Gentry says officials correctly interpreted ‘dumb’ rule

Interim coach Alvin Gentry was still seething during his postgame news conference after a clock malfunction cost the Kings a critical possession in a 122114 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.

The Kings trailed by five when De’Aaron Fox went up for an uncontested rebound following a missed free throw by Malik Monk with 24.8 seconds remaining. Fox noticed the clock started running before he touched the ball, so he didn’t touch it at all.

Fox let the ball hit the floor and alerted officials, expecting them to reset the clock and award possession to Sacramento, but that’s not what happened. After a lengthy discussion, officials called a jump ball because neither team had established possession when the whistle was blown. The Lakers won the jump ball and held on to win the game. Gentry said officials correctly interpreted a “dumbass” rule.

“Before you ask me about that play, it’s a horse s--rule in the NBA,” Gentry said. “The referees did exactly what they were supposed to do. It is the rule. They enforced the rule the way it is, and so if anything needs to be changed, the rule needs to be changed. I think there’s got to be some common sense. We had the basketball right there. They started the clock. We didn’t start the clock. It wasn’t our error and so we got punished for a dumba-rule. That’s the bottom line, but it had nothing to do with the officials. All they did was exactly what they were supposed to do.”

LeBron James had 31 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Lakers (20-19), who won their third in a row to tie the Dallas Mavericks for sixth in the Western Conference. Monk had 24 points. Talen Horton-Tucker added 19 points. Dwight Howard came off the bench to post a doubledouble, finishing with 14 points and 14 rebounds.

Fox had 30 points and six assists for the Kings (16-23), who maintained a halfgame lead over the San Antonio Spurs for 10th in the West. Buddy Hield scored 26 points while making 7 of 13 from 3-point range. Marvin Bagley III grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds.

The Kings trailed by two following a basket by Fox with 1:53 remaining, but they were outscored 8-2 over the final 91 seconds.

Gentry said he was unaware of the jump-ball rule until officials explained it to him.

“I didn’t realize that, and I don’t know why it would be a rule anyway,” Gentry said. “I mean, I think you’ve got to use common sense somewhere along the line. There’s a missed free throw. We have the basketball in our possession. We didn’t start the clock, so it was not our error, so we get punished for somebody else’s error. I don’t understand that. I don’t understand how that works.”