Sigh.

The Sacramento Kings played solid basketball for three quarters until they decided not to show up in the fourth, which ultimately led to their doom.

After scoring 31 points in the third, the Kings scored a disappointing 14 in the final quarter as the Dallas Mavericks ran away and didn’t give up the lead.

The Kings did build an eight point lead in the third but as usual, it was gone in minutes.

Best Performers

De’Aaron Fox: Another game, another chance for us to see De’Aaron Fox get better. He was the co-leader in points for the Kings with 15 along with four assists, three steals and one rebound. He shot 7/13 overall and 0/3 from deep. At one point in the fourth, he had all of the Kings points.

Garrett Temple: Coming off the bench, Garrett Temple was the other co-leader in points for the Kings. He scored 15 points in 31 minutes on 6/10 shooting (1/3 from deep) to go along with two assists, one rebound and two steals. He led the bench in scoring.

Willie Cauley-Stein: This was Willie Cauley-Stein’s chance to have a massive performance against a team with Dwight Powell and Dirk Nowitzki, but it wasn’t as big as I expected. He still played well, scoring 14 on 7/12 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds in 31 minutes. But still, I was hoping for more.

Notable Performers

Zach Randolph: Z-Bo shot the ball at 60% as he went and scored 14 points including two three pointers, but having five turnovers and four personal fouls in 20 minutes isn’t the way to go.

Buddy Hield: Buddy scored 13 points off the bench along with two rebounds, two steals and one block. He didn’t have the best shooting night, going 5/13 overall and 3/6 from deep but I’d rather see him shoot more no matter what, even if he misses. A frustrating stat is that he only played 20 minutes.

Bogdan Bogdanovic: In 26 minutes, Bogdanovic scored seven points and racked up six assists. He only shot the ball five teams, four of the being three pointers. He also made both of his free throws. Bogdanovic needs to shoot more than five times a game.

Notable Stats

Sacramento was 43/82 from the field. That’s 52% and although they shot better than the Mavericks, it wasn’t enough and here’s why: The three ball. Sacramento only made eight threes out of twenty-seven attempts compared to Dallas making 13 threes out of 41 attempts.

Sacramento was also 5/6 from the line. It’s very tough to win if you’re not getting to the line at a better rate and tonight was a prime example of that.

The Kings were out-rebounded 37-31 and out-assisted 28-23. They out-stole the Mavs 12-8 and out-blocked them 3-0. However, the Kings still had more fouls and turnovers and that’s the frustrating part.

For the Mavericks, Dennis Smith Jr. didn’t have a good shooting day. He scored 12 points on 4/15 shooting, 0/6 from deep. He added five rebounds and five assists. Harrison Barnes scored 18, Dirk Nowitzki scored 15, and Wesley Matthews and Yogi Ferrell scored 11.

Quick Takeaways

Dwight Powell of Dallas really hurt the Kings with his easy points in the paint, especially off lobs. He finished with 17 points and nine rebounds.

Justin Jackson has been looking better and better with each game recently.

The Kings completely looked out of sorts in that final quarter. Missed rebounds and missed layup equaled to a missed opportunity for a home win against an equally struggling team.

Next Game

The Kings face the Chicago Bulls next on Monday.