Harrison Barnes Sounds Off on Kings' Recent Untimely Injuries

The Sacramento Kings veteran spoke with the media after Sunday's win vs. the Utah Jazz.

Mar 31, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings forward Harrison Barnes (left) dribbles / Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

The recent weeks have not been the kindest to the Sacramento Kings, as the team has suffered two critical injuries to key rotational players in Malik Monk and Kevin Huerter with less than ten games to go until reaching the postseason.

It's the wrong time for such devastating injuries to occur for a team with playoff aspirations like the Kings, who stand 43-31 in the West at 7th in the Conference. While a top-six seed is the ultimate goal in the final two weeks of the season, it'll be a steep hill to climb without their top contributors on the wing.

However, despite the blows, this squad is remaining focused headed into April.

Harrison Barnes spoke with the media after Sunday's 127-106 blowout win vs. the Utah Jazz, where he said that even with the hardships in place, the team has to remain focused and composed in a video from Matt George of ABC10 on Twitter.

"I think when you try to take a long-term view of where things are at, the standings, and the last three games, or five games, or however you want to look at it, I think the main thing for us to focus on is [that] the only way is through," Barnes said. "Whether we get the six-seed, whether we get in the Play-In game, no matter who we see in the first round, no matter what it is: it's through."

Barnes had a stellar showing for the Kings vs. Utah on his way to 24 points on 9-12 shooting. Without the explosive scoring from Hurter or Monk, Sacramento needed someone to step up, and it happened to be HB.

"We know that any given night [when] we show up and do the things we're supposed to do, we're going to be in good shape. For these next eight games and the games after that, I think that is our focus. We take this month as positive steps that we're taking, but we know that we need to continue to get better defensively and take care of the ball on offense."

The challenge moving forward for the Kings will be maintaining lasting consistency on both ends of the floor amid their newly banged-up roster. Sacramento must ensure they close this regular season out strong to do what they can in avoiding the unpredictable Play-In Tournament entirely.

The Kings will hit the floor once again on Tuesday night in a massive Pacific Division battle against the Los Angeles Clippers in the Golden One Center.

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