Christie and Kings ‘proud’ of first win under interim coach against Mavs originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SACRAMENTO – The Kings earned their first win under interim coach Doug Christie on Monday, but the product itself wasn’t much different than what Sacramento put out while Mike Brown was in charge.
There were still the usual suspects: lack of proper defense of the three-point shot, lack of attention to detail, and general carelessness in taking care of the ball.
That it ended with a win was pretty incredible, especially since the Kings were pressured by a group of anonymous Dallas Mavericks backups for most of the night in his 110-100 victory.
“It was ugly, but we got the win,” Kings center Domantas Sabonis said after his 28thth Double-double of the 2024-25 NBA season.
That was the prevailing sentiment floating around the Golden 1 Center following the Kings’ first home win since Dec. 8. Yes, the game itself was far from picturesque, but it still ended with a victory.
Perhaps that was the reason the Kings opted to part ways with Brown. They were the same flawed team that took the field on Monday, but the difference was that Brown’s team blew numerous big leads in the fourth quarter, while the Christie-led unit held firm in the end and took the win.
“Really proud of the guys,” Christie said. “Obviously it didn’t start the way we wanted. Offensively we didn’t run at the same pace as us (against the Lakers), but defensively I took a little step. There are still levels to this.
“More than anything, it’s about winning.”
Professional sports, outside of gymnastics or martial arts, do not award style points. The only thing that really matters, for the fans and, above all, for the owners, is winning and losing.
The Kings had lost enough things that Brown was sent packing less than two years after being the unanimous NBA Coach of the Year.
It is unknown how long Christie will carry the interim label or if she will eventually be offered the top job full-time.
In the meantime, however, the former Kings player intends to bring the fun back to Golden 1.
“I want them to enjoy it and play with joy at the same time,” Christie said. “But understand that when it comes to business, we go after them.
“That’s what I want our fans to feel, so that when they come to our arena they know that there will be a sense of pride for what we have on our chest and on our back, that we are coming to offer them a product that they can be proud of.”
To help encourage that, Christie made some minor changes. During a timeout, he had players lock arms in the huddle as a sign of unity.
Afterward, Christie seemed pleased with the way his team responded after digging an 18-point hole in the first quarter.
“The process of improvement is facing adversity, facing those things and overcoming them.” Christie said proudly.
Inside the Kings locker room, the players were equally proud. Having started the season with high hopes only to see them dashed less than two months into the season, and then going through a coaching change, they needed some kind of good news.
“I don’t think we necessarily know how much it has to do with Mike not being there, but I think we needed this for us,” Keon Ellis said. “Obviously we’ve been struggling, so getting a win helps us get back on track. Hopefully we can use this to continue in the next two games.”