Many players didn't take Wang Yi's words to heart.
As a result, they lost the third game after returning to Sacramento.
In the first quarter, Popovich saw that Wang Yi wasn't on fire today, so in the second quarter he decisively had their center run pick and rolls with both guards.
Their offense was actually quite varied. The two guards could run pick and rolls with each other, the point guard could run one with the center, and the shooting guard could do the same.
Once those variations came into play, the Kings' lineup disadvantage was laid bare.
Even after the Kings put Doug on the floor, the Spurs still had two other players besides those three who were shooting well today.
It wasn't really that they were shooting well, though. The Kings' lineup disadvantage was simply too great. Their defense was poor, giving the Spurs plenty of open looks from three.
That was what got them shooting well.
In the end, the Kings lost Game 3, 99–101.
The series score stood at 2–1.
Even then, the Kings' young players didn't take the loss as a warning. Instead, they shrugged it off.
In their eyes, the Kings had won the first two games by huge margins.
Although they'd lost Game 3, they'd only lost by four points. If the Kings hadn't been unlucky in the final minute and missed three shots in a row, they would still have had a chance to win.
So they still didn't take the Spurs seriously.
And the Kings' lineup really was lacking.
Against a veteran coach like Popovich, they were even more helpless.
In the end, the Kings lost Game 4 by 22 points, 95–117.
Only then did the Kings' young players finally come to their senses.
After the game, they sat in the