Kings' unwavering confidence erases elimination game pressure

Share

SAN FRANCISCO -- Through the ups and the downs of the 2022-23 NBA season, the Kings trademarked a very important characteristic early on.

Confidence.

It’s what helped them reach their first playoffs since 2006 and what helped them stay alive in a win-or-go-home Game 6 against the Golden State Warriors on Friday at Chase Center.

Those 10 letters have been uttered and repeated all year, and now, they must carry over into the biggest game of the season as they take the series back to Sacramento on Sunday for Game 7 at Golden 1 Center. 

After taking an early 2-0 series lead in the best-of-seven first-round matchup, Golden State went on to win the next three games with the series headed back to the Warriors’ homecourt where they’ve been successful all year. The Warriors had the momentum. They had their first lead of the series. They had a chance to close out the series in front of their passionate fans at Chase Center.

But the Kings, all the while, had their confidence. 

Why, though? Why would a team full of players who are, for the most part, playing in their first playoff atmosphere have any confidence? They’re young, inexperienced and facing Steph Curry and the defending NBA champions. 

“People didn’t think we would be here,” Monk said after the Kings’ 118-99 win. “Didn’t nobody think we would be here but us. So that’s all the confidence we need. Coming into this crazy arena, man, it gets crazy in here, it gets loud in here too and we’re the only people we got out there on the court. 

“So we just pat each other on the back, get in the huddle, talk about it and just stay together.”

It’s one thing to be confident, but it’s another to be consistently confident. 

No one portrays that better than Monk. After their Game 3 loss, there he was with his same composed, level-headed mindset. It was the same one he had after Games 1 and 2, which didn’t change after Sacramento’s Game 4 loss, and definitely didn’t switch up after Game 5. 

And even on the brink of elimination, rather than fold under pressure, Monk and the Kings did quite literally the opposite. 

Monk finished with a team-high 28 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field and 3 of 6 from behind the arc. The 25-year-old also contributed six rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks in just under 32 minutes off the bench. 

He wasn’t the only one who provided that extra, much-needed boost off the bench for the Kings. 

Trey Lyles and Terence Davis stayed ready for their number to be called. And when coach Mike Brown decided to adjust his rotation, it was. Although their minutes have fluctuated and been limited all season and specifically in this series, they stepped on the floor ready to go with that unwavering confidence. Their impact was almost immediate. 

We’ve seen the same with guys like Davion Mitchell and Alex Len coming off the bench and doing their jobs. The players are confident in themselves, but they’re also confident in each other. 

“Our bench was really big,” Brown said postgame. “You talk about the performance that Malik had. … And then obviously Trey was fantastic. He had 10 rebounds himself. We told him, ‘Hey, if you’re open, just let that thing go.’ 

“And then TD, TD was great. He hadn’t played much this series. I thought he came in and he did a heck of a job trying to make whoever had to guard work. So big win by our group tonight.”

And for the first time in the series, fans watching got to witness Sacramento’s best two shooters do what they do best in the same game. Kevin Huerter and Keegan Murray both struggled to shoot the ball early in the series. Murray found his rhythm in Game 4, while Huerter’s slump continued. 

The same message that was relayed to Murray during his struggles was echoed to Huerter. Keep shooting the ball. 

Even though shots weren’t falling for the sharpshooters as consistently as they had in the regular season, Brown encouraged his players not to hesitate “letting that thing fly” from behind the arc, and he made it known that he had all the faith in them. 

The confidence that a coach has in a player despite their struggles in an environment as tense as the playoffs are speaks volumes to those 10 letters. 

And because of the confidence that Brown and the rest of the team continued to have in Huerter, it allowed him to regain that confidence in himself on Friday. He came into Game 6 shooting 4 of 25 (16 percent) from downtown in the series, but he kept his head up and did what his coach told him to do. As a result, he knocked down three treys on 37.5 percent shooting from that area and finished with 12 points. 

“Like I said, he’s just got to keep shooting the ball,” Brown said. “We have to keep trying to find ways to get him involved because he’s a tireless worker offensively and his movement creates a lot of separation and gravity to get other guys open. So, obviously making shots, you feel good about that, but the biggest thing that I like is he hadn’t shot it well, but he’s continued to take ’em. He didn’t hesitate tonight.

“So you give the group a lot of credit, but you give him more credit than anything else because it’s a confidence level you have to have in order to be in his position and he definitely showed that tonight.” 

RELATED: Warriors-Kings Game 7 winner to host Lakers in NBA second-round series

The Kings have done a good job all season not getting too high or too low, but with a huge Game 7 less than 48 hours away, they’ll need that season-long confidence to carry over into their biggest game of the season. 

Contact Us