NBA investigated tanking allegation against Sacramento Kings. Here’s what to know

The NBA investigated the Sacramento Kings after Draymond Green suggested they intentionally lost their game Tuesday against the Golden State Warriors. The league determined coach Doug Christie made a tactical error rather than a deliberate attempt to lose.

Here are key takeaways:

• What happened: Christie instructed Doug McDermott to foul Seth Curry with 3:15 left while the Kings led by one. Curry, an 86.4% career free throw shooter, made one of two free throws to tie the game.

• Why he did it: Sources told The Sacramento Bee that Christie wanted to stop the clock to use a timeout before the three-minute mark and mistakenly believed the Kings had a foul to give before putting the Warriors in the bonus.

• The NBA’s conclusion: The league said Christie “made no intentional effort to give the Warriors a shooting foul, or to cause the Kings to lose the game.”

• Green’s reaction: After the Warriors’ 110-105 win, Green said, “I saw a team tonight foul Seth Curry with three minutes to go for no reason. I get fined when I do wrong. Fine the hell out of people.”

• Context: The Kings were missing seven players due to injuries, including Domantas Sabonis, DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Russell Westbrook and Keegan Murray. Christie has repeatedly stated he doesn’t believe in tanking.

• Draft implications: The Kings (21-59) are tied with the Utah Jazz for the fourth-worst record in the NBA, affecting their draft lottery positioning.