It was just two days after Christmas when the Sacramento Kings decided to part ways with head coach Mike Brown. It was just two seasons prior in 2022-23 where he was named Coach of the Year unanimously for ending the Kings 16-year playoff drought. A disappointing 13-18 start in 2024-25 made Sacramento’s front office decide to make a coaching change. Inserted was Doug Christie, someone who previously played in five seasons for the Kings in the early 2000s. It was all good vibes at the start as the Kings played excellent basketball after he was promoted. Fast forward to today though, and Christie and Sacramento are barely hanging on to a Play-In Tournament position.
Good Vibes After Doug Christie’s Start With Kings Are Long Gone
Christie And Kings Suffer Blowout Loss To Magic
The Kings did lose Christie’s head coaching debut on December 28 against the Los Angeles Lakers. They followed that up though with seven wins in a row and also 10 wins in the 11 games following that defeat. The offense sparkled as they scored no less than 110 points in any of those 11 outings and at least 123 in seven of them. Unfortunately, the winning ways became much less frequent, especially of late.
On Saturday, they lost in blowout fashion at the hands of the Orlando Magic by the score of 121-91. That dropped their record to 36-38 with just eight games remaining. They did win their prior game against the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday, but they lost four in a row and eight of 10 before that.
Their two top players to start the season, De’Aaron Fox (traded) and Domantas Sabonis (often out of lineup of late), not being around hasn’t helped. Fox was traded to the San Antonio Spurs on February 3. Sacramento is 12-14 since doing so. Sabonis hasn’t played in nine of the Kings last 15 contests. The team went 3-6 in those games he missed.
Play-In Tournament Is No Guarantee
There was a time when it looked like Sacramento could find a way to be a top-six team in the West, thus avoiding the Play-In Tournament. Now, it’s unclear if they can even qualify for that. At 36-38, they are 10th in the Western Conference. The Dallas Mavericks are a half-game up on them with a 37-38 record. The Phoenix Suns are 11th at 35-39, just a game back of the Kings.
The Kings do own the tiebreaker over the Mavericks due to a 3-0 season sweep over them. They currently hold the tiebreaker over the Suns, but that could change. While Sacramento has won two of three from Phoenix, they play each other in the regular season finale. If the Suns were to win that, they would take over the tiebreaker due to a better record in the Pacific Division.
After a 10-2 start as a head coach, Christie’s Kings are 13-18 since. Since he has the position in an interim role, it’s hard to imagine him receiving the gig full-time if they don’t even make the Play-In Tournament. It’s pertinent for the 54-year-old to have his team finish strong. The Kings next play on Monday against the Indiana Pacers.
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