The season is just 11 games old for the Sacramento Kings, and the squad is in danger of imploding.
With eight losses already, the Kings will try to notch a much-needed victory when they host the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night.
Sacramento coach Doug Christie went on a rant prior to Tuesday’s game, and the Kings later were outclassed in the fourth quarter while falling 122-108 to the visiting Denver Nuggets.
A report surfaced earlier in the day claiming the Kings plan to trade some veterans and go into rebuilding mode. Christie didn’t take any questions and smacked the table before walking away.
“Change is hard,” he said. “It’s hard. But understand — and we understand — that we’re not there yet. But we’re about to work at it like crazy. We will totally get there. And it will be bumpy. It will because change is like that. But buckle up. For the real ones, buckle up.”
Sacramento’s loss to the Nuggets was its fourth defeat in the last five games. The Kings trailed by one point early in the fourth quarter before Denver took control with a 16-2 surge.
Domantas Sabonis had 19 points and eight rebounds for Sacramento, while his backup, Drew Eubanks, had 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field. Russell Westbrook had 14 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds and continues to spark the Kings when he’s on the floor.
On the other hand, Dennis Schroder, who has started all 11 games, has just five total points on 1-of-19 shooting over the last three contests.
Christie said after the game that having Westbrook and Schroder change roles is possible but also said “we’re considering everything.”
“This is about us playing at a high level,” Christie said. “For 24 minutes, probably 30, that’s not enough. We need a 48-minue effort to win in this league, especially against a team like that. That’s a championship-level team. You can’t play for stretches. We have to go get it done, period.”
The Hawks enter the second contest of a four-game trip on a high note. Vit Krejci came off the bench to establish career highs of 28 points and eight 3-pointers as Atlanta notched a 105-102 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night.
The Hawks overcame a 17-point deficit, with Krejci sparking the comeback. He missed just 2 of 10 3-point attempts.
“Once I hit those three 3s in a row, that’s when I started feeling really good,” said Krejci, whose final trey was a straightaway bank with 36 seconds left that gave the Hawks a seven-point lead.
“We needed this spark from Vit,” Atlanta big man Kristaps Porzingis said afterward. “We just didn’t have it early in the game. But when Vit came in, he hit a few of those 3s and you saw not only his confidence, but the team’s confidence just kept on building.”
Krejci also had 17 points two nights earlier when the Hawks rolled to a 122-102 home win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
The productive performances come shortly after Atlanta coach Quin Snyder had a conversation with the 25-year-old Czech and assured him he would see more playing time.
Atlanta’s Nickeil Alexander-Walker (back injury) is questionable for Wednesday’s game. Star Trae Young (knee sprain) remains out and will miss at least two more weeks.
