Rewind: Kings suffer crushing loss, but ‘growing at a rapid rate'

The basketball Gods got it wrong.

The Kings should be celebrating a 2-0 road trip on the plane ride home to Sacramento. They should be one game closer to the eight spot in the Western Conference. But that is not the luck of the Sacramento Kings.

After a devastating 117-116 double-overtime loss in Dallas on Tuesday night, the Kings are now 14-21 on the season. But unlike many of their other defeats this season, they are heading home with their heads held high.

“This road trip I think we’ll remember as we’re coming together in a good way,” a glossy-eyed George Karl told reporters following the game. “It’s just disappointing not to have two wins instead of one.”

There are plenty of ways to react to a loss like the one the Kings endured Tuesday night. Leading by seven with just over a minute remaining, the Kings gave up a layup to Deron Williams, followed by a transition three to Dirk Nowitzki and then to top it off, a buzzer-beating corner trey to Williams for the win.

From elation to devastation in a matter of moments. 

We have seen everything under the sun when it comes to this team, but the last thing you would expect would be gracious losers.

“I think that was an incredible game,” Cousins said. “Both teams left it on the floor. Of course we were short-handed, but we had plenty of opportunities to win the game tonight. Big shots from them, big shots from us. I guess it’s whoever makes the biggest shot.”

Cousins hates to lose. I’m sure he has that tattooed somewhere on his 6-foot-11 frame, but for one of the first times in his career, he genuinely seemed like he got it. His 35-point, 17-rebound, six-steal performance was stellar, but it’s not always going to be about dominant you are individually. Sometimes your team just get beat.

“I wasn’t really concerned about finding my game,” Cousins said. “The biggest thing is trying to make a play for the team - me scoring, me rebounding, whatever the case may be. Just doing whatever I had to do to try and win the game.”

Cousins wasn’t alone in his assault on the Mavs. Rudy Gay had one of his best games of the season, finishing the night with 31 points, including a 3-pointer with 1:20 remaining that gave the Kings a 116-109 lead. It was like old times. Cousins and Gay putting up huge numbers trying to will their team to victory.

“What part of the game can’t you be happy with, other than the loss,” Karl said. “A lot of guys played with courage. Rudy had a big game. Cuz had a big game. Our defensive effort was bigtime against a really good offensive team.”

Karl has seen this team lose some stinkers, including last week’s embarrassing loss on their home floor to the Philadelphia 76ers. But his team has turned a corner and maybe even given him a few new wrinkles to install into his rotation after this two game road trip.

With Rajon Rondo missing the game due to back spasms, Darren Collison filled in nicely at the point. The veteran guard turned to setting up his teammates early instead of searching for his own offense like he typically does coming off the bench.

Collison mishandled three balls in the first quarter and took a while to settle in. Those were the only three turnovers of the night as the 28-year-old finished the game with 14 points and a game-high 12 assists in 47 minutes.

Without Collison to play the two and with Ben McLemore nursing a mid back injury, Karl turned to Seth Curry for a career-high 36 minutes. Curry scored just six points, but he made good decisions and played hard-nosed defense as Karl stuck with him for more than seven of the 10 minutes between the two overtime sessions.

Seldom used Quincy Acy started on the frontline for Omri Casspi who missed his second straight game with upper back soreness. The hard dunking hustle player gave the team quality minutes, finishing with 12 points and six rebounds in 16 minutes.

With Rondo, Casspi and rookie Willie Cauley-Stein all out due to injury, Karl received huge contributions from players that have sat for much of the season.

“It shows the potential of those players,” Cousins said. “Guys were coming in, stepping up.”

Everyone who played contributed in some way. Marco Belinelli, who was coming off a very good three game stretch struggled with his shot early, but when the Kings needed a big 3-pointer, it was the former Spur who came through.

While his shots were drawing iron, Belinelli turned to the glass, grabbing a season-high nine rebounds to add to his 14-point performance. His statline exemplifies the type of game the Kings played tonight.

Sacramento went toe-to-toe with a very good Mavericks team and they got beat by a prayer. They made a couple of mistakes down the stretch, which a young, inexperienced team will do, but they gave an incredible effort.

“Both teams fought with a lot of heart,” Karl said. “Our guys, with the way they played, I knew they had to be tired, but give Dallas credit for stealing one us.”

The Kings could have dropped their heads and mopped after a crushing loss, but the fact is, no one saw them winning in Oklahoma City on Monday night, let alone in Dallas on Tuesday. A 1-1 road trip shows that this team may have actually learned something from their disappointing failures to close out 2015.

“We’re growing at a rapid rate,” Cousins said. “I can’t really say how this team would have reacted early in the season in a game like this. I’m proud of growth, but we still have a long way to go and I don’t think we need to settle. I still feel we can get better as a team and we’re still making a lot of mistakes.”

The Kings return to the floor on Thursday to face Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. This marks the last time the future Hall of Fame guard will come through Sacramento before he retires at the end of the season. It should make for another interesting night of Kings basketball.