‘I’m trying to keep our guys very positive:’ Kings coach on 3 losses
The past three weeks have revealed strengths and weaknesses that will either make or break the Kings’ playoff hopes.
They have demonstrated an ability to score in a hurry, open big leads, erase large deficits and compete with the best teams the NBA has to offer. They have also shown a tendency to fall behind early and fall apart late after expending all their energy trying to get back into the game.
Some of these tendencies were painfully apparent again Thursday night at Golden 1 Center in a 117-113 loss to the Denver Nuggets, the top team in the Western Conference. The Kings (19-19) led by 15 early in the third quarter, but Jamal Murray scored 34 of his 36 points in the second half to help the Nuggets (25-11) take control.
“We’ve just got to finish games, man,” said Kings guard Buddy Hield, who scored 29 points. “Lock in and finish games. ... We’re right there, so we’ve just got to finish games and protect the lead and find a way. ... We’ve just got to find a way to win.”
The Kings have lost three in a row and four of five as they prepare to host to the Golden State Warriors on Saturday. That contest will end a brutal stretch of 13 games against 10 Western Conference playoff contenders with a combined record of 208-168.
The Kings are 5-7 during this stretch, which began Dec. 12. They overcame 19-point deficits in back-to-back games against the Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Pelicans. They looked like a playoff team in a 130-125 loss to the Warriors, a 120-113 victory over the Dallas Mavericks and a 117-116 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Then there were nights — all in the past five days — when they let second-half leads slip away against the Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers and Nuggets.
“I’m trying to keep our guys very positive at this point,” Kings coach Dave Joerger said. “I think Denver is a good team and Portland is a good team. It’s no consolation to be playing with those teams, but tell me that when we came into the season we’d be as close as we are with some of these teams or that we’d have the record (we have) — I don’t think a lot of people saw that coming. So I’m very proud of our group and the effort that we’re giving and the learning that is happening because of competition.”
Rebounding continues to be a problem for the Kings, who are 27th in the NBA in total rebounds and 22nd in defensive rebounds. The Nuggets outrebounded them 54-33, had a 16-7 advantage in offensive rebounds and outscored them 23-6 on second-chance points.
“They got a lot of second-chance points, so that just makes it easier for them to get easy buckets and harder for us to play defense,” Kings guard Yogi Ferrell said.
Nikola Jokic and Mason Plumlee combined for 23 rebounds. The Kings’ entire starting lineup combined for 17.
“We’ve just got to box out,” said Kings center Willie Cauley-Stein, who had six rebounds in 30 minutes.
Part of that problem is due to the team’s up-tempo style. Players have a tendency to leak out and make a break for the offensive end before the defensive rebound is secured.
“Yeah (and) we’re not very long at the wing either, so when you are engaged and it’s body on body inside, you want the 6-foot-7 (and) 6-foot-8 guys to come snag rebounds ... and we’re not getting enough of that,” Joerger said.
These past three weeks have revealed strong traits and potentially fatal flaws. The question is which ones will come to define the Kings’ season.
“We gave three games away, but this is part of growing pains,” Hield said. “Not everything is going to be perfect. ... It still sucks not to win those games because you want to see progress. As a young team, you want to win those games to prove everybody wrong and to get up in the standings, and our goal is to make the playoffs. We’ll figure it out, man. We’ll be all right.”
This story was originally published January 4, 2019 at 6:46 AM.