Kings' Mike Brown After Win: "We Have To Play Better"

While the play certainly looked pretty, head coach Mike Brown took the result in a different manner. Unsatisfied with his guys allowing a 13-win team to put up a fight, Brown talked about his thoughts on coming out with a close victory (via @SeanCunningham | X):

At the end of the day, we have to play better than that. We can't accept the way that we played tonight. Now we take the win, but we can't accept the way we played tonight and think that everything will be okay going forward. Our bench, with Davion, Trey, and Keon were big for us again tonight, so I have to acknowledge them... But at the end of the day the way we defended, the way we turned the ball over and responded to those turnovers, that can't fly.

When talking about the bench unit, coach had big praise for their effort and how they've contributed over the past couple games. If you take a look at how the minutes have been distributed, starters like G Kevin Huerter have had an increasingly diminished role while backups Davion Mitchell and Keon Ellis have stepped up to the plate.

Mitchell has been incredibly efficient on the offensive side of the court, shooting an astonishing 73% from the field since the All-Star break. Alongside him is second-year standout Keon Ellis, a more defensive-minded player that has seven total steals over his past three games. 

Coach Brown certainly has some tough decisions to make when splitting up the playing time, and will look to give it to the hot hand heading into Sunday's matchup against the Houston Rockets. The Kings will defend their home court and two-game win streak at 3 p.m. PT on Sunday afternoon.