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The Sacramento Kings are playing underwhelming basketball this season and once again failed to get the job done on Monday night. They blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead against the Denver Nuggets, ultimately losing 130-129.
Following the game, head coach Mike Brown had some harsh words for his team, who were dominated on the boards and gave up 76 points in the paint.
Via NBC Sports Bay Area:
“There was a level of physicality that we didn't start with at the beginning of the game,” Brown said. “There was a level of focus that we didn't start with at the beginning of the game. And again, that's where we as a group have to figure out, ‘Are we going to really embrace the details?’”
The Kings were riding a three-game winning streak coming into this contest and had been playing a mile better defensively. But, that was not the case against Nikola Jokic and Co., getting bullied inside and on the glass. Kings guard De'Aaron Fox backed Brown's comments, making it clear that Sacramento didn't come out of the gates with the proper intensity:
“It’s alertness, it’s being locked into all the details,” Fox said. “When [Nikola] Jokić catches the ball, everybody on the team is going to either screen or cut, so you have to make them go up the floor, make them cut through your body. At the beginning of the game we weren’t doing that. Everything was way too easy.”
The Kings were outscored 16-7 in the final four minutes of this game.
“This is where our team needs to grow sooner than later. We have to lock in,” Brown said. “We have to lock into the details. We got back cut more times in this one game than probably we got back cut all year, and it's because our guy on the bottom weak side ball watched.
“The thing about it is, you guys won't see any of that in the stat sheets. You won't see back cut after back cut in the stat sheet. Until our guys understand that it's about embracing the details for 48 minutes, we're going to be a good team, but we're not going to be where we need to go.”
Sacramento now sits at 13-14. Monday was a clear opportunity to win but until they start doing the little things right, it's going to be a long season for the Kings.
