A loss is a loss, and the Sacramento Kings are used to collecting them this year. At the same time, there's more to it than that. The Kings dropped a narrow loss to the Cavs recently, but they played an incredibly good game, mostly thanks to the rookies and young stars filling the spotlight.
Sacramento is currently riding a 12-game losing streak that has secured them dead last in both the Western Conference and the entire NBA. It's hard to believe that it was only three weeks ago that the Kings were riding high on a four-game winning streak in front of the hometown crowd.
Their most recent loss was to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who recently added former Kings Keon Ellis and Dennis Schroder to their ranks, as well as James Harden. Picking up that "L" gave the Kings a record of 12 wins and 42 losses, which is dismal by anyone's standards.
Yet, losing that game to the Cavs wasn't as bad as the realities of the Kings' overall standings would make it seem. The final score was only 132 to 126, a narrow margin of only six points. Plus, it's hard to deny that there has been improvement in the Kings' game, particularly since the trade deadline.
The Kings are slowly finding an identity and a rhythm
Sacramento went into this game without Domantas Sabonis, Malik Monk, Zach LaVine, Keegan Murray, and their recent acquisition, De'Andre Hunter. To be fair, Hunter is still too new for his presence to be missed. Still, the Kings really could have used Monk's scoring off the bench.
What fans saw from the Kings was incredible. Nique Clifford, Devin Carter, Daeqwon Plowden, and Dylan Cardwell all had career games, led on the court by the living legend Russell Westbrook. The offense was on fire, and the defense actually found a bit of a groove.
This game put the foundations of the rebuild completely on display. They were high-energy at both ends of the court and gave the Cavs everything they could handle. And it's safe to say that the Sactown fans at Golden 1 Center were enjoying what they were seeing.
If nothing else, it was actually a fun game to watch, and that's step one of the Kings going in the right direction. This is the start of a different Sacramento team, one that has energy, paassion, and cohesiveness. If the Kings stay on this path, there is actually hope for the future.