Acting Kings coach Doug Christie didn’t mind seeing tempers flare between Maurice Harkless and Buddy Hield on the Sacramento bench during Sunday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs. Neither did Tyrese Haliburton.
Christie said they were just “communicating.”
A heated exchange and some hot shooting helped the shorthanded Kings pull off a 121-114 victory over the Spurs at Golden 1 Center despite missing seven players due to injury and COVID-19 protocols. Hield scored 18 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter, going 7 of 9 from the field and 4 of 4 from 3-point range.
“Man, Buddy was big,” Christie said. “That’s what I truly expect. Buddy shoots the ball at such an incredible level. I get to see him shoot the basketball every day and I put him in the highest regard of all-time shooters. He can truly shoot it like, ‘Wow,’ so every time he shoots it, for me, it seems like it’s going in, and tonight they did.”
Harkless appeared to be directing considerable frustration at Hield as Christie addressed the team at the end of the first quarter. Christie and assistant coaches Rico Hines and Lindsey Harding tried to calm Harkless, who was seen yelling and gesturing emphatically at Hield.
“That’s good,” Christie said. “You care. You’ve got a pulse. Show me that this is what you want. On top of it, we constantly ask for communication. They’re communicating. How they’re communicating, I’ll leave that up to everybody else to judge, and the fact that they work it out together and then we keep it moving, I’m so here for that because if you hold it in, then what happens?”
Haliburton was asked if it was good to see players holding each other accountable.
“Yeah, no question,” Haliburton said. “I think that’s needed for us because I think we’re all in the right place. I think communicating, people might call it arguing, but I think everybody’s head is in the right place. Everyone wants to win and it’s just communication.
“I think if we’re going to make mistakes, they need to be aggressive mistakes, mistakes that, our heads and our hearts are in the right place, (like) sending two to the ball or whatever the case may be. But we’ve just got to do a better job of holding each other accountable because that will go down the line and make everybody else do it.”
Haliburton had 27 points, a career-high-tying 11 assists, four rebounds and three steals for the Kings (13-18), who improved to 2-1 since Christie stepped in as acting head coach. Haliburton made 12 of 19 from the field and 3 of 5 from 3-point range.
Damian Jones came off the bench to post a career-high 23 points and eight rebounds, making 9 of 15 field-goal attempts and 2 of 2 from beyond the arc. Harrison Barnes was big, too, finishing with 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
Dejounte Murray had 25 points, seven rebounds and nine assists for the Spurs (11-18), who were coming off a 128-126 victory over the Utah Jazz. Lonnie Walker IV had 19 points, Bryn Forbes added 18 points and Keldon Johnson recorded a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
The Kings were shorthanded again Sunday as they continue to deal with their first major COVID-19 outbreak. Interim coach Alvin Gentry missed his third game after testing positive for the virus on Wednesday. De’Aaron Fox, Davion Mitchell, Terence Davis, Louis King, Marvin Bagley III and Alex Len all missed their second game after entering NBA health and safety protocols. Richaun Holmes missed his sixth consecutive game due to a right eye laceration.
The Kings had 11 players available, including three G League callups and another player, Justin Robinson, who signed a 10-day contract hours before Friday’s loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
Christie said it was good to see Sacramento’s depleted roster pull together to win a game, not knowing when Gentry and their teammates will return.
“Until AG is back at the helm, anything we can do to scratch and claw and try to hold everything together, and go out there and compete at a consistently high level, that’s really our aim and our goal,” Christie said. “If you can compete at a consistently high level, you execute and you take care of the basketball, the byproduct of that is usually wins. When we do that, we play really good basketball, and when we don’t, we find ourselves in certain situations. So, for us, it’s fantastic, but it’s more about holding onto the rope until AG gets back to give us an opportunity to compete.”
