But as the game progressed, the Kings defense tightened up and they cut down on the turnovers. The third quarter in particular was a terrific showing by the Kings. They scored 35 points in the quarter while only giving up 24; in per-possession numbers, that's a 139.6 offensive rating and a 94.0 defensive rating. Cousins was brilliant in the frame, scoring 12 of his 19 points on 5/7 shooting. The team did turn the ball over 5 times, but won the turnover battle by forcing 6 turnovers by the Grizzlies. The defensive intensity stayed consistent into the fourth quarter, allowing only 21 Grizzlies points for a stellar 82.3 defensive rating. The Kings were able to take an 87-85 lead on the Grizz with 9 minutes remaining.

This was a game that was right there for the taking, but the Kings couldn't get out of their own way. This is now 11 straight losses for the Kings in Memphis. On the bright side, the defensive system looks overhauled; I'm not going to start a parade for playing good defense against a Grizzlies team that is so depleted on the offensive end, but at the very least the focus will be now to clean up and sharpen the defense instead of banging their heads against a brick wall trying to make a broken system work. It may be too little too late for this season, but it will make the rest of the games much more watchable.

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