Why Christie remains optimistic despite Kings’ four-game losing skid originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SACRAMENTO – Following the Kings’ 121-105 loss to the Thunder on Tuesday night, interim coach Doug Christie made it a point to use Oklahoma City as an example.
For one thing, Christie is a believer that the two teams likely will cross paths in the NBA playoffs. That’s certainly rounding into shape, as the Kings’ four-game losing streak has tumbled them down the Western Conference standings, while the Thunder remain on fire after becoming the first NBA team to reach 60 wins this season.
Christie also wanted his players to take not of how well the Thunder played and the intricacies of what they did so successfully. In Christie’s mind, OKC was the perfect embodiment of who he envisions the Kings becoming.
“If you mess up, they take full advantage of it very single time,” Christie said. “And we’re going to get there because we keep demonstrating we can. Now it’s, are you willing to go through the pain it takes to do it? That’s really what it’s all about.
“It’s painful as hell and that’s why not everybody does it. But it’s not easy and sometimes you don’t feel good. There’s a lot of different things that go into it.”
Christie was correct in pointing out that the Kings have played at a high level at various times this season, but he was equally on point when he noted that the consistency isn’t there, whether it be from game to game or quarter to quarter.
The loss to the Thunder was a perfect example of Sacramento’s up-and-down tendencies, only this time it was down-then-up-then-down-again.
The Kings were out of sorts in the first half and limited to 42 points. It wasn’t their worst half of the season, but it sure seemed and felt that way. Keegan Murray said part of the problem was lack of attention to detail, something that has been a recurring theme in Sacramento.
Coming out of halftime, however, the Kings looked like an entirely different team while outscoring the Thunder 39-25 to make it a tight game until OKC pulled away in the fourth quarter.
Despite all of that, Christie found reasons for optimism.
He specifically pointed out the 47 3-pointers that the Kings chucked up against the Thunder, matching their season high and nearly twice the attempts they took the previous night while losing to the Boston Celtics. The Kings also had 32 assists on their 27 made buckets, their most in more than a week.
Christie emphasized both the good and bad to his players for several reasons.
“That’s a team that you’re going to face in the playoffs,” Christie told his players after the loss. “At some point you have to make a stand. To our guys credit, they did.”
As too often has been the case this season, it wasn’t enough.
“I’m not the moral victory guy, but there is a good team in that locker room and they are trying to find their way, and they’re trying to find their rhythm,” Christie said of the Kings. “They continue to fight, and I appreciate that. It doesn’t feel good right now but once they get that rhythm, watch out.”
In the aftermath if Monday’s loss to Boston, there was some talk about a bad vibe in Sacramento’s locker room. Keon Ellis had a different view, and Christie said he agreed that the feeling within the team is fine.
The need to get better, however, remains an issue, as does the ability to sustain the success for long stretches.
“I’ve told you guys, 80 percent isn’t enough. We’re a 90 percent-plus team,” Christie said. “What our guys have to understand is the consistency to which you approach something is everything for us. That means effort. That means attention to detail. That means extra efforts, possession game.
“That’s the team in the locker room. Unfortunately it’s not the team that continues to show itself for 48 minutes. I know that’s hard, but we’re not accepting anything less. There will be a time, and when that time comes you’ll feel it.”
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