Sacramento Kings lacked ‘fight, grit’ in Game 3 loss to Warriors; know the way for Game 4

The Kings face one of their toughest challenges of the season Sunday when they play the Golden State Warriors in Game 4 following a 114-97 loss in Game 3 on Thursday that cut their series lead to 2-1.

It’s a difficult test, but head coach Mike Brown believes the answers are straightforward when it comes to leaving San Francisco up 3-1 after Sunday’s game.

“We gotta come out, and we gotta be more physical than what we did tonight — on both ends,” Brown said.

Brown pointed to offensive rebounds — the Warriors had 18 leading to a 24-12 advantage in second-chance points — and turnovers. The Kings turned it over 15 times, leading to 22 points for the home team, while Sacramento scored just seven on the Warriors’ 11 giveaways.

“We gotta set better screens. We gotta be stronger with the ball,” Brown continued. “On the defensive end of the floor, we gotta get up into them. They had a lot of freedom of movement tonight that they hadn’t had in the previous two games because we weren’t as physical as we were in those first two games. So, it’s pretty simple, in my opinion. We just gotta go do it now.”

The Kings controlled those hustle stats in the first two games of the series in Sacramento. They had 41 points off Warriors turnovers to just 14 for Golden State. And they had the advantage in offensive rebounds, 29-18.

“I just feel like we didn’t have that grit, that fight that we had in the first two home games,” Kings center Domantas Sabonis said. “I feel like today they were more physical and it really affected us.”

Kevon Looney had 20 rebounds on the night going against Sabonis, including nine on the offensive end. Looney led the NBA in offensive rebounds during the regular season, while Sabonis led the league in rebounds overall. The Warriors made all nine of their shots off Looney’s passes, according to ESPN.

“We just gotta go box him out, no matter where he is on the floor,” Sabonis said. “They shoot a lot of 3s (the Warriors had 50 attempts from 3). They’re long rebounds, so they’re kind of in that middle area above the free-throw line.”

Another key factor for Brown that might be less simple: getting his ancillary players going. Rookie starting forward Keegan Murray and Sacramento’s second unit, featuring Malik Monk, Davion Mitchell, Terence Davis, Trey Lyles and Alex Len, combined to make just 6 of 32 shots (19%).

For Murray, it was a third straight rough outing in his first ever playoffs. He had six points on 2-of-7 shooting after scoring four points combined in the first two games of the series.

The 22-year-old is the only rookie in the rotation for either team. And after setting an NBA rookie record for 3s made in the regular season, Murray is just 1 of 5 from distance, and didn’t have an attempt in Game 2.

“Not many rookies are starting for a playoff team and playing a significant role like he is,” Brown said. “This is great for him to go through. We want him to stay aggressive. We want him to keep shooting the ball. We feel like he’s getting some pretty good looks, they’re just not going in. I think they will go in, that’s why we want him to keep shooting it — and then try to play defense the right way and then get out and get some easy (shots) in transition.

“It’s new for a lot of guys, but this is really new for him. We love him and we’re going to have patience with him. We’re going to give him a chance to succeed, but he’s gotta go through these growing pains in order to figure it out.”

De’Aaron Fox paced the Kings with 26 points and nearly had a triple-double with 10 rebounds and nine assists. He sounded optimistic about where his team stood after the game.

“I mean, we’re still up,” Fox said. “It’s not like we’re down in the series. This is a tough place to win at, and I think everybody in the locker room knows that. But we have to control what we can control. That would be limiting their second-chance points and getting out in transition. Those are the things that are effort stats that we can control. ... But if we don’t give up 20 offensive rebounds, this might look like a different game.”