Category: Basketball

Kings' compete level answers Doug Christie's plea in OT thriller vs. Rockets originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SACRAMENTO – The 2025-26 Kings are not a playoff team.

But Doug Christie still would like to see some fight from his guys after losing 22 games before January and plummeting to dead last in the Western Conference.

Over the past three games, the Kings have shown that competitive edge that Christie was known for as a player and preaches now as a coach. The last two have resulted in losses to the Trail Blazers, with the first in Portland ending in overtime controversy and the second in Sacramento being a back-and-forth battle.

After Saturday’s 98-93 loss to Portland, the first question Christie responded to was whether the competitive level his team had displayed was what he’s been looking for with this roster, given its rocky start to the season and its realistic future.  

“Yeah. Ultimately, defensively, I thought we were better,” Christie said. “We’re in a hunt. The competition level was higher. That’s what we need. You have to be in the hunt, and then once you get there, you have to execute down the stretch. [Us] missing 10 free throws, those are the things that are going to get us over the [hump]. 

“But first and foremost, you got to compete at a high level and be in the hunt. We did a pretty good job in Portland as well [on Thursday]. That’s the biggest thing. We have to compete at a high level. And then, in this league, you have to learn how to win games. And that’s where we’re at right now.”

Well, Sunday’s showing was a promising start.

In Sacramento’s second overtime game in four days, the Kings once again displayed resilience and, yes, that competition level Christie has been begging for from his squad. This time, though, it didn’t end in heartbreak or controversy; it ended with a win against one of the top Western Conference teams, the Houston Rockets, that snapped a five-game skid.

It was a true collective effort.

A late surge led by Keegan Murray erased Houston’s 14-point lead and kept the Kings alive in crunch time. Murray, who has been struggling offensively really since returning from a UCL injury this season, got going when the Kings needed him to most.

Over a two-minute-and-30-second span, Murray couldn’t miss. He scored 10 points in that time, including two big 3-pointers that pulled the Kings within two points with just over seven minutes remaining in regulation. 

Then it was a cat-and-mouse game from then on.

And even when Houston took a 5-point lead with 2:17 remaining, Sacramento never wavered. In fact, the Rockets never scored again in the fourth quarter, and the Kings went on a 5-0 run to force overtime after Russell Westbrook’s corner triple hit nothing but net to force overtime.

The Kings have been notorious for their inability to close out games, even when starting them off strong. But their competitive spirit never died, not even on the second night of a back-to-back.

The back-and-forth scoring continued literally until the final seconds of the extra period.

Just when it appeared to be over for the Kings when Westbrook fouled Jabari Smith Jr. at the 3-point line, and Smith Jr. made two of his three free-throw attempts to give Houston a 2-point lead with 10 seconds remaining, it was another Kings veteran guard who stepped up and came up clutch.

Schroder knocked down a trey with 3.1 seconds remaining, and Kevin Durant’s missed jumper on the other end sealed the deal in Sacramento.

After the game, Westbrook stated that it all comes down to putting your best foot forward and competing. He added that Sunday’s win embodied the Kings finally “getting over the hump” and closing a game out.

Christie, too, was impressed with his team’s fight from start to finish.

“To come out and compete like that, for our guys, after some of the heartbreaks that we’ve had lately, says a lot about their character as individuals and collectively,” Christie said.

Christie also took a moment to shout out who he called two of the “best competitors” in the game in Sacramento in Westbrook and Schroder.

This win doesn’t solve everything for the plethora of issues in Sacramento, but it’s without a doubt a step in the right direction.

And right now, that’s all Christie can ask for.

“We haven’t particularly played at the level that we want to at home. Oddly enough, we’ve done it on the road quite a few times, where we competed really well. But these fans, this is what they deserve, and this is what we will give them. Ultimately, can win them all? No, but they want to know that you are pouring your heart and soul out on the floor when they walk out of the building. And they got that tonight.”

