Kings can't win if they can't finish (and that's the real problem)

While there are an almost limitless number of problems to address with the Sacramento Kings, one that not enough people are talking about is the fourth quarter. The Kings get destroyed in the final frame in almost every game, and it's borderline impossible for them to win playing like that.

At this point in the season, watching a Kings game is becoming almost formulaic. Outside of the complete beginning-to-end blowouts, Sacramento is often in contention for the first half. The wheels start coming off in the third, with the fourth being a complete and utter collapse.

After 26 games, the Kings are one of the worst scoring teams in the league in the fourth quarter. Basically, when clutch time hits, they completely fall apart almost every time. It's an issue that pops up even in the games they win, something that doesn't come up as often.

Kings collapsing in the fourth quarter is a regular occurrence

Their most recent loss to the Wolves is a prime example. The Kings won the first quarter, lost the second by six, and dropped the third by five. By that point, the score was 88 to 85 for the Timberwolves. It was still a highly winnable game for the Kings.

Then, the fourth quarter happened, in which the Kings lost 29 to 19. The Wolves outscored them by 10 points, securing a final victory of 117 to 103. Going into that quarter, Sacramento was only down by three points. They just couldn't hold it together for some reason.

If you look back through the Kings' losses so far this season, a similar pattern of fourth-quarter collapses starts popping up. In their loss to the Pacers, Sacramento got dominated in the first quarter, fought their way back in the second and third, then coughed it up in the fourth.

Sacramento needs to play a full 48

Rebuild or not, the Kings have to play a full 48 minutes every night if they're ever going to climb out of the NBA basement. No team wins championships while consistently getting outscored in the final frame of almost every game. If you want to play that way, you had better dominate the first three.

This issue is a culmination of every other problem the Kings have. Their lack of defensive presence. The inconsistent offence. The overall age of their imbalanced roster. All of this combined leads to consistent fourth-quarter collapses. And it's going to take a long time to fix this problem.

If the rebuild is successful and the Kings become a legit contender, this issue should be corrected as part of that process. To be completely frank, it has to because if this problem continues after the rebuild, then it should be considered a complete failure.