Kevin Huerter is playing in his fifth NBA season, but he's new to life in a Kings uniform.
Just nine games into his Sacramento stint, the guard already has noticed a difference in the way NBA referees call Kings games compared to his 274 contests with the Atlanta Hawks.
"It hurts me to say this, but yes," Huerter said Wednesday on Sactown Sports 1140 AM when asked if he has observed a difference in how Kings games are officiated. "Honestly. That is something that within the first [nine] games has been noticeable.
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"I won’t say which teammates, but a couple of teammates that have been here said, 'Things are different here in Sac,' " Huerter said. "We don’t get many calls. You’re going to realize in every game that things are different, and honestly it is something I’ve felt so far."
The Kings have been on the wrong end of a couple of controversial, costly missed calls the past week.
The NBA's Last Two Minute Report stated the day after Sacramento's 110-107 loss to Miami that Tyler Herro's game-winning triple should have been wiped off because of a traveling violation. Two days later, the league confirmed that a foul should have been called on Huerter's potential game-tying 3-point attempt in the closing seconds of the Kings' 116-113 loss to the Warriors.
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Instead, both calls were missed. And the Kings added two tallies in their loss column.
"We’ve been working so hard as a team," Huerter said. "Obviously, as a city, they want us to win. It just felt like we’ve definitely had opportunities, really twice now in the past week, to have games go differently.
"It’s frustrating to be in those positions. … I think I knew right away, walking off that court, what that Last Two Minute Report was going to come out and say yesterday. It said what we all thought it was going to.
"For a team and a city that’s trying to change things and continue to get as many wins as possible, it’s definitely a frustrating pill to swallow walking off the court."
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Had the correct calls been made in Miami and San Francisco, there's no guarantee the Kings would have ventured into overtime and sealed two wins on the road. But as they continue their playoff hunt in a competitive Western Conference, having a fair chance to earn a 5-4 record than their current 3-6 standing would go a long way early in the season.