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 What we learned as Kings' late rally powers huge overtime win against Rockets originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SACRAMENTO — Their record might not indicate it, but Doug Christie has emphasized competitiveness for his Kings as they continue to figure out a solution to their now 7-22 record.

In the last three games, at least, including Sunday’s win, they’ve shown that.

Sacramento overcame a 14-point deficit thanks to a late fourth-quarter surge fueled by Keegan Murray and a clutch corner 3-pointer by Russell Westbrook with 1.8 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime.

But that wasn’t the only clutch 3 of the night.

Dennis Schröder sank a 26-foot 3-pointer with 3.1 seconds remaining in overtime to secure the victory.

The Rockets still had time to steal the lead — and win — but Kevin Durant’s missed jumpshot ended those hopes.

The Kings snapped a five-game losing streak, and it was a true team effort.

DeMar DeRozan’s 27 points led the way for the Kings, with Keegan Murray contributing 26 and Schröder adding 24 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds off the bench.

Rockets young star center Alperen Şengün dominated Sacramento for most of the game, finishing with 28 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks in 40 minutes.

Here are the takeaways from Sunday’s win:

Extra basketball

The Kings got rolling at the right time, with Westbrook’s corner triple sending the game to overtime.

The action-packed thriller in Sacramento continued for five more minutes, as the game ended with a game-winning triple from Schroder.

In the extra period, Westbrook fouled Jabari Smith Jr. at the 3-point line with 10 seconds remaining, and Smith Jr. knocked down two of his three attempts from the charity stripe.

But it was Schroder who called game in the end.

Malik returns

Malik Monk recorded two consecutive DNP-CD (Did Not Play, Coach’s Decision) in a road and home loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday and Saturday.

Before Sunday’s game, Kings coach Doug Christie was swarmed with questions about the bizarre situation, and he hinted that Monk could see the floor against the Rockets.

He kept his word, although it took a while.

Monk entered Sunday’s game for the first time of the night toward the end of the third quarter. And as expected, he was welcomed with a loud and warm welcome from the Golden 1 Center crowd.

Oh, he also instantly drove to the basket and made a layup within seconds of being on the court.

While being repeatedly asked about the decision to bench Monk in the past two games, Christie maintained it solely was based on it being a “logjam” at the guard position and simply a “numbers game.” He also stated that Monk was the “odd man out” since the Kings decided to emphasize defense and insert Keon Ellis into the rotation over Monk.

Ellis played just nine minutes in Sunday’s game, and has been struggling as of late. It could be possible that Ellis is back to being the “odd man out,” while Monk resumes his role.

Keegan’s resurgence

Keegan Murray has struggled to find a consistent offensive flow since returning from a UCL injury.

But his confidence never wavered, and neither did his coaches’ or teammates’ in him.

He showed just why on Sunday.

Murray missed all six of his 3-point attempts in Saturday’s loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. On Sunday, his first attempt from downtown — a 30-point trey — was a make. He finished the first quarter with 10 points and scored just two points in the second quarter.

But he got going when it mattered most, helping fuel a late rally to keep Sacramento alive in the fourth quarter. Murray finished the game with 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field and 3 of 4 from downtown.

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Warriors see their warts, but still believe in their lofty NBA potential originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – Two months into a season that has delivered more losses than wins, the Warriors still believe that between Monday night and April 12 they will secure an automatic berth in the Western Conference playoffs.

When the Orlando Magic come to Chase Center on Monday, the Warriors will be sitting in eighth place, 4.5 games away from the guaranteed playoff berth that comes with finishing sixth and six games away from the home-court advantage that comes with finishing among the top four.

Are the Warriors dreaming? Maybe.

They realize 53 games remain for them to make the steep climb toward their goal, they scan the standings and, still, they believe.

“I look (at the standings) every day; I looked this morning,” coach Steve Kerr said. “We all know where we are.”

