Sacramento Kings coach Doug Christie on Jan. 18, 2026, talks about the experience of being head coach. By HECTOR AMEZCUA
Tempers flared, technical fouls were assessed and a player was ejected following an altercation late in Sunday’s game between the Sacramento Kings and Detroit Pistons.
Kings coach Doug Christie said he wants to see his team match the opponent’s force and physicality after the Kings lost their fifth in a row, falling 139-116 before a crowd of 18,299 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
“It was literally a lack of physicality,” Christie said. “We’ve got to grab, hold and control. We know we can do it, but there has to be a level of physicality, and that has to be the standard of what we do. That level of physicality, in my opinion, wasn’t there, and that’s where we let the game start to get away from us.”
Pistons forward Ronald Holland II shoved Kings guard Keon Ellis to the floor with 5:01 remaining in the fourth quarter. Kings rookie Nique Clifford stepped into the fray to stick up for his teammate.
Holland and Clifford were both whistled for technical fouls. Holland was ejected. Christie was pleased to see Clifford come to the aid of a teammate.
“He obviously knows that is the requirement,” Christie said. “We’re going forward, We ain’t backing away. We ain’t backing down. We’re not moving sideways. We’re going forward. Whatever that means is what it means, so for (Clifford), absolutely, that’s how you earn your respect in this league. You’ve got to stand your ground.”
Cade Cunningham had 29 points and 11 assists for the Pistons (33-11), the top team in the Eastern Conference. Jalen Duren scored 18 points. Tobias Harris had 16 and Duncan Robinson added 13.
Malik Monk scored 19 points to lead the Kings (12-35). DeMar DeRozan scored 16 points. Dennis Schroder had 15 points and seven assists.
Clifford also scored 15 points while Ellis added 14. Domantas Sabonis had 12 points, seven rebounds and eight assists.
The Kings led by as many as seven in a high-scoring first quarter. The game was tied 35-35 at the end of the opening period.
The Pistons opened up an 11-point lead after outscoring the Kings 15-4 to start the second quarter. They led 78-65 at the halftime break, matching their largest lead of the game.
Monk limped off the floor and headed straight to the locker room late in the first half. Monk came back to the bench at the start of the second half and returned to the game midway through the third quarter.
By then the Pistons had extended their lead to 19 after capitalizing on a number of Sacramento’s live-ball turnovers. Detroit led by 21 in the third quarter and went up by as many as 25 in the fourth.
Christie kept pointing to Sacramento’s lack of physicality.
“We have to not only match the physicality of the opponent, but exceed it in my opinion,” Christie said. “That can be uncomfortable. It can be uncomfortable not only for yourself, but it can be uncomfortable for them because when you’re that physical with somebody, it’s going to cause a reaction, and you’ve got to be about that life, but like I said we’ll get there.”
Starting lineup
Christie made two changes to his starting lineup for Sunday’s game. Christie started Clifford in place of Zach LaVine, who was ruled out due to lower back soreness, and moved Sabonis back into the starting lineup for the first time since he returned from a knee injury.
Clifford scored 15 points while going 6 of 13 from the field and 2 of 4 from 3-point range. However, he struggled at the free-throw line, going 1 of 4.
Sabonis, who was sidelined for two months due to a partially torn meniscus, came off the bench in his first four games after returning from the injury. He scored 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting in Sunday’s game.
With Sabonis returning to the starting lineup, rookie Maxime Raynaud went back to the bench after starting 24 consecutive games. Raynaud spent a lot of time on the floor with undrafted rookie two-way player Dylan Cardwell.
Cardwell finished with four points, nine rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots. Raynaud had two points, four rebounds and one blocked shot.
Speaking of Schroder
Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said Schroder played a big role in helping Detroit’s young players develop when he was with the Pistons last season.
“He’s extremely intelligent and extremely competitive,” Bickerstaff said. “The combination of those things was necessary for us because it was more of a supportive role for the younger guys, that they can lean on him and depend on him in difficult moments, and then they could learn through those moments because they saw what it took to get it done.
“He was a huge part of the growth of this team, obviously trying to help us get to the playoffs and battle in the playoffs, but that’s what young guys need. They need a guy that can be out there on the floor with them and show them how, and I thought he did a great job of that without taking away their ability to grow.”
Up next
The Kings will visit the New York Knicks in the third game of a six-game road trip Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.
The Knicks (27-18) are coming off back-to-back wins over the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers. The Knicks had lost their previous four games, including a 112-101 loss to the Kings on Jan. 14 in coach Mike Brown’s return to Sacramento.
The Knicks are led by star point guard Jalen Brunson, who is averaging 28.0 points and 6.1 assists, and Karl-Anthony Towns, who averages 20.5 points and 11.4 rebounds.