Just when we thought the Sacramento Kings were closing on a great victory on the road against the very talented Oklahoma City Thunder, the greatness of Kevin Durant showed up and the untimeliness of a Rudy Gay turnover came to fruition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh1O1faaHLw
The issue was that Gay needed to be put in a position to catch and shoot, not create off the dribble because he dribbles too high, but that’s the type of season the Kings and Gay have had.
“There is nobody else to blame than myself on that one,” a frustrated Rudy Gay told CSN’s Kayte Christensen. “I should have got a shot up, give us a chance and I didn’t do it.”
Gay had no business attempting to melt the clock down on an isolation play but for some strange reason that happened, and these ineffective isolation’s from Gay need to stop.
Missing two key free throws from DeMarcus Cousins didn’t help either. The fact that the Kings had a six-point lead down the stretch, this 98-95 defeat will be tough to forget.
“I’ve been playing like (crud), man. I say that’s our problem, it’s me, Cousins told Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee. “I’ve been playing like absolute (crud).”
Russell Westbrook had his third triple-double of the season with 19 points, 10 assists and 11 rebounds. Rajon Rondo still leads the NBA with four triple-doubles and had a solid performance tonight as he finished with seven points, 10 assists and nine rebounds.
Gay scored 20 points for Sacramento, while Cousins had another tough outing as he finished with 13 points on 20 shots.
Marco Belinelli air-balled on a 3-point attempt from the corner in the final seconds and crushed the great comeback.
And for whatever reason, Seth Curry did not see the floor again. James Anderson took his minutes and had a key turnover on a four-on-one fast break and made the one pass he shouldn’t have made.
Just shows the inability of a player that should not be running a fast break. But there are bigger issues than playing Anderson over Curry.
This team has no identity and continues to show the inability in key moments to close out games like a playoff team would. This is Kings basketball: complicated, evolving, unsettled, and uncertain.
The Kings will host the Utah Jazz on Tuesday at Sleep Train Arena.
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