Despite showing signs of improvement, the Kings matched their longest losing streak since the 2021-2022 NBA season after falling 113-99 to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday at Paycom Center.
Sacramento, without star big man Domantas Sabonis, extended its losing skid to seven games after a characteristic third-quarter collapse against the defending NBA champions.
With a 3-12 record, the Kings are off to their worst start through 15 games since going 2-13 to start the 1990-91 season.
Coach Doug Christie pointed out marked corrections in terms of his team’s competitiveness but recognizes that the morale in his locker room remains relatively distressed.
“What I would say is frustrated. That’s probably the term I would use,” Christie told reporters after the loss.
Yet again, the Kings managed to stay competitive throughout the first half before succumbing to a second-half swoon, giving up nine turnovers in the third quarter alone.
Even though Christie is stressing high-level execution and focus during practice sessions, the Kings’ late-game product isn’t there. It’s headed in the right direction, but it’s not there just yet.
“The level of competition the guys brought I thought was really, really high level,” Christie added.
“That’s what we need to get ourselves out of where we’re at, and if we do that on a night-to-night basis, most nights in the NBA you give yourselves a chance to win. This was the world champs and there were eight, nine minutes left, and they found themselves right there.”
Sacramento’s leading scorer, Zach LaVine, was limited to eight points for a second consecutive game after shooting 4 of 10 from the floor and a paltry 0 of 4 from beyond the arc.
Precious Achiuwa, starting amid Sabonis’ absence, tallied 15 points and nine rebounds, while Dennis Schröder added a team-high 21 points off the bench.
The Kings’ fourth stop of a five-game road trip takes them to Memphis on Thursday, where they’ll look to put a historic start in the rearview against the Grizzlies.