LOS ANGELES - The Kings fell back into their bad offensive habits in Sunday's 113-102 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Yes, it was the return of the dribbling show. And it only took one quarter - the third - to lead the Kings' demise in a very winnable game.
"When we try to play one-on-one or play hero basketball we tend to have games, situations and quarters like that," said forward Patrick Patterson.
Patterson said the Kings have the ability to break the monotony in these situations.
"If the ball is stuck on one side just try to set a flare for another teammate, try to cut, dive, even throw the ball into the post and try to move off of that post up," Patterson said. "Even just running over to the side of the person dribbling on the side to make him come off a ball screen and you'll have some action. There's a number of things we can do but just didn't."
*All the Kings' woes weren't just of their own doing. They encountered a much more aggressive and athletic Dwight Howard, who grabbed 17 rebounds and blocked five shots.
Not having to defend DeMarcus Cousins had to be make it easier for Howard.
"Dwight did a good job of helping out in the paint," said guard Tyreke Evans. "Even though he wasn't having a good offensive game he still messed with a lot of people's shots, but I think we got a couple good looks we should have knocked down, but they just weren't falling for us tonight."
*The Kings trailed 90-88 with 8:36 to play and then had a 4-on-1 fast break in the fourth quarter. Somehow the Kings ended up giving the ball to a big (Jason Thompson) who ran over Steve Blake for a turnover.
That sparked an 11-0 spurt by the Lakers.
It's the kind of decision-making that costs teams games,
"That was a good play for them," Evans said. "You know 4-on-1 we've got to get a bucket off that. So for them to get a stop their momentum's going and they come down and they get a three or a layup or something like that that gets them going and they never looked back."
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