A month ago, the Kings were in a rut. At 5-10, losers of nine of their last 11 games, it seemed like the season was headed sideways early. Then the Knicks came to town. Sacramento won, got a bit of a schedule reprieve, and reeled off six more wins in the next seven contests.
Now, the Kings are in another lull, and this one’s even worse. The team has lost eight in a row, opponents are averaging 124.5 points per game, and there have only been four clutch minutes during that stretch. That means during the final five minutes of each of these eight games, the Kings have only been within five points for four minutes, or 10 percent of the time.