Week in review: Luke Walton out, Alvin Gentry in during wild stretch

Kings bounce back under new interim head coach

Author

James Ham
November 27, 2021

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Kings record: 8-12

Kings record on the week: 2-2

What a difference a couple of days make. Since last Saturday, the Kings lost badly at home against the Utah Jazz, fired head coach Luke Walton, hired interim head coach Alvin Gentry and now they've gone on a modest win streak.

In the NBA, fortunes can change fast, even for a team like the Kings that rarely seem to know how to get out of their own way.

The loss to Utah seven days ago started a chain reaction. The Kings hung around for three quarters and then fell apart in the fourth like so many other times this season. Fans chanted for Walton to be fired. One fan threw up all over the court and caused a delay. It was a game for the ages and the final straw for Walton.

By 10 AM Sunday morning, Walton was relieved of his duties. By noon, Alvin Gentry was on his way to becoming the next head coach of the Kings. 

Gentry's first game at the helm looked very similar to the previous seven or eight under Walton. The team battled for three quarters against a shorthanded Philadelphia 76ers team and then scored a total of 12 points in the fourth while their own home crowd unloaded a chorus of boos. The 102-94 defeat felt much worse with most of the Sixers starters sitting out. 

Needing a win to stem the tide and snap a four-game losing skid, Gentry went deep into his bench against the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday. Richaun Holmes sat out with an eye issue, Harrison Barnes came up lame in the fourth and De'Aaron Fox got ejected in the final few minutes against Portland. Rookie Davion Mitchell and seldom used big men Damian Jones and Marvin Bagley stepped up to close out Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum for a 125-121 victory.

Gentry's crew carried that energy into Friday's match up at Staples Center against the Los Angeles Lakers. After a pedestrian first half for both teams, the second half turned into a heavy weight fight. 48 minutes wasn't enough to settle the battle. Neither was 53 or 58.

It took three overtime sessions for the Kings to finally outlast LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the star-studded Lakers. Fox put up 34 points in 53 minutes, but it was a team effort that put the Kings just a game and a half out of the seventh spot in the standings with 62 games remaining in the season.

The Kings are a mess, but a lot of teams in the Western Conference are struggling. There is plenty of time to turn this season around. 

Player of the Week

Despite a 2-2 week, there aren't a lot of options. Jones and Bagley both had some solid performances. So did veteran big men Alex Len and Tristan Thompson. But the most consistent player, even with his ejection in the Blazers game, was Fox. He's quietly found his game over the last few weeks and looks primed for a big December after a slow start. His 34 points in the win over the Lakers came on 32 shots, but he could have put up plenty more if the officials blew their whistles. He hit big shots and helped his team battle back multiple times.

Previous winner: Chimezie Metu

Stats of the Week

  • 16 minutes: That was the length of the delay in the loss to Utah when a fan hurled all over the court. It was a first for most people who cover the NBA. These things happen, but it's not usually the folks sitting in the expensive seats just feet away from the opponents bench. Kudos to the cleanup crew.

  • .422: That is Walton's win percentage as head coach of the Sacramento Kings after a little over two years on the job. It's the second highest win percentage for a coach in the Sacramento-era of Kings basketball behind Rick Adelman's .633 percent. Let that stat sink in for a minute. 

  • 12: In Gentry's first opportunity to coach the squad, that is the total number of points the team scored in the fourth quarter. The key number to that game could also be five, which is the number of starters the 76ers had missing when they faced the Kings.  

Quotes of the Week

“I want to thank the Kings organization for the opportunity and I want to thank the players and the coaching staff for their support and hard work. I genuinely care for each of them and wish them nothing but success.” -Walton

"Changing the coach is not going to change things really. You have to have a level of play that is going to get you wins. A lot of that comes from the players." -Gentry

"We can either improve or we can start playing different people." -Gentry

"These last eight games was a change and for me the best question became, how do we move forward?" -Monte McNair on Luke Walton 

Videos of the Week

McNair makes a change:

Tristan Thompson on his former head coach:

Fox with the early reaction to Walton's dismissal: 

Alex Len with the veteran move:

Weekly Reading

Weekly Podcasts

What's next?

Kings vs. Memphis Grizzlies, FedEx Forum, Sunday 3PM

Kings vs. Los Angeles Lakers, Golden 1 Center, Tuesday 7PM

Kings vs. Los Angeles Clippers, Staples Center, Wednesday 7:30PM

Kings vs. Los Angeles Clippers, Golden 1 Center, Saturday 7PM

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