Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown shouldered the blame for his team’s continued struggles following a disappointing 113-100 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday. Despite weeks of preaching the importance of focus, execution, and following the game plan, the Kings have failed to show significant improvement, leading Mike Brown to express frustration without raising his voice at his players.
“I didn’t yell at the guys because there’s nothing to yell about. They know exactly what we need to do. It’s about whether or not we go do it,” Brown said after the game. “It starts with me. I’ve got to figure out how to get them to do it.”
The Kings’ issues run deeper than just coaching, with recurring mistakes on both ends of the floor. Defensive breakdowns, a failure to secure rebounds, sloppy passing, and a lack of intensity have plagued the team for weeks. Despite some improvement in defending the paint—Lakers scored 44 points in the paint compared to the 76 the Denver Nuggets scored a few days earlier—the Kings still dominated physically.
Sacramento allowed 15 offensive rebounds, leading to 18 second-chance points, a trend that has continued since a season-high 15 offensive rebounds allowed against the Nuggets. Additionally, the Kings committed 17 turnovers, further hindering their chances of success.
“The way we played both defensively and offensively was not good,” Brown stated. “They touched our paint whenever they wanted, they drove us whenever they wanted. They manhandled us on the boards.”
In light of the numerous mistakes, Brown was forced to burn through his timeouts quickly. He was left with just one timeout for the final 14 minutes of the game, which he used with about four minutes remaining. Despite the challenges, Brown emphasized the need for his players to fight through adversity.
“To be really good in this league, you have to fight through hard. It’s not going to be easy at any time. We just have to make up our mind and decide who we want to be,” Brown added. “Tonight was not a good performance at any level.”
With the Kings struggling to find consistency, Brown hinted at potential lineup changes, although point guard De’Aaron Fox emphasized that the focus should be on executing the game plan, not just who starts.
“We’ve got to go out there and execute the plan,” Fox said. “If we don’t, it means nothing. We keep talking about how good we can be, but until we string together consistent wins, that means nothing.”
As Kings continue to battle for a playoff spot, the pressure mounts to turn things around before it’s too late.
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