Sources: Kings’ late foul was tactical error, not tanking

SACRAMENTO — The NBA on Wednesday is looking into what Sacramento Kings sources say was a strategy mistake by coach Doug Christie — and not intentional tanking tactics — late in Tuesday’s loss to the Golden State Warriors.

With the Kings leading by one with 3:15 remaining in the game, Christie called for forward Doug McDermott to foul Seth Curry, despite being in the penalty.

The strategy was just a misstep, sources told ESPN, as Christie wanted to use a timeout before he automatically lost it when the clock ticked below three minutes. Sources said Christie miscalculated that the Warriors were in the bonus and it would send Curry, an 86.4% career free throw shooter, to the line, despite more appealing options on the floor to foul if opting to hack a player.

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The Kings lost 110-105.

The mistake was magnified after the buzzer when Warriors forward Draymond Green, in a long back-and-forth about the NBA’s tanking epidemic, insinuated the Kings had done it for the purposes of losing the game.

“I saw a team tonight foul Seth Curry with three minutes to go for no reason,” Green said. “I get fined when I do wrong. Fine the hell out of people.”

Green later said organizations need to be fined more often for blatant tanking moves.

Curry made one of two free throws, tying it at 101. Christie drew up an out-of-timeout design for a McDermott 3 in the huddle and it worked, putting Sacramento up by three after they had trailed by 16.

Sacramento ultimately blew that lead in the final minutes as it dropped to 21-59, tied with the Utah Jazz for the league’s fourth-worst mark and keeping it in position for a high pick in a loaded NBA draft.

The Kings have been without nearly all their high-paid veterans during the stretch run. Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine and De’Andre Hunter have had season-ending surgeries, and DeMar DeRozan and Russell Westbrook weren’t active for Tuesday’s game.

But despite an overarching prioritization of their youth and an organizational understanding that a bottoming out in the final weeks is beneficial, team sources were adamant that the coaches and players on the floor had intent to win Tuesday’s game and the late-game foul was strictly a tactical error.

The Kings have won seven of their last 16 games, jumping ahead of the Indiana Pacers, Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards in the standings.

“Tanking is the last thing [I’d do],” Christie said after a recent win over the Jazz. “I respect the game too much. These young men, in my opinion, when you do things like that, it hurts them.”