The Kings They changed coaches on Friday in response to a five-game losing streak, but things didn’t look much different on Saturday night Doug Christie debut, writes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Defense continued to be a glaring problem as the team sank further west with a 132-122 road loss to the Lakers. Sacramento gave up 40 points in the first quarter and 42 points in the third quarter before a late rally failed.

After the loss, Christie told reporters that the key to turning the season around was getting a commitment from his players on both ends of the pitch.

“We have had enough” he said. “That’s a message I told them. There’s enough of that in this locker room, but how we deal with it is the kind of thing I’ve been talking about. The consistency, the focus, the willingness to play for my team at such a high level that it hurts and I have to come out of the game. It’s up to me to find it.”

Christie enjoyed a 15-year NBA career as an intense competitor who specialized in defense, and he wants to bring that attitude to the team. While they were surprised by the sudden loss Mike Brownseveral players have pledged their commitment to Christie as he tries to salvage the season after a 13-19 start.

“Everyone likes Doug. For him to be our interim head coach for the rest of the year, I think everyone is going to try to rally around him and give him the best situation possible and not put as much stress on him.” Keegan Murray said. “He was definitely with each and every one of us in one way or another just to try to motivate us. He’s been great over the last 24 hours and just tried to motivate our team to turn the season around.”

There’s more about the Kings:

• The team’s ownership and front office have made it clear that there is no “grace period” and that results are expected immediately. Kevin Huerter Anderson told the same story. With the trade deadline less than six weeks away, it’s possible that bigger changes are on the way if the Kings don’t start winning. “For us yesterday, that was a very clear message.” said Huerter. “We don’t see this as a lost season. We have to right the ship. We need to change this, so there is definitely no grace period… We’ve had a lot of different meetings in the last 24 hours. In general, there is still a lot of belief in this organization and this space, and we think we need to create some urgency to try to turn things around.”
• Third year guard Keon Ellis could play a bigger role as the Kings look to improve their perimeter defense, Christie added (Twitter video link from Law Murray of The Athletic). “Keon is a perfect example of many things I want” Christie said. “Coming into the game tonight, he didn’t shoot. He placed it on the deck and entered the alley. I looked at him and said, “Listen, man, you gotta shoot that.” You gotta shoot the basketball. You shoot it well. Defensively you gain weight. You’re a nuisance. You have to go after people. So we need him to do a lot of things, but we need him to shoot that basketball.
• If De’Aaron Fox decides to request a trade before the deadline, which Spurs And Rockets are teams to keep an eye on, along with possibly the Lakers And heatsaid ESPN’s Tim MacMahon on the latest edition of The Hoop Collective podcast (kudos to HoopsHype).