Kings hit rock bottom with disastrous collapse in loss to Pistons originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SACRAMENTO – Next stop for the Kings: Rock Bottom.
That is, if they aren’t already there.
Thursday’s stunning 114-113 loss to the Detroit Pistons was a perfect summary of the Kings’ recent fortunes – their inability to hold big leads, their inability to hone key details and make long-term plays. and a general feeling of malaise. in crunch time.
For the second straight game, the Kings were booed by the passionate home crowd at the Golden 1 Center, a sign of how bad things have gotten lately.
That’s five straight losses for Sacramento, the Kings’ longest loss since a seven-game skid during the 2021-2022 NBA season.
In a campaign with gut punch after gut punch, this one feels the most painful.
The Kings led by as many as 19 and had a 98-83 lead after Trey Lyles’ 3-pointer with 8:31 to play. Sacramento’s offense stalled like a bad engine after that, as Mike Brown saw his team go scoreless for the next three minutes.
They were outscored 24-13 in the final 5.5 minutes, and that wasn’t the worst of it.
With the Kings holding a three-point lead as the clock ticked down the final seconds, Detroit’s Jaden Ivey positioned himself in the right corner for a three-pointer. Fox closed a little too hard and fouled Ivey, who made the basket and free throw for the game-deciding points.
According to Brown, it was a complete breakdown of defensive philosophy that killed the Kings.
“When you’re up three and guys are going to the three-point line, there shouldn’t be a closeout opportunity. No closeout opportunity,” Brown explained. “We were fine with scoring a two on the edge, so you shouldn’t be in a position to help at all. You need to be hugged to your man at the three-point line. Everyone should do that. Why was there closeout by Fox? I’m not sure.
“A tough loss that, at worst, should have ended in overtime.”
Brown also had problems with Kings’ pace in the last six minutes: “We come to a complete standstill with about six minutes to go. With three minutes to go, we roll the ball and run with it, going against a set defense every time,” Brown said.
The Pistons scored 37 points in the fourth quarter after scoring just 43 in the second and third quarters combined.
“We have to have some kind of mental toughness,” Brown said. “We got hit by screens and we literally stopped and complained to the referee. That’s not winning basketball.”
Fox acknowledged the frustration the Kings are feeling, especially after letting another game slip at the end.
“We knew this was a winnable game,” Fox said. “We gave ourselves a chance to win going into the fourth quarter, but we didn’t do a good job. We have to be able to finish games better.”
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