The Sacramento Kings were blown out of the water in embarrassing fashion yet again Friday night, this time by the short-handed Toronto Raptors, 108-89.

The Kings opened their first night of a back-to-back, while the Raptors were closing out their second night in a row of play, losing to the Utah Jazz on Thursday night. 

Sacramento’s defense was on display early, collecting five steals in just six minutes into the first quarter. It was a valiant effort that kept the Kings in the game through the first frame that quickly fell apart.

Toronto was able to make a 17-1 run taking a double-digit lead early in the second frame, leaving Sacramento to once again claw their way out of a deficit that was easily avoidable. Absolutely nothing was happening on offense for the Kings, while the Raptors’ bench unit unloaded their arsenal and really never let up. Toronto led by as many as 30 in the contest while Sacramento looked dazed and confused through three straight quarters.

Sacramento is abundantly talented. Frustrating loss after frustrating loss has got to give at some point, and beyond coaching woes, the Kingdom is still begging the question: why is this team still underperforming?

Simply put: Sacramento cannot string together four cohesive quarters of winning basketball. Dropping a few games here and there against a team below .500 is understandable and expected in an 82-game season, but these losing streaks are a slippery slope that is going to land the Kings in the same sorry spot they’ve been in for nearly two decades.

“Fire Walton” chants broke out in Golden 1 Center at the start of the third quarter, and they’ll need a miracle of a victory on Saturday to keep his career in Sactown afloat if he’s not already gone by the end of tonight.