Doug Christie: “Super proud” of Stockton for securing G-League Title

After being the number one seed for each of the last three regular seasons, the Stockton Kings, G-League affiliate of Sacramento, secured their first NBA G-League Championship Monday night with a game three win over the Osceola Magic.

Isaac Jones, who started the year as an undrafted rookie on a two-way deal, flew there on short notice to participate and made a vital impact on the game. Mason Jones was awarded the Finals MVP award after drawing double-teams in the game of their final series.

Sacramento’s other two-way rookie, Isaiah Crawford, got valuable minutes in a high-leverage scenario. The G-League has proven to be a crucial aspect to player development in the NBA, as every team now has a minor league affiliate.

There’s no better recent example than Kings guard Keon Ellis, who came into his own after significant time with Stockton in his first two seasons.

Sacramento interim head coach Doug Christie said getting those guys big-game experience is “huge” when asked about their championship efforts after Tuesday’s practice.

“I think it’s huge because we’re all about meaningful basketball,” he said. “That’s what we’re heading towards, that’s what we want, and we want to take that to the highest level.”

“For us, I truly believe that Stockton and the G-League are valuable, valuable assets that we have to take advantage of. The opportunity for them to play, the opportunity for them to play big-time basketball, but also the continuity between the parent club and the sister club, you have to have that, in my opinion, so that when guys go down there, they’re running similar stuff. They’re running all the same stuff. They come back here, it’s seamless, and they’re ready to go. That means that their development is going to be quicker, faster, and more impactful.”

Chrisite said he’s “super proud” of Stockton, crediting their head coach, Quinton Crawford, for having done “a wonderful job” with the group that owned the best regular season record before securing the championship in Osceola.

“I thought that our guys fought extremely hard,” Christie said Tuesday. “Losing the first one, coming back and getting one at home, and then having to travel, (Isaac Jones) going down on a red eye, guys there, that’s big time.”

“Those are the building blocks for everything that we do. We have a championship down in Stockton, and I know those guys are extremely proud. I know Stockton is, and I know all of our Kings’ fans are proud of them, for sure.”

Now it’s time for the primary club in Sacramento to attempt their own postseason success story, beginning with their 9/10 play-in matchup against the Dallas Mavericks on the horizon.

Tipoff is scheduled for Wednesday night at 7 P.M. PST. The winner of that matchup will face off against the loser of Tuesday’s Warriors-Grizzlies matchup for the eighth and final seed in the West playoffs for the chance to face off against the dominant, conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder.

More Kings coverage on Sactown Sports

The Stockton Kings secured their first NBA G-League Finals Championship in the third and final game of the series with a 118-110 win against the Osceola Magic on Monday night.

Mason Jones went down in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury, but his teammates stepped up to secure the victory. Dealing with double-teams all series long, the guard was awarded the NBA G-League Finals MVP.

Head coach Quinton Crawford’s team secured the best regular season record and ended their year with a ring. A banner will be raised in Stockton Arena next season.

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The Stockton Kings win their first G-League Championship

When is the next Sacramento Kings game?

It’s win-or-go-home time for Sacramento.

The postseason has arrived as the Kings will play in a do-or-die Play-In game against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night at Golden 1 Center.

If Sacramento wins, they will advance to play the loser of the seventh vs. eighth seed game on Friday night on the road.

The Kings had Dallas’ number this season, sweeping the three-game regular season series while winning each contest by an average of 11.6 points. While the Mavericks have struggled on the road this season (17-24), they have found success at Golden 1 Center over the years (4-3 in Sacramento since the start of the 2020-21 season).

Be sure to catch all of the Sacramento Kings vs. Dallas Mavericks drama right here on Sactown Sports 1140 AM, with pregame coverage starting at 5:30 PM PT on Game Night before action tips off at 7:00 PM PT from downtown Sacramento.

Upcoming schedule for the 2024-25 Sacramento Kings

• Wednesday, April 16th – vs. Dallas Mavericks – Time TBD (Western Conference Play-In Tournament – 9th vs. 10th seed game)
• Friday, April 18th – TBD – Western Conference Play-In Tournament (8th seed game)
• Sunday, April 20th – Start of the NBA Playoffs

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