Mike Brown calls out Kings stars De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis after win over Knicks

The “Light the Beam” chants were echoing at Golden 1 Center. De’Aaron Fox had another banner finish, scoring 15 points in the fourth quarter, marking one of his more memorable late-game performances of the season.

The Kings on Thursday beat the red-hot New York Knicks 122-117 in front of a rare national television audience on TNT. They had to win to maintain the No. 2 seed in the crowded Western Conference playoff race because the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Golden State Warriors just before Sacramento tipped off.

It had the appearance of a joyous Kings victory — a signature win over a surging team that had won nine of 10 coming in — and another example of Sacramento coming through in the fourth quarter, continuing a theme from the franchise’s turnaround season.

But then Mike Brown took his seat at his postgame press conference and aired his team out more than he has at any other point of his first campaign as head coach.

“You can tell I’m a little frustrated,” Brown said. “It’s a great win. You take wins at this time of the year. But that’s not how we should be playing basketball, what you guys saw tonight. I’m not happy with our performance at all except for the fact that we got the win. Somehow, some way, we have to be better throughout the course of the ball game.

“I’m going to put pressure on Domas (Domantas Sabonis) and Foxy. They have to hold themselves to an elite level on every possession. But just as importantly, they’ve got to open their mouths and hold their teammates to a high standard. Because that ain’t going to fly.”

Brown’s source of frustration stemmed largely from the Knicks getting 23 offensive rebounds, leading to 101 shot attempts, 17 more than the Kings, nearly causing Sacramento to blow the game late after leading by 21 points in the third quarter. The Kings’ allowed a season-worst 12 offensive rebounds in the first half and 11 more in the second. Josh Hart, a backup guard, had 15 rebounds with eight coming on the offensive end.

“He kicked our a--,” Brown said. “Nobody put a body on him the entire night.”

Sabonis had his eighth triple-double of the season, scoring 23 points with 13 rebounds and 10 assists. Fox finished with 23, all but eight coming in the fourth quarter as he scored on the Knicks and screamed at the crowd, and perhaps symbolically at the national television audience, announcing his team is here to stay. The national TV game was a talking point Thursday leading up to the game, and Fox downplayed it afterwards despite being more emotive during the game than normal.

“Once we get to the playoffs,” Fox said, “every game is going to be like that anyway.”

But Brown wasn’t in a celebratory mood.

He entered a room that just hosted a lighthearted postgame news conference with Fox and Malik Monk, which included a viral moment. Brown’s tenor was harsh and to the point. He repeatedly hit the table with his right hand, emphasizing his dissatisfaction with the performance. Calling out his stars to hold teammates accountable was a new tactic that contrasted his recent campaigning for Fox and Sabonis to get All-NBA recognition.

It was notable given the context of where the Kings stand. Sacramento is poised to break its 16-year playoff drought, the longest in NBA history and currently the longest in major American pro sports. The Kings have been riding a 7-1 run since the All-Star break. They entered the game with a 6.9 net rating in the fourth quarter, the best in the Western Conference, while Fox appears to be the favorite for the inaugural Jerry West Award given to the NBA’s most clutch player.

Brown wasn’t going to let those factors hide the fact his team still has work to do — and that his goals for the team reach far beyond ending the playoff drought.

Fox, in particular, was a target of Brown’s tough love. He indicated his All-Star point guard’s work in the fourth quarter might not be enough.

“Fox’s ability as a two-way player can make him freakin’ elite,” Brown said. “Like, elite-elite. He doesn’t quite know it yet, though. And he has a switch that he can turn on, and he usually turns it on in the fourth quarter when we need him to on both ends of the floor.

“Somehow, some way, I got to get him to turn it on for a little closer to the 33 or 34 minutes he’s playing, instead of just waiting for the fourth quarter. Because he’s more than capable. I’ve been around a lot of great slash elite players — I’m a little hesitant to say this, because I haven’t been with him long enough and I haven’t seen him do it in the playoffs yet — but he may capable of being on that level. But the great ones, the elite ones, they do it all the time.”

The Kings players appear to be responding to their head coach’s tough messaging. The mentioning of it throughout the season has been more subtle than Brown’s press conference Thursday. The vibe around the Kings has been overwhelmingly positive all year. Even after losses, Brown hasn’t appeared as agitated as he was after beating the Knicks.

But because he’s coached players such as Tim Duncan, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Stephen Curry, his words carry weight in the locker room. Kings players mentioned he holds everyone on the roster to the same standard. His press conference after Thursday’s win could be a moment to point to if Sacramento makes a run in the playoffs separating their regular season story from trying to achieve postseason greatness.

“He’s just trying to build us up,” Kevin Huerter said. “We got bigger and better things, hopefully, on the horizon. These type of performances down the stretch here, and hopefully into the playoffs, just won’t get it done. So he’ll let us know. He’s not wrong. But at the end of the day, a win’s a win.”

Huerter continued: “That is the culture. There’s no excuses. Like, maybe it was a shock in the first month or two of the season. ... That’s how he coaches. He’s gonna stay on us. We’re going to get better over the course of the year. We’re going to continue to get better. We’re still a young team, and now that’s the expectation.”