Identity crisis: Kings show fight for one night but lose fifth in a row to Cavaliers
Interim coach Alvin Gentry and guard Tyrese Haliburton faced tough questions after the Kings lost their fifth in a row to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night.
The Kings found their fight for one night in a 109-108 loss at Golden 1 Center, but that only raised more questions about the team’s identity, drive and desire. They have shown an ability to compete at a high level against superior teams, but they are not able to generate the necessary sense of fire and urgency on a nightly basis.
“I don’t think it’s there every night,” Haliburton said. “If it was there every night, it would look a lot better. I don’t think we have a sense of urgency every night. I don’t know the reasoning for that, but we’re professionals, so you’ve got to figure that out or they’ll find someone who will figure it out.”
Jarrett Allen had 18 points, 17 rebounds and two blocked shots for the Cavaliers (23-18). Kevin Love came off the bench to score 18 points and Evan Mobley continued to make his case for Rookie of the Year, finishing with 17 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots.
Haliburton had 21 points, eight assists and three steals for the Kings (16-27), who were coming off a 103-88 loss to the injury depleted Portland Trail Blazers. Buddy Hield had 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting with five 3-pointers. Rookie center Neemias Queta scored the first points of his NBA career and logged extended minutes for the first time this season, posting 11 points and five rebounds in 24 minutes.
The Kings had a chance to win the game after staging a 9-0 run over the final 2:20. They came up with a big stop on Cleveland’s final possession, but De’Aaron Fox missed a step-back jumper with 1.1 seconds remaining.
Gentry liked the competitive spirit his team showed, but he admitted it is a huge struggle to get this team to play with the same sense of urgency every night.
“One hundred percent,” Gentry said. “I think that’s a great question and I couldn’t agree with you more that we have to find a way to have that urgency night in and night out, not when we’re in a desperate situation. That has to be the norm rather than us trying to pull that out of them. I did think the competitiveness was there tonight and I did think we played with a sense of urgency. … We have to find a way to make sure that’s the norm and not something that just happens occasionally.”
Haliburton was asked to define the team’s identity.
“Great question,” he said. “I don’t know. I think what we talk about is playing fast, playing in transition, but we’ve got to get stops to play in transition. We can’t play fast if we’re getting the ball out of the hoop every play. For us to be who we want to be, we’re going to have to get stops so we can get out and run. That’s what our identity is when we talk about it.”
The Kings are ninth in the NBA in pace this season, but they have slowed considerably since former coach Luke Walton was fired Nov. 21. Gentry has always been known for his uptempo style, but the Kings are 24th in pace over the past eight games. Gentry said that has to change.
“I think the identity of this team has to be that we’re a scrappy team, compete at a high level, play unselfishly, and we still haven’t gotten to the point of playing fast,” Gentry said. “The more we are able to do that and the more we are able to make that part of the personality of our team, I think we’ll put ourselves in a position to win games.”
This story was originally published January 11, 2022 at 4:00 AM.
