Same different, different gym. A little less unprofessional, but a little bit worse.

Sacramento led by nine points with three minutes left at 99-90. Not only did the Warriors come back. They came back with 1:15 to spare! It went a little like this …

Tied game.

But Evans still can't make consistently good decisions with the ball, so you need another ballhandler out there with him when the pressure's on. Reke's had some game-winners, sure. But there have been even more meltdowns like this. I'd love to tease out the timing of his turnovers. My hunch says that they are more frequent in the late fourth quarter.

So, here we have it: Beno's defense kills the team on one end, but Reke's needs ballhandling help desperately. So what do the Kings do in the final three minutes, up nine? Beno guards the second most dangerous Warrior while Reke runs the offense into the ground. The worst of both worlds.

Evans ended up with a fine line, with 35 points on 14-29 shooting, five assists, three rebounds, three steals, and, guh, six turnovers. He started awful from the floor, missing layups and jumpers alike. But he came around to put upa ton of points. He also held Ellis to 12-29 shooting, no small feat.

I'm not exactly sure the Kings staff would want Evans to play that; my guess is that the pull-up jumper would be preferred to forcing Ellis to drive into the "teeth" of the Kings' interior defense, where an and-1 could end the game.

Nine of the Kings' last 11 games have been really close affairs (with a blowout win over Denver and the loss in Boston the exceptions.) In those nine games, three of which went to overtime, the Kings are 2-7. Sacramento is playing so, so, so much better in January than it had all season. But it's not adding much to the win total. The cynical and/or sinister could convince themselves that's the best of both worlds: players are showing progress and effort, but the team's draft status is perserved.

I'm not willing to feel like way for a third straight season. I really, really would love to see these games end as Kings wins.

(Note: I'm not going to cry when the Kings get the No. 4 pick.)