During one second-half timeout, Malone huddled with just his coaches while the players sat on the bench talking amongst themselves a few feet away. Malone stared down at the floor at one point during the "coaches-only meeting," rubbing the sides of his forehead as if he had a massive headache, and he just may have considering the Kings continued to display a lack of effort on both sides of the ball.

What changes? Well, based on his comments, they could be significant.

Not being able to get over the previous play is something Malone has continuously harped on since the season began. Mix that with allowing opponents too many open jumpers and an inability to hit shots, as Ziller pointed out, and there is an increasing need for a change.

"It's a team effort man, I think we've got to get the guys out there that can play together. That's the biggest thing I see, like our chemistry offensively and defensively, it's just not there, and we've got to work on that," Vasquez told reporters on Saturday. "It's not him [Malone], it's us. We're not doing what he tell us to do, you know, and that's unacceptable."

"I think we put a lot of pressure on DeMarcus because early on, if we throw him the ball in the post with like 18 seconds, 20 seconds, if he misses the shot, then, you know, that's a wasted possession, so I think we put too much weight on his shoulders," Patterson told Sactown Royalty. "I think if we all get some more ball movement, pass it around, things will get a lot easier."

"Luc, obviously, he battles. I mean … one of the reasons we brought Luc in was because of his ability to defend multiple positions, he can guard 1 through 4 and he battled against LaMarcus [Aldridge] tonight, he made him feel him, which was great," Malone told Sactown Royalty. "Jimmer, I thought was aggressive, made a couple of plays, he has a good feel for the game, he drove the ball. I thought he got hit at times, but obviously, he didn't get the call; but he went out there and tried to make plays and be aggressive, which is all I can ask, and he competed on the defensive end of the floor."

Hmm. Wednesday should be pretty intriguing.

The season is still young with plenty of time to turn things around.