Heartbroken, deflated, defeated were some of the things I felt in the Sacramento locker room after the game. The players weren’t as much sullen as they were disappointed in squandering the opportunity to improve their win-loss record and get closer to a .500 winning percentage and further themselves away from Portland and Utah.
The last time that the Sacramento Kings won six games in a row was January of 2007. After last nights 129-128 double overtime defeat, that will remain as the precedent of winning streaks for the remainder of Sacramento’s season.
“It was a tough loss. I was just sitting here (in the locker room) thinking how a lot of the plays early on could have changed the game,” DeMarcus Cousins said. “But I think through all of the mistakes, we all left it on the floor. You hate to lose games like this.”
While there is an eerie amount of similarities between the Kings’ matchup with Charlotte tonight and their game in mid-November, the Kings have come a long way since then.
In their November matchup, Cousins was then player of the week as well. But they also blew a late lead, and Sacramento ended up losing in overtime. Sound familiar? If it doesn’t keep reading.
Last night, Cousins did everything humanly possible in order to have his team prevail. Cousins scored a franchise-high 56 points for the Kings on 70 percent from the floor.
The big-man was so dominate that Spencer Hawes, Tyler Hansborough, and Marvin Williams all fouled out throughout the duration of the game and overtime. Shooting threes, facing up defenders with the dribble, and scoring from either block, Cousins was playing some of the most beautiful basketball fans have seen from a big.
“He’s so gifted and talented. Cousins is one of the best big men I’ve ever played against,” Charlotte guard Kemba Walker said. “He’s pretty unstoppable.”
It was an exciting game at Sleep Train Arena. Sacramento jumped out to an early 31-16 lead over Charlotte.
In Rudy Gay’s first game back from a heel contusion, the forward scored eight of his 20 in the first quarter. That included a variety of show time dunks and alley-oops.
The Kings were rolling early and were able to maintain a double-digit lead heading into halftime. Charlotte was slowly cutting the deficit down as the Kings’ bench struggled to find any consistent rhythm.
The third quarter is what made the difference for the Hornets. Scoring nine 3-pointers, the Kings fell behind by as much as seven, as Charlotte outscored Sacramento 42-28.
Both teams exchanged blows until the final four minutes of regulation. Sacramento went on a 16-8 run, capped off by a missed game winning free throw from Walker.
To start the first overtime, Cousins took matters into his own hands. Scoring every basket of the extra five-minute period, Cousins was not denied from anywhere on the court.
Rondo was extremely involved in the playmaking and finished with 20 assists on the night. 14 of those came on Cousins’ 21 made field goals.
Rondo had his 30th game with 10+ assists and tied the Sacramento-era record of most games with 10+ assists in a season.
Charlotte was able to match Cousins’ shot for shot and forced the second overtime, which eventually sealed the game.
On an offensive rebound, Cousins questionably picked up his sixth foul and was sent to the bench with 56 points.
Sacramento was only able to score two points after the substitution on a dunk from the rookie Willie Cauley-Stein, which put Sacramento ahead by two with eleven seconds remaining.
Focusing primarily on Walker, Troy Daniels took the inbounds pass and hit what would be the game-winning 3-pointer.
The Kings still had time to retaliate but weren’t able to capitalize on a broken offensive play, ultimately costing them the game.
“Get beat by a kid (Troy Daniels) making a 30-footer, you feel like crap, you feel like throwing up,” said a disgruntled Karl. “It’s a different type of failure, but still a failure.”
The Hornets will take on the Jazz in Utah on Wednesday, while the Kings will take on the Portland Trailblazers tonight on the road.
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