Kings Stink: Charlotte Sends Sacramento In To Tailspin

After falling to the Charlotte Hornets in embarrassing fashion, the Sacramento Kings have now lost five straight games to start the year.

The Sacramento Kings are officially the worst team in basketball. It’s not because of a lack of talent or personnel, but the culprit instead is the team’s lack of desire to win basketball games. If they do, then they don’t show it in their 48 minutes on the court.

In their third home game and fifth of the season overall, the Kings fell to the Charlotte Hornets 118-111, the final score sounding much more kind than how it felt to watch.

It’s the same old story on a different cold night: a passable first half that kept the Kings competitive heading into the break, then they rolled over and watched a Hornets layup line in the third that continued into the final frame. They settled for self-created, contested, lazy attempts at jump shots and dribbled the ball so much I’m surprised that it managed to stay inflated.

Richaun Holmes got his first start of the season and showed signs of life in the early going with 11 points, 5 rebounds, a steal, and a block in the first half. Buddy Hield played, but Buddy Buckets still was a no-show. Hield ended the first half with 8 points on 2/7 from three, and as a team, they shot 33% from deep in comparison to Charlotte’s 57% in the first 24 minutes.

What In The World Happens At Halftime?

I still need an answer to what goes on in the locker room during halftime. Does the entire team take a 10-minute nap? Are they already eyeing a top prospect in the 2020 draft to bring on board? The entire fanbase might be doing that soon.

In the third quarter, Sacramento was outscored 31-18, continuing the depressing trend of losing the period by a minimum of ten points. The Hornets went into the final quarter with 93 points already on the scoreboard. These first five games should go into Webster’s as the definition of disappointing.

This Kings team has the potential to be the fastest in the association, yet Hornets rookie P.J. Washington stated after the game,

"“(The Kings) couldn’t run with us…”"

Boo’d, And Rightfully So

Well-warranted boos rained down from the crowd at the Golden 1 Center as Doug Christie sounded more upset with the product on the floor than any of the players out there appeared to be. This was a pathetic showing all-around.

The Hornets came into this game 28th in the league in opponent two-point percentage and the Kings managed 54 points in the paint, but gave up 60. The Kings finally shot a high-number of threes, 46 to be exact, but only made 14 of them and attempted them at all the wrong times. They were not quality looks that were created off of penetration and ball-movement, they instead were lazy offensive possessions where they couldn’t be bothered to attempt to generate anything better.

There is no silver lining. Buddy Hield looked improved in his decision making and passing, and Richaun Holmes still brought the only energy to be seen with Dewayne Dedmon being benched and not playing until the four-minute mark of the third quarter.

Final Thoughts

The Sacramento Kings need a leader. Luke Walton was brought in and praised as a players-coach, but the Kings need someone to fire them up and let them know how pitifully they have been operating. If De’Aaron Fox wants to be the leader, it is time to step up. Fox left early after the game and did not take questions from the media.

Charlotte can pick up full-court during crucial minutes of the fourth quarter while up 10+ but Sacramento can’t? Ridiculous. Give Sacramento something to root for and show that you actually want to win some basketball games this season.

The next Kings game is on Friday, November 1st versus the Utah Jazz (4-1) at the Golden 1 Center.