to just one of two possible games.
Heading into the final part of the regular season, the Kings own the eighth-hardest strength of schedule – something to note as they sit in eighth place in the Western Conference standings with a 31-23 record.
Kris Murray
The Portland Trail Blazers hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday and Wednesday as a part of its final set of games before the all-star break. Rookie forward Kris Murray didn’t see much time on the floor despite the Trail Blazers losing both meetings by a sizable margin.
Murray played just four minutes of garbage time during Monday’s 121-109 loss, pulling in one rebound.
The rookie saw more opportunity in Wednesday’s 128-91 routing, finishing with six points and four rebounds on 2-of-5 shooting from the floor and 1-of-3 from deep in 12 minutes of action.
Portland’s chances of securing a play-in spot are slim-to-none as they remain the 14th seed in the Western Conference standings with a 15-39 record.
Luka Garza
The Timberwolves beat the Trail Blazers by a fair margin in both games, however third-year center Luka Garza only appeared in the first matchup.
His time on the court wasn’t long either as he played just four minutes of garbage time. He registered five points and one rebound while shooting 1-of-2 from three in the 12-point win.
Before his G-League stint ended early into the season, Garza was one of the most dominant players in the league, averaging 36.7 points, 12.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.7 blocks in just three games with the Iowa Wolves. He would’ve had a great chance of notching a spot on the Rising Stars roster had he remained with the affiliate team.
But as the NBA season winds down, Garza will serve as a bench player for the remainder of the season as the first-seeded Timberwolves make a push to secure the top spot in the West for the first time in 20 seasons. They sit 1.5 games ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder with a 39-16 record.
Joe Wieskamp
G-Leaguer Joe Wieskamp made his first appearance with the Maine Celtics – the Boston Celtics affiliate – after being traded from the Texas Legends on Tuesday.
His first game came on Wednesday in the Celtics’ 111-102 win over the Windy City Bulls, where he came off the bench as the sixth man. The sharpshooter registered 13 points, six rebounds, one assist, one steal, and one block on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor and 3-of-6 from beyond the arc in 28 minutes played.
It’s more than likely that Wieskamp will remain a G-League player for the rest of the season since he joined the best team in the NBA in the Boston Celtics. Boston has been the favorite to win the NBA title all season as they have one of the deepest rosters in the league. They currently own a 43-12 record – four games ahead of the next closest team in the entire NBA – and have the third-easiest strength of schedule remaining.
