On Halloween night, it was a night of tricks for the Sacramento Kings, with just enough sweetness from Darius Acuff Jr. to make the loss to the Memphis Grizzlies worth it. It was a game that went about as expected when a 0-5 team meets an undefeated 5-0 squad, with the Kings falling big once again 136-105.

The Kings got the game close at halftime thanks to Acuff, but it was the same story we've seen too many times this season already as the game got out of hand. The Kings can't get stops on defense, can't keep up on defense, and it feels like they're never going to get their first win of the season.

The Treat

Thank goodness for Acuff. He led the game with 38 points, knocking on the doorstep of his first 40-piece in his young NBA career. The Kings may have gotten blown out again, but the vision is there for Acuff. And it wasn't on chucking up shots tonight, either.

The seventh overall pick shot 12-of-25 from the field, 9-of-14 from three, and a perfect 5-of-5 from the free-throw line. He grabbed five rebounds, five assists, and just three turnovers (which isn't much for how much he has the ball in his hands).

Kings rookie Darius Acuff Jr. has scored 30+ PTS in back-to-back games:

🪣 34 PTS at NOP
🪣 38 PTS at MEM

At just 19 years, 349 days old, Acuff Jr. becomes the YOUNGEST player in franchise history to record back-to-back 30-PT games! pic.twitter.com/5OkSXgJyEr

— NBA (@NBA) November 1, 2026

We've seen the scoring explosion from Acuff already this year, but it was his three-point shooting that really stood out tonight. When he's hitting from three, he's nearly unstoppable. And it's a reminder of how nice it is to have a franchise star that can hit from beyond the arc.

Even when it was De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis leading the way for the Beam Team, neither of them is a three-point shooter. Fox would have his games, but the long-ball wasn't the main part of his game. Having Acuff be able to catch fire from three like this is a great sign for things to come for Sacramento, and opens up a whole different dynamic of a star we haven't seen in the city in a long, long time- if ever.

The Tricks

While Acuff was tremendous, everything else about this game feels like a halloween trick. A haunted house scare you didn't see coming, an earwax jelly belly mixed in with the candy, or an empty bown of candy on the doorstep while the sun is still up.

De'Andre Hunter had another nice game with 19 points, but other than his continued strong play, there wasn't much for Sacramento. Sabonis and Zach LaVine each had 11 points. Sabonis had 14 rebounds and 8 assists, but he once again took just five shots in the game. And LaVine wasn't far behind with nine attempts, but he only had a single assist and two turnovers to go with his scoring.

The bench continues to no-show, with a combined 20 points. Malik Monk led the way with eight points for the reserves, but it still feels like he hasn't found his groove this season.

Throw in the lack of defense, as the Grizzlies cruised to 136 for the night on 55.3% shooting from the field and 50% shooting from three. Read those again; yes, that was 19-of-38 from beyond the arc for Memphis. Once again, it's the same problems we saw last year for Sacramento. While the Grizzlies were lighting it up from deep, the Kings shot just 11-of-38 from three.

What's Next?

It's already at the point of 'what's next' for the Kings. And unfortunately, there's no answer in sight. Doug Christie appears to be sticking around, and almost all of the numbers are bad. All we can do is hope that the Kings eventually stumble their way into a win at some point.