Rewind: Fatigued Kings hit low point with season fading away

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SACRAMENTO -- This might be the lowest of lows for the Sacramento Kings. They came out flat on Friday night against a beatable Orlando Magic team and trailed 12-0 before they even broke a sweat. While the Kings fought back and made it a game, it wasn’t enough to snap their four-game losing streak as they fell by a final of 107-100.

Gloom and doom was the feeling in the locker room. This team started the season with high expectations and the players can feel the season slipping away. Losers of eight of their last nine, the Kings are now a season low 14 games under .500.

“It’s tough and it’s a growing experience,” Rudy Gay said of the loss. “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

[RECAP: Instant Replay: Kings fall to Magic's spell without Cousins]

Orlando is young and athletic, but they too came into the game riding a losing streak. They looked aggressive on the defensive end from the opening tip, showing hard on the pick-and-roll and completely disrupting the Kings offensive flow.

“We were a little lethargic, no excuses,” Darren Collison said. “It’s just unacceptable. We wanted to get off to a good start, obviously, but it was just too much of a gap in the beginning of the game.”

On their home floor, the Kings looked completely fatigued from the opening tip. Not only have they fallen apart in the standings, but the off day leading up to the game was filled with the drama of their leading scorer and rebounder DeMarcus Cousins getting suspended by the team for his actions in Wednesday night’s loss to the Cavs.

 

After 64 games the team is tired and beat up like most teams, but their body language tells a bigger story.

“You must be reading my mind a little bit,” George Karl responded when asked if his team was struggling with mental fatigue. “I think there’s more mental fatigue than physical fatigue in basketball.”

The Kings needed someone to step up and carry the scoring load left by Cousins’ absence, but the usual suspects struggled. Rudy Gay finished the night with 12 points and seven rebounds, but he shot just 2-of-9 from the field and led the team with six turnovers.

Gay was visibly worn out as he fielded questions from his locker stall. He talked of finding ways to rest with the hopes of finishing the season strong, but the drama and a major reduction in his role on the team has taken a toll.

“I’m trying to be the best teammate I can be and not cause too much of a disturbance about it and just make myself a better player,” Gay said. “This is making me a better person and a better player.”

Collison has been one of the Kings most consistent players all season, but even he had an off night.

[HAM: What to do with DeMarcus Cousins?]

 

Without Cousins’ 27.4 points per game, Karl needed all hands on deck. Collison shot 3-of-14 from the field and missed all six of his 3-pointers in an uncharacteristic performance.

“We had a lot of open looks and we were just short, just short,” Collison said. “We wish we got some of those shots back, but I think we’ll regroup.”

Kosta Koufos played well off the Kings’ bench, scoring a season-high 19 points in 24 minutes of action. Rajon Rondo added 16 points and 14 assists and Marco Belinelli added 17 points, in the losing effort.

How does Sacramento bounce back? Can they bounce back? Or will this slide continue through the team’s final 18 games?

“Just take it one game at a time,” Rajon Rondo said. “We have to focus on Utah and try to get some more wins before this building closes out.”

The Kings have nine more games at home before closing out Sleep Train Arena for the last time on April 9. The fans have shown up in droves to say goodbye to the building formally known as Arco Arena, but that hasn’t stopped the team from posting a 14-18 record on their home floor.

With their playoff hopes all but extinguished, this stretch will tell a lot about a group of players that came into the season with lofty expectations.

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