SACRAMENTO – If it wasn’t clear before, it’s about time for Vivek Ranadive to remove the interim tag from Doug Christie’s title.
The Kings owner had a birds-eye view of Sacramento’s latest stepping stone with Christie guiding the ship, an impressive 132-127 victory over a very good Houston Rockets team that went into the night with the second-best record in the Western Conference.
Sitting alongside team vice president of basketball operations and long-time NBA coach Alvin Gentry, a few chairs down from the owner’s normal seats which were vacated to make room for the TNT television crew, Vivek saw a team looking very much like the contender everyone expected them to be under Mike Brown when the season began.
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With the exception of a Keon Ellis’ foot injury the Kings guard suffered late in the third quarter, everything came up roses at Golden 1 Center.
“We’re not second-guessing ourselves,” said Malik Monk when asked about the Kings’ play-making during crunch time. “We know exactly what we want to do, and we get to it. We’re confident in whoever has the ball.”
Almost from start to finish, the Sacramento led comfortably and never really was threatened.
Although it got a little dicey toward the end, the Kings ultimately did what they’re supposed to do against short-handed squads. Spurred by another outstanding effort from Domantas Sabonis, Sacramento’s starting five all scored in double figures while Ellis and Trey Lyles provided solid minutes off the bench.
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More telling, when the Rockets made their best run of the night in the fourth quarter the Kings didn’t wilt under the pressure like they have so many times this season. They brushed themselves off, bowed their back and made the plays at the end to hold on for the win.
It’s extremely clear that the Kings’ players have fully embraced Sacramento's recent coaching change and have responded to it exceptionally well.
There was some criticism early that the Christie-led Kings were benefiting from playing teams missing their best players, which was true. But injuries happen across the professional sports landscape, and there’s no apologies needed when teams take advantage of that.
The Rockets fell into that category, as guard Fred Van Vleet did not play because of personal reasons while Jabari Smith (hand fracture) was also held out.
One theme that has continually popped up since Christie stepped in for Brown has been joy. Christie has repeatedly talked about how he wants the Kings’ players to have fun and enjoy what they’re doing while they’re on the court.
Winning, of course, plays a big role in all of that. And under Christie’s watch, there’s been plenty of joy to go around.
“It’s contagious,” Monk said. “I’m always going to have fun playing basketball but especially now, the fans are into it, we’re into it, everybody’s into it. It’s always a joy to see everybody happy.”
Ranadive can keep the good feelings going by giving Christie the full-time gig.