Fox calls out Kings’ lack of enjoyment as losses keep piling up

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Fox calls out Kings’ lack of enjoyment as losses keep piling up originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SACRAMENTO – There are numerous ways the Kings can get their season back on track and salvage what remains: Better ball movement, improved interior defense, boxing out for rebounds and knowing the proper assignments on any given play.

The list is long, although point guard De’Aaron Fox believes there’s more to it than just fixing the fundamentals.

“At some point – and this is something we talked about before the game – you have to find a sense of like enjoyment playing the game,” Fox said after the Kings lost their third consecutive game Saturday, coming up short against the Los Angeles Lakers for the second time in three days at Golden 1 Center. “Obviously we all want to win. Everybody needs to do whatever it takes to win, whether it’s make shots or doing the little things.

“But at some point, you have to have enjoyment winning or enjoyment playing. You enjoy playing with each other, you enjoy going out there and doing the hard things, and then comes winning.”

It’s no shock that a lot of the Kings’ shine has worn off. They came into the season with high hopes that were fueled by the re-signing of Sixth Man guru Malik Monk and the marquee addition of DeMar DeRozan.

Those moves added to an already strong core of players like Fox, Domantas Sabonis and Keegan Murray, giving hope to fans in the state capital that this year’s Kings squad might be capable of winning an NBA playoff series for the first time since 2003-04.

Instead, it’s been one gut punch after the other.

Sacramento has had serious problems starting games on the right foot, often digging a hole that’s been impossible to climb out of.

If it hasn’t been rough beginnings, it has been awful finishes. The Kings have had a handful of heart-breaking blown fourth-quarter leads, and their execution down the stretch in a lot of games has been iffy at best.

That wasn’t the entire situation against the Lakers on Saturday. Sacramento trailed by one with 12 seconds remaining but failed to box out properly after Anthony Davis missed two…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/fox-calls-kings-lack-enjoyment-033022846.html

Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2024-12-22 03:46:00

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