Christie Responds After Kings 3-Point Disaster Against Lakers

In the Sacramento Kings’ first preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers, all eyes were on rookie Darius Acuff Jr. Acuff Jr. did about as well as anyone could expect in his debut, though the team as a whole looked completely outmatched. The Lakers rained down 20 triples on the Kings, and many of them were wide open as the Kings crowded the paint. The Kings really struggled to defend the perimeter last season, and one would expect that would be a focus this season, but Christie might have some different thoughts.

Asked Doug Christie about the balance of protecting the paint and defending threes:

“More than anything, we want to protect the paint, but we want to arrive on the catch and contest threes… But the ability to be in to be out, that means that you’re thinking ahead.” pic.twitter.com/fFOtg1aWjV
— Brenden Nunes (@BrendenNunesNBA) October 6, 2026

Looking Back To Last Season

Most teams tend to be better at protecting the rim or the three-point line, and picking a strategy can be important. For example, the Oklahoma City Thunder can be vulnerable from three because they prioritize paint protection and use their length and quickness to try to close out to shooters and get into passing lanes to create turnovers.

Despite being one of the best defenses in the league, the Thunder allowed teams to shoot 1.1% better from behind the line than expected, according to NBA.com’s defense dashboard.

For the Thunder, this works because they allowed the lowest percentage on two-pointers in the league, led the league in deflections, and were second in turnovers forced. The Kings, on the other hand, found a way to be bad at almost everything defensively last season. They were 24th in defensive field goal percentage within six feet, dead last in defensive three-point percentage, and 20th in forced turnovers. The Kings did add some plus defenders this offseason; they may not be enough to fix such a deep-rooted deficiency, though.

Working With What You Have

Sep 28, 2026; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Zach LaVine (8) during media day at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

In practice, I see where Christie is going with his defensive ideology. Allowing teams to get into the paint and collapse your defense causes all kinds of problems and makes it tough for a foul-prone big like Domantas Sabonis to stay on the court.

The issue is that the Kings are going to be starting two guards who are not great at contesting shots from the perimeter. Zach LaVine is a good athlete with a plus wingspan, but he’s never been a good defender, especially off the ball. Acuff Jr. will have similar issues as a historically poor defender, plus his lack of size and poor screen navigation are sure to stand out at times.

Matisse Thybulle corner threes are going to be huge for the Lakers this season

GREAT pass from Kevon Looney having to muscle through that surrounded by so many Kings defenders pic.twitter.com/o22c81P7Xh
— LakeShow Highlights (@LSH_lakeshow) October 6, 2026

The Kings do have some better perimeter defenders on the roster, including Nique Clifford, Emmanuel Sharp, and Daeqwon Plowden; however, it won’t be easy for Christie to find a balance between playing them and his offensive-minded veterans like LaVine and Malik Monk. He can preach tagging rollers and getting back out to shooters all season. In the end, the Kings might have to wait until next season, when LaVine’s contract is up, to really start making strides defensively.

Lessons From Game One

The first preseason game isn’t exactly a fair barometer for the Kings’ defense with their best defender (and possibly second-best) out for the night. I would be incredibly surprised if the Kings don’t look at least a little better with Murray and Simmons active, yet I still have questions about Christie’s rotation going forward and if he could be putting the team in a better spot.

In an effort to protect the paint, he brought in both Dylan Cardwell and Maxime Raynaud to man the frontcourt, and it did not go well. In fact, one could argue that the substitution was when everything really started to go south.

All 20 Lakers threes from last night vs. the Kings 🔥

Williams: 3/3
Grimes: 2/3
Thybulle: 2/4
Luka: 3/9
Carr: 3/7
LaRavia: 2/3
Mamu: 2/4
Bronny: 1/2
Hardy: 2/5 pic.twitter.com/Qh1MfT3UXo
— Daily Baller Report (@Baller_Report) October 6, 2026

The Kings not only gave the Lakers an open look after open look from the perimeter, but they also couldn’t keep up with them in transition with both bigs in. Again, I understand Christie thinking that putting both bigs in the game would help the Kings’ interior defense, but I wondered if there were better options available to him. Some of this is the Kings trying to find minutes for both Cardwell and Raynaud behind Sabonis, which is why I understand giving it a try in preseason. After seeing the results, I don’t think it’s an experiment worth repeating next time out.

It is worrying that the only two teams to make noise in the playoffs who were also in the bottom ten in three-point percentage allowed were Cleveland and Oklahoma City who have two of the best rim protectors/interior defenders in the league on their rosters. The Kings are in a catch-22 when it comes to defensive identity: help Sabonis protect the paint and keep him out of foul trouble, or stay home on shooters.

Somehow, the Kings chose neither last game and were burned in both aspects. One can only hope they picked up some valuable lessons from their opening loss, but as critical as we can be about Christie’s game plan and rotations, I'm not so sure there’s a right answer to the Kings’ defensive identity question.

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