Karl considers starting Seth Curry to shake up D
With his team down 16 points at halftime Sunday, Sacramento Kings coach George Karl shook up his lineup to start the second half, using Seth Curry and Willie Cauley-Stein in place of Darren Collison and Quincy Acy.
The Kings still lost 108-99 to the Utah Jazz, but Karl told reporters that the experiment has him considering using a more defense-focused lineup going forward.
“I’m looking for defense,” Karl said, according to The Sacramento Bee. “I’m looking for some pressure, some presence. I thought Seth did a great job of being into the ball. So yes, that could be a starting lineup.”
The Kings rank last in the NBA this season with 109.5 points per game allowed.
Curry, Cauley-Stein and starters Rajon Rondo, Rudy Gay and DeMarcus Cousins opened the second half on the floor for the Kings, who got off to a slow start by allowing the first six points of the third quarter and drew boos from the home crowd. The Kings settled down and held the Jazz to 47 points after halftime.
Curry, the younger brother of Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry, has never started an NBA game and played only four games before this season. He has played in 30 games in 2015-16 and is averaging 4.0 points in 10.7 minutes a game.
He told reporters he would relish the chance to be a starter.
“[It would] help my confidence, help my rhythm,” Curry said. “Just to get more comfortable on the floor out there and play with the starters and make it easier for them. [It would] change the game and add a different element.”
Karl’s first chance to tweak the starting lineup comes Tuesday, when the Kings travel to Los Angeles to face the Lakers.
Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.
