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Kings’ Doug Christie explains Zach LaVine’s limited minutes vs. Heat – ‘We needed to stop somebody’
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- Kings’ Doug Christie explains Zach LaVine’s limited minutes vs. Heat – ‘We needed to stop somebody’
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The Sacramento Kings can say that they've played better basketball over the past few games, but they may have reverted to their old ways in their loss to the Miami Heat. After a rough first half, head coach Doug Christie made some changes in the second half, as he was more focused on defense than offense.
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That meant that some of his key players would have their minutes cut, and Zach LaVine was affected by that move. LaVine only played close to seven minutes in the second half, and after the game, Christie shared his thoughts about making that decision.
"We're trying to find a rhythm and find a group that is stopping people at the same time… we didn't have a problem scoring tonight… we need to stop somebody," Christie said via Brenden Nunes Sactown1140.
Christie did mention that LaVine shot the ball well, but at the end of the day, the Kings needed to show up on defense if they wanted to win that game, and if they wanted to win any remaining game.
This is not the first time this season that LaVine has been called out for his defense, and it didn't come from anybody on the team. Earlier in the year, he and a fan went back and forth during a timeout after he was being ridiculed for his lack of defense. After the game, LaVine looked completely out of it, but he did speak about the moment with the fan.
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"You guys can say all you want to about effort. We play as hard as we can. We're in here exhausted, so I don't know," LaVine said.
It seems as if Christie is not afraid of pulling his players if they're not playing defense, no matter how well they're performing on offense. The hope is that those decisions can result in more wins for them.
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Related: Doug Christie breaks down how Kings let Heat run wild from 3-point range
