Gunning for their first victory of the season, Kings rookie Jimmer Fredette put the purple and black on his shoulders last evening – doing his best to will the Kings to their first win of the year. He came up just short.

In his best game as a professional (only three games in), Fredette shined, pouring in 18 points in only 21 minutes of floor time. The former BYU standout was on fire from the arc, drilling 6 of 10 from long range to go with his seven assists and three steals.

Fredette lead the Kings into the fourth quarter with a one point lead but a missed shot by Tyreke Evans with 17 seconds left forced the Kings to go into foul mode with hopes of elongating the game. The Hornets David West had other ideas though, going six of six from the charity stripe in the fourth and nine of ten overall.

West, along with Chris Paul and Willie Green gave the Kings fits all evening, the three combing for an impressive 33 of 49 from the field.

For the Kings, John Salmons struggled in the loss, shooting 1 of 6 in his thirty minutes, but the story of the game for the purple and black was ball security. The Kings had 18 turnovers, a large portion unforced. Outside of that, the Kings played their best game of the season despite the loss.

Their 12 of 24 shooting from outside kept them in the game, but the big shot wasn’t there when it was needed.

The Kings now head to Los Angeles to take on Kobe Bryant, Monday evening. The Lakers are coming off their first loss of the season thanks to a buzzer beater from the Suns Grant Hill.