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An NBA investigation has determined the Sacramento Kings were not trying to lose \u2014 as alleged by Draymond Green \u2014 when they fouled Seth Curry in the final minutes of Tuesday\u2019s game against the Golden State Warriors.<\/p>\n
The Kings found themselves in the crosshairs of the NBA\u2019s tanking crackdown after coach Doug Christie made a peculiar decision late in his team\u2019s 110-105 loss to the Warriors at Chase Center in San Francisco. The NBA determined it was a tactical error and not tanking, saying Christie \u201cmade no intentional effort to give the Warriors a shooting foul, or to cause the Kings to lose the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
The controversy unfolded after Christie called for an intentional foul late in Tuesday\u2019s game against Golden State. The Kings led by one and the Warriors were in the bonus when Christie instructed Doug McDermott to foul Curry with 3:15 to play in the fourth quarter. Curry, who is an 86.4% career free throw shooter, made one of two free throws to tie the game.<\/p>\n
Sources told The Sacramento Bee that Christie called for a foul because he wanted to stop the clock to take a timeout before the three-minute mark, and he thought the Kings had a foul to give before putting the Warriors in the bonus. Teams are limited to two timeouts in the final three minutes, so coaches will often use extra timeouts before they lose them automatically.<\/p>\n
During the timeout, Christie designed a play that resulted in a 3-pointer for McDermott, giving the Kings a 104-101 lead with 2:53 remaining. The Warriors outscored the Kings 9-1 over the final 2:38 to secure the win.<\/p>\n
Christie has repeatedly stated that he is playing to win, saying he doesn\u2019t believe in tanking.<\/p>\n
Before losing their last two games, the Kings had won seven of 14 despite missing Drew Eubanks (thumb), De\u2019Andre Hunter (eye), Zach LaVine (finger), Keegan Murray (ankle), Domantas Sabonis (knee) and Russell Westbrook (toe) due to injuries. The Kings had the worst record in the NBA as recently as March 9, but they are now tied with the Utah Jazz for the fourth-worst record.<\/p>\n
During a broader discussion about tanking after Tuesday\u2019s game, Green associated the Kings with the Jazz and Indiana Pacers, who were fined earlier this season for violating the NBA\u2019s player participation policy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw a team tonight foul Seth Curry with three minutes to go for no reason,\u201d Green said. \u201cI get fined when I do wrong. Fine the hell out of people.\u201d<\/p>\n
League officials determined that would not be necessary in this case.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe NBA has completed an investigation of the Sacramento Kings and Head Coach Doug Christie\u2019s decision to foul intentionally late in the team\u2019s game against the Golden State Warrior on April 7,\u201d the NBA said in a statement issued Thursday. \u201cThe league\u2019s investigation determined that Christie mistakenly believed that the Warriors were not in the penalty and therefore instructed his team to foul in an attempt to stop the clock and utilize one of the team\u2019s remaining timeouts. The investigation found that Christie made no intentional effort to give the Warriors a shooting foul, or to cause the Kings to lose the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
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