NBA Probes Kings' Late Foul as Strategy Error
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- Doug Christie called for Doug McDermott to foul Seth Curry, an 86.4% career free-throw shooter, with 3:15 remaining and the Kings leading by one — sources told ESPN Christie wanted to use a timeout before losing it when the clock dipped under three minutes but miscalculated the Warriors were in the bonus
- Draymond Green publicly accused the Kings of tanking after the game: 'I saw a team tonight foul Seth Curry with three minutes to go for no reason… Fine the hell out of people,' escalating a broader feud with the NBA over the league's tanking epidemic
- The NBA launched a review of the foul, but Kings team sources were adamant that coaches and players on the floor intended to win and that the foul was strictly a tactical error
- Sacramento's late-game sequence was mixed: Curry hit one of two free throws to tie it 101-101, then Christie's designed out-of-timeout play produced a McDermott three that put the Kings up three after they had trailed by 16 — before they ultimately blew the lead
- The Kings dropped to 21-59, tied with the Utah Jazz for the league's fourth-worst record, keeping them in position for a high pick in a loaded NBA draft despite the absence of Sabonis, LaVine, Hunter (season-ending surgeries), DeRozan, and Westbrook
- Christie pushed back on the tanking narrative after a recent win over the Jazz: 'Tanking is the last thing I'd do… I respect the game too much,' and the Kings have actually won seven of their last 16 games
Why it matters: The incident gives the NBA a high-profile test case for its tanking crackdown while putting Christie and a lottery-bound Kings franchise under a public microscope. Green's pointed comment — from a player frequently fined himself for on-court outbursts — intensifies league pressure to act, and any discipline could shape how aggressively teams can use end-of-game tactics during a season where the draft is stacked.
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