‘They manhandled us’: Kings coach Mike Brown sounds off after loss to Los Angeles Lakers
Kings coach Mike Brown couldn’t hide his disappointment after another frustrating loss.
Brown had some pointed remarks for his team following a 113-110 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday before a sellout crowd of 17,832 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
“At some point, we have to make up our minds and decide who we want to be,” Brown said. “Because tonight was not a good performance at any level in terms of trying to let the Lakers and everybody else know that we want to get back to where we feel we should be in the standings.”
Austin Reaves scored 25 points to lead the Lakers (15-12). Anthony Davis posted a monster double-double with 21 points, 20 rebounds and six blocked shots. LeBron James added 19 points, six rebounds and seven assists while setting another NBA record.
De’Aaron Fox scored 26 points for the Kings (13-15), who fell to 0-2 on their current five-game homestand.
Domantas Sabonis had 18 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. Malik Monk scored 17 points but committed five turnovers.
The Kings were outscored 18-6 in second-chance points. They were outscored 17-0 in points off turnovers in the second half.
“Give the Lakers a lot of credit, they won the ballgame, but the way we played both defensively and offensively was not good,” Brown said.
“I know they shot 40% from the field for the game, but they touched our paint whenever they wanted, they drove us whenever they wanted, which collapsed our defense and allowed them to shoot very easy catch-and-shoot 3s. They manhandled us on the boards. Fifteen offensive rebounds with 18 second-chance points, especially in a low-scoring game, is hard to overcome.”
Brown keeps saying the same things, but the Kings keep getting the same results.
“We’ve got to go out there and execute the plan,” Fox said. “Once you step out there, you have what he said in mind, but if you’re just thinking about it and not doing it, that means nothing.”
Lakers coach JJ Redick was far more satisfied with the outcome.
“I really felt like this might be my favorite win we’ve had all season just because we weren’t efficient offensively,” Redick said. “But because of our crashing, because we limited them in transition, limited them to one shot, all the things we’ve preached that give yourself a chance to win every night if you have an off shooting night like we did tonight, the group was great.”
The Kings and Lakers will clash again Saturday in Sacramento. They will conclude the season series when the Kings face the Lakers for the third time in 10 days Dec. 28 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
The Lakers handed the Kings a 131-127 loss on Oct. 26 in Los Angeles. James scored 16 points in a span of 2:59 to fuel a 21-0 fourth-quarter run, helping his team snap a five-game losing streak against Sacramento.
The Kings had won five in a row, eight of nine and 12 of their last 16 against the Lakers dating back to the end of the 2019-20 season, but the Lakers have won both games this season.
The Kings went 0 of 4 from the field with two turnovers while going scoreless for the first three minutes. They found themselves trailing 15-2 after going 1 of 7 from the field to begin the game, continuing a disturbing trend of slow starts for Sacramento.
A driving layup by DeMar DeRozan and a three-point play by Fox sparked a 13-3 run as the Kings battled back to get within three at 22-19. The Lakers led 37-28 after going 7 of 16 (.438) from 3-point range in the first quarter.
Davis briefly went to the Lakers’ locker room after aggravating a shoulder injury in the opening period. He returned in the second quarter to see James make history. James, who made his NBA debut in Sacramento on Oct. 29, 2003, eclipsed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record of 57,446 regular-season minutes played early in the second period.
“I’ve been around a lot of players, and this is not a knock to any other player I’ve been around, but mentally he’s about as smart as anybody that I’ve been around,” said Brown, who coached James with the Cleveland Cavaliers. “This man is a genius upstairs. His IQ is at an extremely high level, and it says a lot for him to be able to play as many minutes as he has. As a coach, it’s hard to keep him off the floor.”
The Kings came back to take their first lead of the game when Monk hit a 3-pointer to cap a 13-2 run. They went up 54-49 when Monk threw down an alley-oop dunk on a lob from Sabonis, but the Lakers responded with a 9-0 run to reclaim the lead.
Los Angeles led 62-58 at the halftime break. Going into the game, the Lakers were 27th in the NBA in 3-point attempts (33.4) and 20th in 3-point shooting (.347), but they went 9 of 20 (.450) in the first half against the Kings.
The game was tied when Fox went to the bench after getting whistled for his fifth foul with 6:47 to play in the third quarter. The Kings trailed 86-80 at the end of the third and went down by nine at the start of the fourth.
The Lakers led 97-92 when Sabonis was called for a shooting foul on Davis with 4:40 to play. Sabonis was then assessed a technical foul for arguing the call. The Lakers made all three free throws to go up by eight points. A subsequent 3-pointer by Reaves put them up by 11 as Kings fans began to head for the exits.
Sacramento’s struggles have magnified flaws in the construction of the roster, but Brown, who is always emphasizing accountability, said it is his responsibility to get the team to play better.
“It is what it is,” Brown said. “That’s why I didn’t yell at the guys. There’s nothing to yell about. They know exactly what we have to do. It’s whether or not we go do it. Tonight, we didn’t go do it. It starts with me. Somehow, some way, I’ve got to figure out how to get them to do it.”
This story was originally published December 19, 2024 at 10:56 PM.
