The shorthanded Kings were rolling through three quarters against the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night at Ball Arena, with Sacramento leading Nikola Jokić and Co. by as many as 14 points in the third.
Then, the fourth quarter happened — and the Kings’ four-game win streak went with it in a 116-110 loss.
Denver outscored Sacramento 32-17 across the game’s final 12 minutes — thanks in part to a 13-4 free-throw discrepancy in favor of the Nuggets. Kings forward DeMar DeRozan, who scored a game-high 35 points in the loss, didn’t hold back on the officiating after the game.
“The refs were terrible,” DeRozan told reporters (h/t The Sacramento Bee’s Chris Biderman). “Terrible as s–t. Simple as that. …
“Bunch of times we got hit, we got smacked. Three or four shots out there, clearly got hit, got smacked. They get the same call on the other end. Throws off our whole rhythm. Gives them momentum at home. Makes it tough on us to execute.”
Kings interim coach Doug Christie admitted that Sacramento’s offense appeared “discombobulated” at times in the fourth quarter, the conclusion of a game that as a whole featured 30 free-throw attempts for the Nuggets and 14 for the Kings.
“I thought the [Kings] attacked the rim. They played a solid game,” Christie told reporters. “… You don’t want to lose. You don’t, especially as competitive as — this one’s going to hurt. This one’s going to hurt, but this is our league, and you’ve got to deal with it. But proud of our guys as far as game plan, discipline, aggressiveness, physicality.”
And to deal with it — the loss, or perhaps the officiating — Christie bore that burden for his players as the fourth quarter crumbled around them.
“… My job is to deal with the refs, and their job is to hoop,” Christie said. “And that’s what I expect our of them, and they know this. So when they start talking to the refs and barking at the refs, like, yo, chill that out. We don’t do that. We’re here to hoop. Let me deal with [the refs], and I will state our case and live to fight another day.
“I want their minds focused on the game plan. For the most part, we did that. There was a little bit where we got discombobulated, but in a high-leverage situation, it’s to be expected.”
The Nuggets made nine of their 13 free-throw attempts in the fourth quarter, as Russell Westbrook poured in 12 of his 25 points with just one make at the charity stripe.
Kings guard Zach LaVine did all he could as time wound down with 12 fourth-quarter points — and two free-throw makes — but his final 20-point tally wasn’t enough, even on a night where Sacramento’s defense held Jokić, who finished with 22, to just four points across the final frame. Jake LaRavia finished with 15 points, and Jonas Valančiūnas scored 19.
The free-throw disadvantage came as the Kings, currently the Western Conference’s No. 9 seed, took the floor without starting center Domantas Sabonis and guard Malik Monk due to injuries. But Sacramento certainly wasn’t without its faults in the game’s final quarter, shooting just 6 of 20 from the field as a team with just one assist and five fewer rebounds than Denver.
Christie knows every point counts against an opponent like the No. 3-seeded Nuggets, and the competition only will become more stiff as the final regular-season stretch continues.
“As we continue down this path, the opponents are going to get better, and it’s going to be a playoff atmosphere,” Christie said. “… This was a style of basketball that could be conducive to winning on the road. As I said, unfortunately we didn’t have everybody, but those guys gave it up. …
“You’re going to have ups and downs, but if they give that type of effort, I’ve always said that’s the type of effort the Sacramento Kings fans respect and can live with.”
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