Walton demands ‘fairness’ for Fox as frustrations boil over in Kings’ eighth straight loss
Kings coach Luke Walton knows the referees are not to blame for his team’s current eight-game losing streak, but he couldn’t hide his frustration with officials following a 123-111 loss to the Washington Wizards on Wednesday at Golden 1 Center.
Walton received a technical foul late in the fourth quarter after officials made a series of questionable calls against his team. Walton doesn’t want the Kings constantly bickering with officials, but he does want officials to call the game fairly for De’Aaron Fox and the rest of his team.
“I think to a certain extent, especially for someone like De’Aaron that’s such a dynamic player, it is good to bring attention to it because, to me, he should be at the foul line at least 10 times a game,” Walton said. “He’s just too quick and he’s constantly in attack mode, and there’s just no way to keep him in front without putting hands on him. So part of it is good from that standpoint, like ‘Come on, let’s give this young man the respect and fairness that he deserves.’”
Bradley Beal scored 31 points for the Wizards (21-33), who have won four of their last five games. Russell Westbrook posted his 24th triple-double of the season, finishing with 25 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists. Davis Bertans came off the bench to score 16 points.
Fox had 33 points, five rebounds, six assists and six steals for the Kings (22-33), who haven’t won since March 29. Fox became the first Kings player to post at least 30 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals in a game since John Salmons did it against the New York Knicks on Jan. 2, 2008.
Buddy Hield scored 19 points on 6-of-13 shooting with four 3-pointers for the Kings. Hield missed Monday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans due to illness, ending his streak of 272 consecutive games. He was cleared to play Wednesday after receiving an IV earlier in the day.
Harrison Barnes added 18 points and seven rebounds, but he also committed six turnovers. Hassan Whiteside had 12 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots. Rookie Tyrese Haliburton had eight points, six assists and a career-high six steals.
The Kings came out cold, missing their first five shots. The Wizards could hardly miss, going 7 of 8 to start the game. Washington led 42-31 at the end of the first quarter and went up by 18 midway through the second, but a 12-2 run helped Sacramento cut the deficit to 10 at the half.
The Kings cut the deficit to six on a couple of occasions in the third quarter, but they trailed 93-83 going into the fourth. Walton was incensed over a series of calls and missed calls as the Wizards pushed their lead back up to 17 points.
Questionable calls
The Kings disputed a delay of game call following a spectacular dunk by Terence Davis and argued the Wizards should have been called for a delay when a similar play occurred late in the game. The Kings also felt officials erred on an out-of-bounds call and missed a traveling violation when Deni Avdija shuffled his feet on an inbound play in front of Sacramento’s bench.
Fox, who was fined $20,000 for criticizing officials earlier this week, was whistled for a technical foul early in the fourth quarter before Walton received his with 1:27 remaining.
“It gets frustrating sometimes,” Walton said. “And part of that is how we’re playing right now, and I get that. We can’t just sit here and blame refs for our poor play. We have to be better but when you see the same thing happening on different ends, and then you get different answers, that’s frustrating because we’re playing the same game by the same set of rules. I watch about eight games a night and I see people throw the ball to the ref or to the other team’s player all the time and it’s not called, but it was called on us, and then they did the exact same thing and the answer was the exact opposite.”
Holmes ruled out
The Kings announced before the game center Richaun Holmes will miss at least three games after an MRI confirmed he suffered a right hamstring strain in Monday’s 117-110 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.
Holmes was ruled for Wednesday’s game and will not accompany the team on its upcoming two-game road trip. Walton elected to start Damian Jones in place of Holmes. Jones signed a 10-day contract with the Kings on April 7. He had five points, four rebounds and two steals in 16 minutes.
Holmes is averaging career highs of 14.1 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.6 blocks. He has 20 double-doubles this season, including 11 in his last 19 games.
Up next
The Kings flew out immediately after the game to start a tough two-game road trip. They will face the Phoenix Suns on the second night of a back-to-back at Talking Stick Resort Arena on Thursday before visiting the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.
The Suns (39-15) are the hottest team in the league. They have won 10 of their last 11 games and 28 of 34 dating back to Feb. 5. They are led by Devin Booker (25.7 ppg), Chris Paul (15.8 ppg, 8.7 apg) and Deandre Ayton (15.0 ppg, 10.8 rpg).
The Kings split a two-game set against the Suns in Sacramento at the beginning of the season, winning 106-103 on Dec. 26 before losing 116-100 the following night. Fox had 24 points and seven assists in the win. He was held to 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting in the loss.
Kings upcoming schedule
April 15 at Phoenix Suns, 7 p.m.
April 18 at Dallas Mavericks, 4:30 p.m.
April 20 vs. Minnesota Timberwolves, 7 p.m.
April 21 vs. Minnesota Timberwolves, 7 p.m.
April 25 at Golden State Warriors, 7 p.m.
