Why Kings called heated exchange ‘nothing crazy’ in loss

MEMPHIS, TENN. — Here are three takeaways from the Sacramento Kings’ 112-104 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night at FedExForum.

‘Brothers’ have heated conversation

There was a heated exchange near the Kings’ bench between guard Buddy Hield and small forward Iman Shumpert during a timeout with 4:37 remaining in the first half after Memphis guard Wayne Selden Jr. threw down an emphatic dunk following an offensive rebound.

Both players downplayed the incident after the game.

“It was nothing crazy,” Hield said. “We’re just teammates and we’re competitors. Something happened and he wanted to talk to me. After that, being a competitor, being in the moment, we all get hot.”

Shumpert offered a similar explanation, saying it was nothing like the drama that unfolded between Golden State Warriors teammates Kevin Durant and Draymond Green.

“We’re brothers,” Shumpert said. “I grew up with brothers. Please don’t take me yelling at anybody the wrong way. I argue better than I just have conversations. Somebody misses an assignment and we’re trying to get it right. We’re just trying to win. He wanted to win. I wanted to win. We started yelling. This ain’t no KDDraymond (situation).”

Too many turnovers Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox finished with 23 points, 10 assists, four rebounds and two steals, but those weren’t the numbers he was pointing to after the game. He was fixated on the six turnovers he committed.

The Kings made a number of runs to overcome double-digit deficits and got within three after trailing by 14 in the fourth quarter, but each time they seemed to be undone by one of their season-high 21 turnovers. Williams provides a spark Backup small forward Troy Williams once again provided a spark off the Kings’ bench.

Williams finished with eight points and eight rebounds in 18 minutes. Williams made two big 3-pointers and then delivered a highlight reel dunk to help the Kings battle back late in the fourth quarter.