Kings Have Historic Performance in Win Over Bulls

It may have taken 65 tries, but it feels like the Sacramento Kings just had their best game of the season. It may have been a win over the 26-37 Chicago Bulls, but the Kings were doing all the small things and hitting their shots all night in the best effort we've seen in months.

We can set aside the feelings of the draft lottery for a night and just enjoy one of the few wins of the season for Sacramento, as it was filled with positive takeaways from the 126-110 win over the Bulls.

With DeMar DeRozan out, the Kings had an even larger gap in the roster to fill in, and there were huge contributions all over the roster for Sacramento. Russell Westbrook led the way with a triple-double, Daeqwon Plowden had 16 points in the late start, and Malik Monk had a huge night off the bench with 30 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds.

The individual performances are great, but it was how the Kings played as a team that really stood out. They had 33 assists to just three turnovers, something that had only been done four times in the NBA to date.

Kings tonight in the 126-110 win over the Bulls:
33 Assists | 3 Turnovers

They are just the 5th team in NBA history to have at least 33 assists with three or fewer turnovers, and the first since BOS on 3/11/24 pic.twitter.com/HZyuuO4ZdJ
— Will Z. Stats (@will_zimmerle) March 9, 2026

It's an incredible accomplishment for any team, let alone one that came into the contest 14-50. It's a blip in the record books that will last forever, but also exempliefies everything Doug Christie is trying to accomplish.

He's talked all season about how the team needs to move and share the ball, get stops, and get out in transition. And that's what they did tonight. They fought for loose balls, they crashed the glass, and they played for each other.

Ever since preseason, the younger players have appeared to buy into what Christie was asking for more than the veterans. And with so many of the vets out tonight, they had the opportunity to shine. The hope is that this is the type of basketball we'll start seeing more next season.

Ideally, we'll see more of it this season, but the Kings also have the challenge of fighting for draft lottery odds at the same time. They'll have to weigh the benefits of having some strong games at the tail end of the season versus the higher draft odds, but the Kings have always tilted towards playing out the season strong.

Maxime Raynaud Shines Again

A huge part of that strong performance tonight was Maxime Raynaud, who had yet another standout performance, finishing with 26 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists, and a steal in just over 38 minutes of action. He's active on defense, everywhere on the boards, and is making a living with the floater right outside of the restricted area.

The Kings don't have a clear young star on the roster, but every once in a while, Raynaud shows flashes that he can be more than just a quality center. He has a long way to go, but he'll continue to rise up the rookie rankings after another huge game tonight.