After dropping from first to fourth in the NBA Draft lottery standings, the Sacramento Kings forced themselves to make up some ground in the final stretch of the season. On Sunday, they did just that with a 116-99 loss to the Brooklyn Nets. They now sit just half a game behind the Nets to move back into the top three, and just 1.5 games behind the Indiana Pacers for first.
Regardless of their lottery position, this was a poor loss for the Kings. The Nets were on a ten-game losing streak heading into Sunday’s game, and the Kings lost by 17 points, while failing to eclipse the 100-point mark. After the game, Doug Christie dove into what went wrong for the Kings in this loss.
“This is about professionalism,” Christie said. “I thought early that we didn’t meet the level of physicality. Then, the third quarter, we came out and met the level, and just kind of ran out of gas. But that first quarter is not really who we are and what we want to be about, and what we put out when we put on a Sacramento Kings jersey.”