The Kings had managed to establish good momentum going into Wednesday’s matchup against the Atlanta Hawks.
Unfortunately, they were unable to extend their winning streak to four games as they fell 103-97 in Atlanta.
The game remained close for much of the first half as the two teams traded baskets.
However, the play became sloppy for the Kings in the final four minutes of the second quarter and it allowed the Hawks to build a 10-point cushion going into halftime, 62-52.
The game would ultimately be lost in the second and third quarter of Wednesday night’s game.
“We let them play to their strength,” DeMarcus Cousins told the Associated Press. “They play well off turnovers and bad shots, and we took some bad shots.”
Paul Millsap scored 23 points and added 16 rebounds – six of which were offensive. Al Horford added 17 points of his own, but the story of night was undoubtedly the play of Dennis Schroder.
With incumbent starter, Jeff Teague sidelined with an ankle injury, it appeared as if the Kings may have overlooked the reserve guard.
Schroder was able to get to the rim at will regardless of who was guarding him.
Schroder would finish with 22 points and six assists. He managed to consistently break down the defense to either score himself or find a good shot for a teammate.
For much of the game, Schroder was guarded by small forward, Rudy Gay rather than Rajon Rondo who entered the game 7th in the NBA in steals per game.
Gay was no match for the much quicker Schroder and Atlanta managed to punish the Kings.
It seemed evident that the Atlanta Hawks were simply more prepared for this game.
Once Schroder was replaced by Shelving Mack in the third quarter, the Kings scrapped back into the game and would go into the fourth quarter down only two with an 81-79 deficit.
The game would largely be lost in the latter minutes of the fourth quarter as the offense became clunky and indecisive.
Multiple times, Marco Belinelli would abort a shot and attempt a pass in midair – often leading to turnovers.
Like many of the Kings’ losses thus far in the season, it wouldn’t come down to the amount of turnovers, but the timelines of them.
Rondo would net his fourth triple-double of the season scoring 12 points, while adding 10 assists and 12 rebounds. He would also be guilty of some untimely turnovers of his own as he committed a total of of seven.
Cousins had a solid game scoring 24 points while adding 12 rebounds.
In the end, Atlanta was more prepared and would capitalize on the Kings’ late game blunders.
The Kings fell tonight but must recover quickly as they face a solid Miami Heat team tomorrow night in South Beach.
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