After Sunday’s 126-125 loss to the Golden State Warriors in Game 4, Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown spoke candidly about his team’s reliance on calls from officials, adding that it’s a bad habit that needs to fixed.
“All of our guys are driving into two, sometimes three, guys in transition and begging for a call,” Brown said via NBC Sports California. “We can’t continue to do that. It’s a great learning experience for our guys to see because we wasted a ton of possessions in transition driving and just throwing up some crazy stuff.”
Several times in the second half of Sunday’s loss, the Kings did as Brown described, wasting critical possessions down the stretch.
While Brown said his squad would continue to play fast, he warned that they are not going to beat the Warriors by depending on whistles, especially when those quick one-and-done possessions allow Golden State to fire back.
“If I’m a referee, the shots that we’re taking at the rim in transition, I ain’t calling neither, cause you’re begging for a foul,” Brown said. “You can’t drive to the rim and beg for a foul every single possession, and they run it back at us because they have a numbers advantage.”
Late in the fourth quarter, for instance, Malik Monk grabbed a rebound and immediately drove to the basket, tossing up a prayer against two defenders. With Golden State leading 126-121 with 42.1 seconds to go, the empty possession should have sealed the win for the Warriors. A rare mental mistake by Steph Curry kept the Kings alive, though.
When Monk’s shot came up short, Curry pulled a Chris Webber, calling a timeout the Warriors didn’t possess. After Monk’s technical free throw, De’Aaron Fox drilled a three-pointer to cut the Warriors’ lead to one.
Following a Curry miss on the other end, Sacramento had a chance to win at the buzzer. Harrison Barnes’ three came up short as the clock hit zeros.
Now tied at two wins apiece, the Warriors/Kings series has been whittled down to a best of three. The series continues on Wednesday, when the Warriors play host for Game 5 — start-time TBD.
