After a competitive loss to the Cavaliers at home, the Sacramento Kings hit the road to face the Pelicans and got absolutely blown out. Who the Kings are losing to and by how much makes no sense, and is a demonstration of the fact that some losses are much worse than others.
After extending their current losing streak to 13, the Kings now have a record of 12 and 43. That means the longest active skid in the league continues, and Sacramento's stranglehold on being the worst team in the NBA just gets tighter. No team has won fewer games this season than the Kings.
But it's not all bad news. The Kings are slowly building and developing a new, young core using rookies and other young stars who will hopefully be the foundation for a better team in the future. Sure, they're going to lose games now, but that's part of the long-term growth process.
That doesn't take the sting out of getting absolutely destroyed by a team almost as bad as yours. The Pelicans are also one of the worst teams in the league, currently sitting at 15 and 40. Sacramento was just absolutely crushed by them despite giving the Cavs a run for their money two days ago.
The Kings need to stop letting easy games get away from them
When it was all said and done in New Orleans, the final score was 120 to 94 for the Pelicans. That's a 26-point stomping at the hands of Zion Williamson and friends. Yet, just days earlier, the Kings took on the Cavaliers and only lost 132 to 126. They almost beat the number four team in the East.
There's no logic to this. Sacramento nearly handed a loss to a legit contender, only to follow that up by getting utterly brutalized by the next-worst team in their own conference. While winning is always great, this scenario proves there are different kinds of losses.
Taking a close "L" from the Cavaliers led by Donovan Mitchell isn't embarrassing. The Kings played really well that game, particularly the rookies. But getting blown out by the Pelicans just should not be happening. That's the kind of opponent you use to snap a losing streak, not extend it.
Sure, things like this happen. The Pacers have somehow beaten the Thunder twice this season. But the Kings can't be letting teams like the Pelicans walk away with nearly 30-point victories. No one really expects Sacramento to win, but it shouldn't be too much ask to avoid losses like this one.