“Our goal coming into the season was to be a top-four seed, and I still think it’s well within our reach. It can be daunting if you look and you go, ‘Man, we’re five, six games back.’ But we know how fast things can flip if we can take care of our business and find some momentum. Because everybody else is going to go through tough stretches too.”

Taking care of business has been difficult and momentum has been elusive. And the Warriors would like to believe their “toughest stretches” are behind them after burying a three-game losing streak Saturday with a win over the Phoenix Suns.

Even in victory, however, they saw there are many miles to go to achieve their quest.

“We watched the last three minutes of the game,” Trayce Jackson-Davis said, referring to a late 14-8 run by Phoenix that nearly erased Golden State’s seven-point lead.

“I wanted the guys to see it,” Kerr said. “There were a couple of just mindless plays where we score and we’re all standing there, instead of having urgency to get back. And the (Suns) race the ball up the floor, we’re trailing the play. There’s no way that can happen. We just have to be sharper and more on edge.”

Golden State is 6-6 against the seven teams above them, beating the Lakers, the Nuggets, the Spurs twice the Suns twice. Yet the Warriors are 0-3 against the 10th-place Trail Blazers and 0-1 against the last-place Kings.

Who are the Warriors?

They are a team still seeking rhythm for an offense that too often collapses under the weight of its turnovers and searching for consistency on defense – with both issues on display over the last four games. They stumbled and fell against Minnesota, at Portland and at Phoenix but stayed upright against the Suns at home.

“We already know what the problem is (or) was,” Jimmy Butler III said, taking scant contentment from beating the Suns. “It’s just on us to go out there and do what we say that we’re going to do to win these games. We’re capable of it. We all know that.”

Butler’s expression of belief suggests the best is yet to come. That they have the capability to move beyond the nights of blowing double-digit leads in the fourth quarter to teams that, on paper, are inferior. Seven of Golden State’s 15 losses have come against sub.-500 teams.

The road to recovery begins with an offense that takes care of the ball and makes open shots, particularly from deep. The Warriors are shooting 32.6 percent on “open” shots (closest defender between four and six feet away), ranking 19th in the league.

This is a team, folks, that has the greatest deep shooter of all time on the roster. Stephen Curry’s gravitational effect opposing defenses often create open looks for teammates. In a league where the 3-point shooting average is 35.8 percent, the Warriors have seven players that qualify as below average, including stretch-5 Quinten Post, at 33.8 percent and 3-point specialist Buddy Hield at 32 percent.

Unless Golden State’s offense drains open triples at a higher rate and its defense learns lessons administered during video study on Sunday, an automatic berth will be out of reach.

Curry believes but tempers his faith with the evidence already gathered. At 14-15, the Warriors are not close to being among the top six in the West, much less the top four.

“We don’t want to look too far ahead,” he said. “Just focus on Orlando and what we need to do to beat that team. I like that idea of just taking it one game at a time, because we don’t have any other choice with the way we’ve been playing.”

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The only thing left for JJ Redick to do was joke about it. What else could be said after the Lakers made just six of 38 three-pointers in a 103-88 loss to the Clippers on Saturday?

“I was proud that we improved from three 4-for-33,” the coach deadpanned. “So we got better as the game progressed.”

With four regular starters limited by injuries, the Lakers’ ice cold shooting night doomed them to a season-low in points. Star guard Luka Doncic left the game with 12 points at halftime after a left leg contusion sustained in the first half. Redick noticed the NBA’s leading scorer limping on the court during the second quarter. Starters Austin Reaves (calf), Deandre Ayton (elbow) and Rui Hachimura (groin) were all sidelined for the game, as well as key reserve Gabe Vincent (back).

It left just LeBron James, who had 36 points, four rebounds and three assists as the Lakers (19-8) fell behind by 22 but cut the deficit to seven in the fourth quarter before fading again.

“We just didn’t make shots,” said James, who was three for seven from three-point range and made half of the team’s threes. “It happens over the course of a season. We had some great looks. We just didn’t make shots. But we still gave ourselves a chance to be in the game with how well we defended, our competitive spirit, our competitive nature.”

