Winless, but not on the clock
Zero and five. The Sacramento Kings had a chance to stop the slide against New Orleans on Thursday night and instead dropped a 132-120 decision to a Pelicans team that hadn’t won a game either. Questions about Doug Christie’s job followed within minutes.
According to The New York Times, the noise around the league had been building for days. Several people read the start as the sort that costs a coach his seat, especially if Sacramento couldn’t pick up a win on this four-game road swing.
A team source with knowledge of the Kings’ plans pushes back. Speaking on condition of anonymity because these discussions rarely go public, the source says there is an internal belief that Christie deserves a fair evaluation with a far healthier group than the one he has had so far.
no renewal
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A road trip with no easy exits
The schedule won’t help the argument. The trip isn’t finished: Memphis is next on Saturday, then Dallas on Monday. Two more losses would make it seven straight to open the season, and patience tends to thin as that number climbs.
There was one bright spot in New Orleans. Rookie Darius Acuff Jr. handed out 14 assists, matching the most by a teenager on record, a mark shared with LeBron James, Zach LaVine and Josh Giddey.
For now, the message out of Sacramento is steady. Whether it holds through Saturday in Memphis is another matter.
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