Washington Wizards coach Brian Keefe hopes for more production from his bench when his club endures the second game of a back-to-back on the road Sunday against the Sacramento Kings.
The Wizards opened a six-game trip with a ninth consecutive loss Saturday, watching Jordan Poole’s 38 points go for naught in a 122-114 defeat at the hands of the Golden State Warriors.
Keefe chose to use just eight players in San Francisco, and didn’t get much from his three reserves — Corey Kispert, Kyshawn George and Jonas Valanciunas — who combined for 22 points in 78 minutes.
The Washington coach recognizes he’ll have to dig deeper into his bench in Sacramento. He is confident he has players who can handle the challenge of facing a Kings team that has won eight of its past nine games and enjoyed the past two days off.
“It starts with the readiness. It’s their opportunity,” Keefe said of his reserves. “We’ve got a lot of guys playing on our team, so it just shows you the work they’re doing behind the scenes, stuff they’re doing to keep themselves engaged in the game.”
Keefe would love to see the type of production his backups gave the team in their most recent home game, a 130-123 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Thursday. George, Kispert and Valanciunas combined for 49 points in that one, and got help from Justin Champagnie (10 points) and Jared Butler (six).
Champagnie and Butler should be well rested as neither got into the action against Golden State.
The Wizards will encounter a Kings team that has not lost at home since coach Mike Brown was fired and replaced by Doug Christie. The home winning streak stands at five.
The interim boss disclosed one of the ways he thought his club could improve its standing was to play better at home, where the Kings went just 6-12 under Brown this season. Christie, who played for the Kings at the old Arco Arena, said the home building can have its advantages.
“Arco Arena had its own (character),” Christie said. “There’s wood and metal and concrete, and you start bouncing all that together and it makes strange sounds. This building is beginning to define itself. Part of my message to them is nobody comes in your house messing with your stuff. You must — must — protect your house.”
They’ve done just that with wins over the Dallas Mavericks, Philadelphia 76ers, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat and Houston Rockets since Dec. 30.
Nothing has come easy, with the last four wins having been by no more than six points. Included in that stretch has been a double-overtime victory over the Heat and Thursday’s 132-127 nail-biter versus the Rockets.
The Wizards and Kings haven’t met this season. Sacramento fans got their money’s worth in last year’s head-to-head in the California capital, when De’Aaron Fox had 30 points and Domantas Sabonis 28 as part of a triple-double in a 143-131 Kings win.
Poole, who is well known in Northern California after having begun his career with Golden State, scored 28 points in the defeat.
–Field Level Media
