OAKLAND - Apparently the end of last night's game wasn't updated on the blog, but I'm sure you all know how it all happened.
It's nothing I haven't written this season.
Things were going well for the Kings. They led the Golden State Warriors 99-90 with 3:03 left in regulation.
One minute, 13 seconds later the score was 99-98. Eventually the Kings would lose 119-112, in overtime.
The reason for that bad stretch and loss were familiar.
"We didn't trust each other to run our stuff," said Kings coach Paul Westphal. "They made shots and we didn't get good shots."
Not getting good shots against the Warriors is hard to explain, especially given the size advantage the Kings had and that they'd overcome a seven-point deficit to start the fourth.
But these Kings have made a habit of playing well only to stop executing when it matters. Then the turnovers (two by Tyreke Evans during that span) and bad habits on offense resurface.
"We had some great stretches," Westphal said. "It's just a crying shame we decided to stop playing together at the worst possible time."
The Kings also missed three of six free throws in the final minute. Overall the Kings made 25 of 37 (67.6 percent).
Evans said had the Kings just made free throws they would have won.
"It never should have come to that," Westphal said. "We absolutely stopped running the things that had been working the whole game. That's not a formula for winning. If we would have won if we made the free throws? Yeah"
Why does this keep happening? No one has a real answer. Beno Udrih said too much dribbling and no ball movement lead to "stupid mistakes" that cost the Kings wins.
"We can't say it's experience," Udrih said. "Basically we're just lackadaisical and not doing what we're supposed to do. We basically went away from what was working."
The topic off leadership was brought up, too. Do the Kings need more of it? Sure. But even if the Kings had someone like Kevin Garnett barking commands, it would still be up to each player to carry out the plan.
Carl Landry said some of the Kings' shortcomings can be overcome with hustle. Among the things Landry mentioned were geting the loose balls, setting good screens and running plays correctly.
"I'm not talking about anything that's got to do with talent," Landry said. "I'm just talking about are we running the right plays? Are we running plays? Do we have counters to our plays, just basketball, man."
--Jason Jones
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