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Kings’ Mike Brown takes shot at referees over free throw disparity in loss to Mavericks

Originally posted on ClutchPoints | By Owen Crisafulli | Last updated 3/30/24

The Sacramento Kings have had a pretty rough past 24 hours. Not only did they suffer a crushing 107-103 loss to the Dallas Mavericks, but they also lost Kevin Huerter to a season-ending shoulder injury, and saw Malik Monk suffer a sprained ankle in their loss to the Mavs. All of that may have led to Mike Brown’s frustrations boiling over after their loss to Dallas when he called out the referees for the game’s free throw discrepancy.

Both the Kings and Mavericks didn’t have their best nights on offense, but Dallas was helped out significantly by finding their way to the free throw line 33 times in the game. Conversely, Sacramento shot from the charity stripe just 12 times, leading Brown to call out the refs and openly wonder how they were getting so many fouls calls that his team was not the beneficiary of on the other end of the floor.

Via Brenden Nunes:

“Mike Brown: ‘To lose the free-throw battle 33 to 12, I just don’t understand it. They get calls that are touch fouls…. and then we can’t get the same call… all you want is consistency.'”

Mike Brown’s curious game plan explanation after loss to Mavericks

Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown reacts during the first half against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

While not getting the benefit of the whistle is obviously frustrating, the Kings missed four of their 12 free throw attempts in a game they lost by four points. While the disparity in calls certainly didn’t help them, there are almost always other issues that result in these sorts of losses, which is why blaming the referees is typically a fight you will always lose.

In particular, Brown’s confusing explanation for when it came to slowing down Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving may help fans understand where this team went wrong. Brown said that Sacramento made sure that Doncic and Irving weren’t going to beat them, but that’s exactly the opposite of what ended up happening, leaving fans confused by what he meant.

Via Brendan Nunes:

“Mike Brown: ‘At the end of the day, we weren’t going to let Kyrie (Irving) or Luka (Doncic) beat us.'”

This is a pretty strange stance from Brown, because Doncic (26 PTS, 12 AST, 9 REB, 6/14 FGM) and Irving (30 PTS, 3 REB, 2 AST, 11/16 FGM) were Dallas’ two best players all night long. Aside from Dereck Lively II, who had 12 points, no one else on the team scored in the double figures. So if Brown insists the Kings were intent on slowing down this duo, well, it looks like his team failed to do so.

Whichever way you slice it, this was a frustrating loss for a Kings team that is looking to do what it can to avoid the Play-In Tournament, although they are running out of time to do so. Brown may get fined for his comments here, so hopefully Sacramento will get a more friendly whistle in their upcoming game against the Utah Jazz on Sunday night.

This article first appeared on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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