The Kings set a Sacramento-era franchise record with their 13th consecutive loss on Monday, this one coming at the hands of the New Orleans Pelicans.
Though the team hasn’t been able to pull out a win since Jan. 16 over the Washington Wizards, Sacramento has remained competitive in recent games, losing by margins of four, four, three and six points in its previous four losses entering Monday.
But this was a different story, as the Pelicans rode a hot shooting night to a 120-94 win over the Kings at Smoothie King Center.
With the loss, the Kings’ current skid became the team’s longest in a single season since the franchise moved to Sacramento in 1985. The Kings also lost 13 in a row in 1990, but the streak spanned two different NBA seasons. The all-time franchise record is 14 consecutive losses, set twice in 1960 and 1971-72 when the team was known as the Cincinnati Royals.
“Everybody is about as frustrated as you can be,” coach Doug Christie told reporters postgame. “But I would tell you … the spirit in the shootaround, like if you walked in there, you would think that we were a playoff team. The way that guys are going about their business, they’re highly professional, attention to detail; like everybody’s engaged and trying to fight for each other.
“Tonight, just an absolute tough one after getting off semi-early, and obviously, you can’t turn the ball over 17 times and give up 29 points [off turnovers] and give up 60 points in the paint. And then they shot the 3 ball really, really well, and we did not.”
Sacramento shot just 4 for 31 (13 percent) from behind the arc, while New Orleans made 16 of 39 attempts (41 percent) from range. A 29-to-10 margin in points off turnovers in favor of the Pelicans didn’t help, either.
The Kings hung with the hosts early on, only trailing by five after a quarter. But the Pelicans soon pulled away, winning the next two frames by a 61-41 margin.
Rookie big man Maxime Raynaud was the lone bright spot for Sacramento, leading his team with 21 points and a career-high 19 rebounds. After the game, he was asked about the level of frustration inside the Kings’ locker room.
“We’re professional. You got to get onto the next one fast,” Raynaud explained. “Same thing with, you know, when you have a shooting slump, you don’t look behind you. You look forward, and you look at your next shot. So our next shot will be against Utah in two days.
“… At least going to the break with a win in Utah — I think that would get our spirit a little higher and send us off in the right way.”
As Raynaud mentioned, the Kings have one more game before the NBA All-Star break, as they head back west to face the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City on Wednesday at 6 p.m. PT.
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