Kings coach Mike Brown and Sixth Man of the Year candidate Malik Monk exchanged words in the third quarter of Tuesday's game, but that was the least of Sacramento's worries at the end of the night.
The undermanned Charlotte Hornets ended their 11-game losing streak with a stunning 111-104 victory over the Kings of Inconsistency. Excessive turnovers, poor free throw shooting and a general sense of lethargy contributed to Sacramento's worst loss of the season before a stunned sellout crowd of 17,983 at the Golden 1 Center.
“Our performance down the stretch and our sense of urgency on both sides of the ball was alarming,” Brown said. “It was not good. And I say that because we probably had two or three unforced turnovers down the stretch. We didn't give ourselves a chance to shoot the ball, which led to them getting easy baskets in transition.
“And then our half-court defense, we literally just stand on the weak side of the court and give up a ice-cold layup in a crucial part of the game. So, having no awareness, no sense of urgency, it wasn't a good feeling to be out there and be a part of it, and obviously I had a lot to do with that because I didn't seem to have our people ready.”
Terry Rozier scored 34 points for the Hornets (8-24), who won for the first time since Dec. 8. Miles Bridges had 27 points and PJ Washington came off the bench to add 17 on 7 of 13 shooting.
De'Aaron Fox had 30 points, five rebounds and six assists for the Kings (19-13), but he made 11 of 25 from the field and 3 of 10 from 3-point range. Officially, Domantas Sabonis recorded his 27th double-double of the season with 23 points and 18 rebounds, but unofficially he recorded the kind of triple-double no player wants after recording 11 turnovers, the highest of his career.
The Kings recorded 21 total turnovers, including six in the fourth quarter. Fox only had three, but two of them came in the final 44.2 seconds to decide the game.
“They have 21 turnovers in a game where they were probably all unforced,” Brown said. “Literally, we just couldn’t hold onto the ball. That and then a jump in the air (before passing). We kept our feet on the ball, possession after possession, throwing the ball to the opponent and/or taking attacks, but having 21 turnovers in a ball game, especially when the turnovers are not forced, simply takes away the chance to score. “
The Kings had won eight of 11 games since Dec. 8, but looked sloppy from the moment they took the floor for the layup line.
“Honestly, I think we just gave the ball away,” Fox said. “I don’t think they did anything that made us turn the ball over. I think we were just too careless with the ball tonight.”
Fox said he wouldn't think twice about the loss, especially because the Kings will now face a much better Orlando Magic team on Wednesday for the second night in a row.
“I told (the team) that you have to take a defeat like that and it could be six defeats in a row. So personally, I don’t think about another defeat when I leave this building.”
Monk v. Brown
Monk and Brown have built a strong relationship with push and pull from both sides. Brown has championed Monk's case in the past, most notably in a viral video in which Brown told Monk, “I'm about to bust my damn ass.”
This statement came when Monk complained to the referees during an intrasquad battle at the team's training camp. Recently, Brown praised Monk for his maturity because he is often the one to rein in his coaches when they complain too much to the officials.
Monk, who spent four seasons with the Hornets, suffered a severe strain entering the game in the first quarter against his former team. He finished the game with a minus-11 rating in 4:59 after missing a wild 3 early in the shot clock, committing a careless turnover and losing his man on defense. Brown benched him for the remainder of the first half, as he had done with Kevin Huerter and Harrison Barnes in the past.
Monk's absence added to the unease in the building as fans wondered why Davion Mitchell (9), Trey Lyles (8), Huerter (7) and Alex Len (6) had logged more minutes than Monk, who had a season-high of Had 27 points on 10-of-13 shooting in Sunday's win over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Monk came off the bench late in the third quarter and hit two 3-pointers in a 41-second span to give the Kings a 76-70 lead. Monk turned toward the sideline and shot Brown a look of frustration — perhaps even defiance. Moments later, Brown and Monk exchanged words during a timeout, but they appeared to quickly resolve their differences.
“Heat of the moment,” Brown said. “Malik and I – I think everyone saw it – but Malik and I have exchanged ideas before. This wasn’t the first time and I would bet it won’t be the last, so it’s not a big deal.”
Brown left Monk in the game for the remainder of the third quarter, replaced him briefly in the fourth, and then brought him back to finish the game, but Monk finished the game with just six points, three rebounds, two assists and a minus-21 rating .
Starts with Chris Duarte
Brown again opted to use Chris Duarte in place of Huerter, who played 104 games over two seasons for the Kings before coming off the bench in the final two games. Brown said before the game that his decision was “not a one-time thing.”
“We have a lot of selfless people on this team,” Brown said. “These guys are connected. They all want to win and at the end of the day I have to make decisions that I think are best for the team at that time and I will be the first to admit that I could be wrong. I don't have all the right answers. I've been wrong many times, and I could be wrong here too, but I'll try. … It's one of those things that we'll just play through, wait and see how it goes, but it wasn't a one-time thing. It is a change we have made now and we will continue to look towards the future.”
Duarte finished the game with 12 points, seven rebounds, four assists, one steal and a plus-three rating, second only to Fox with a plus-four rating.
On the first possession of the game, Duarte made a deflection that led to a steal from Keegan Murray. Sabonis missed a layup on the other end, but Duarte was there to knock down the offensive rebound and scored on a putback to give the Kings their first basket of the night.
Moments later, Duarte knocked down a corner 3-pointer after a sensational baseline pass from Fox, giving the Kings a 13-6 lead in the opening minutes. The Hornets came back to take a 25-21 lead after the Kings shot an unsightly 30.8% in the first period.
The Kings led 50-45 at halftime but struggled to find a rhythm on offense. Fox and Murray were a combined 1 of 13 goals early in the game. The Kings shot 41.3% from the field and had nine turnovers in the first half.
Brown did not believe the addition of a new starter affected the team's offensive rhythm.
“The turnovers didn't have much to do with false readings or anything like that … so I don't think it had anything to do with that,” Brown said. “Chris has started three games now with these four guys. The first time he did it was in Dallas (November 19th) and we scored 133 points or something like that. The second time was (Sunday) in Memphis and it was one of our highest offensive numbers of the season.”
Free throws
The Kings went 10 of 17 at the free throw line and shot 58.8%. They rank last in the NBA in free throw shooting this season at 73.2%, with a rate of 63.3% over the last three games.
“We’re shooting just as many, if not more, free throws this year than we did last year,” Brown said. “We just have to have guys get to the line and knock it down. … I thought we were pretty loose tonight, so maybe it was a mental thing, but obviously we're 30th in the league so overall we're not doing well.”
Next
The Kings will continue their four-game home series when they host the Magic on Wednesday.
Both teams will compete against each other for the second night in a row. The Magic (19-14) opened a tough four-game road trip with a 112-107 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Sunday before suffering a 121-115 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday.
Paolo Banchero is averaging a team-high 21.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists. Franz Wagner averages 21.1 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists.
Upcoming schedule
Jan. 3 vs. Orlando Magic
Jan. 5 against the Toronto Raptors
Jan. 7 vs. New Orleans Pelicans
January 9 at Detroit Pistons
Jan. 10 at Charlotte Hornets
This story was originally published on January 3, 2024 at 12:55 a.m.
Related stories from Sacramento Bee
Jason Anderson is the beat writer for The Sacramento Bee's Kings. A native of Sacramento, he is a graduate of Fresno State University, where he studied journalism and college basketball under the late Jerry Tarkanian.