Here are three takeaways from the game: 

Lakers pleas toward referees falling flat

The Lakers have been assessed five technical fouls in the last two games because of conduct with officials as frustration over inconsistent calls is starting to boil over. After Doncic, Jaxson Hayes and Marcus Smart were all given technical fouls in the third quarter of Thursday’s win over Utah, Doncic and Smart were T’ed up again Saturday in the first and third quarters, respectively.

“I think if any coach, any player, what we ask for is consistency,” Redick said. “And that's not to single any official out or any crew out, it's not about that. We need to know what it is night to night.”

Smart also drew a technical foul against Utah after attempting to talk to an official at halftime. When Smart walked away frustrated, he raised his middle finger toward the official, a gesture that got him fined $35,000 Saturday, the NBA announced.

“Sometimes you got to take the hit to get your point across,” Smart said Saturday.

Read more:Lakers lose Luka Doncic to injury, then fall to Clippers despite LeBron James' 36 points

Redick expressed additional frustration with the lack of transparency in the replay system and murky communication with officials. He said he has not received any feedback when he requests it and the distinction between plays that can and can’t be challenged appears to change every night.

The lack of communication has been frustrating for players as well, Smart said, who met with referees before the Utah game as a team captain, but still had his questions dismissed.

“The captain should be able to come talk to them,” Smart said. “They still don't want to hear it. So control what you can control. They don't want to talk, you know, you try and you move on. But it definitely is frustrating when you pour your heart out to this game and the feedback is literally waving you off, telling you to get out your face, and then giving you a tech because you're asking a simple question.”

Way off the mark

The Lakers had their worst shooting night of the season by far, making just 34 of 88 shots (38.6%). The team that was second in the NBA in shooting percentage hadn’t shot worse than 40.3% from the field in a game this season. Even their shaky three-point shooting that was 23rd in the league (34.5%) found a new low: the 15.8% (six for 38) shooting from three-point range is the worst for the team since Jan. 3, 2024 when the Lakers made four of 30 threes in a 110-96 loss to Miami.

Smart, who had made 14 of 28 threes in his last three games, missed on all of his nine long-range shots Saturday and finished with five points on one-of-12 shooting. Jake LaRavia, who was acquired as a free agent in part for his three-point shooting, was 0 for four from beyond the arc. The 24-year-old is shooting a career-low 32.1% from three-point range this season despite his eight-for-15 start in the first five games of the year.

“I know I'm a good shooter, everyone on the staff knows I'm a good shooter, everyone on the team knows I'm a good shooter,” LaRavia said. “At some point, I have to make shots. Obviously, been in a slump pretty much this entire season outside of that first stretch of games where I was making some. But they'll drop."

LeBron James carries the load alone

Once Doncic left the game, the Lakers’ best chance at scoring points became “effort offense,” LaRavia said. Hustling, grabbing offensive rebounds and cherry-picking points in transition was almost enough as the Lakers pieced together a 15-0 run to cut a 22-point Clippers lead to seven with 7:56 remaining in the fourth.

Redick praised the team’s “incredible spirit,” noting that James led the charge in that aspect. In addition to making 15 of 28 shots from the field for his season-high in points, James had two steals and a block. After he drove aggressively to the basket for a layup through contact and finished a three-point play to cut the lead to nine, he was the first to dive on the floor for a loose ball on the next defensive possession when he poked the ball away from Kawhi Leonard.

With the Clippers (7-21) playing most of the game without center Ivica Zubak, who rolled his ankle in the first quarter and didn’t return, James took advantage of the smaller lineup by aggressively getting into the paint.

“He did a terrific job of driving the basketball,” Redick said. “Anytime he had [Brook] Lopez on him, he'd beat him up from the perimeter. Great game from him.”

James, who turns 41 on Dec. 30, has passed his unofficial “training camp” phase after he missed the first 14 games of the season because of right sciatica. He has averaged 30 points in the last three games while shooting 50% from the field.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.