The Kings Fall to the Suns in the Clutch amid LaVine’s Struggles

All-Star shooting guard Zach Lavine rises for a dunk (via Kings IG)

In the Sacramento Kings’ 2025–26 season opener against the Phoenix Suns, the Kings fell short in a heartbreaking 116–120 loss. The game came down to the wire, but began with the Suns trailing for most of it. The gap closed in the third quarter after Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks, and Collin Gillespie sparked a massive 31–10 run. The Western Conference matchup was within 2 points heading into the 4th, favoring the Kings.

In the 4th quarter, Zach LaVine went 1/6, and 1/4 in the clutch. When the game was tied by Malik Monk at 110, LaVine fouled Dillon Brooks on a 3-point attempt, which Brooks converted on all 3. LaVine went on to miss three open 3-point attempts off of give-and-go’s and a pull-up, sealing the game for Phoenix.

LaVine ended the game with 30 points on 54% shooting, but only 20% from 3 on 10 attempts. The majority of his points were scored on Booker. He logged 22 points in the first half, but failed to catch as well of a rhythm in the second.

LaVine was trusted with the ball in the final possessions to win the game. He brought it up and received play-calling, but failed to convert. This isn’t a new trend, as he averaged only 2 clutch points on 35% shooting from the field and 35% from 3 last season. In the 2022 Playoffs, he averaged 0 clutch points. In the 2023 Play-In Tournament, he averaged 3 on 33% shooting from the field and 0% from 3.

Zach’s profile as a high-volume 3-point shooter makes him a natural candidate to take these

shots in the clutch. However, he simply doesn’t hit on these opportunities.

This isn’t to say that it was all Zach’s fault. Dennis Schroder was the point-of-attack defender

for many possessions, and failed to stop Booker, who strolled into easy looks vs Schroder’s coverage. Rookie Nique Clifford has been a strong defensive presence in both the Summer League and Preseason and showed good instincts in his first game. He got a few stops but he’s still adjusting to the NBA’s pace, a league with high tier functional athletes and versatile shot makers.

Malik Monk also went 1/5 in the 4th quarter, gaining a decent amount of separation on his mid-range attempts but failing to convert. The bench failed to produce when LaVine was off the court, leading to a higher level of clutchtime responsibility for LaVine.

DeMar DeRozan kept the Kings in the game, dropping 8 points on 75% shooting in the 4th. DeRozan is by consensus one of the league’s best regular season clutch time players. All-Star Domantas Sabonis was out this game, but he prefers to playmake in the clutch instead of score anyway.

With the 36 year old DeMar getting older, LaVine will have to shoulder some more of the responsibility as the season goes on. The Kings’ defensive struggles almost guarantee that there’ll be many opportunities throughout the season for LaVine to answer the call. Let’s see if he does.