Doug Christie’s Head Coaching Debut Highlights the Same Old Kings Struggles

Doug Christie took the reins for the Kings and kept it real with the squad: “We have enough.” That’s the mantra he’s riding with after stepping in as head coach following Mike Brown’s firing.

Christie might bring fresh energy to the locker room, but he’s inheriting the same crew—and the roster isn’t exactly stacked with defensive stoppers.

The defensive struggles hit immediately in his debut. The Lakers dropped 40 points in the first quarter on nearly 74% shooting. By the third quarter, it was more of the same, with L.A. torching the Kings for 42 points on 75% shooting.

End result? Another L. The Kings fell 132-122, marking their sixth straight loss and dropping them to 13-19. Sitting at 12th in the West, they’re staring up at the play-in, and in a stacked conference, even that feels out of reach without serious improvement.

Time isn’t on Christie’s side. The Kings’ offense is solid, ranking in the league’s top 10, led by Fox, DeRozan, and Sabonis. But the defense? Not so much. They’re 17th this season, and that’s only thanks to the foundation laid by Brown.

This team doesn’t have a lot of defensive anchors. Keon Ellis can hold his own off the bench, Keegan Murray steps up but takes on tough matchups every night, and Fox is steady. Beyond that, though, it’s shaky—Sabonis isn’t a rim protector, and the rest of the roster isn’t built for stops.

Christie knows better defense also means more transition opportunities, something he’s eager to see. Right now, Sacramento’s transition game is weak, ranking 25th in the league. They played a bit faster against the Lakers, but it wasn’t enough to flip the script.

While Christie hinted at making some tweaks, he’s clear the immediate focus is on effort. He said, “We compete at an extremely high level—that is one thing we will not compromise.”

Effort was there defensively in his debut, but execution? Not so much. Sacramento’s issues on defense run deep, and it’s hard to see how a coaching change alone fixes them.

Brown’s mid-season firing sent a message that the organization expects wins now. Christie’s challenge is to rally this squad and prove “there’s enough in the locker room” to turn things around.

But if Saturday night was any indication, this might be a Kings problem, not just a coaching one.