The new year didn’t get off to a promising start for the Sacramento Kings, as they suffered a 131-111 loss to the Charlotte Hornets. This marks the Kings’ eighth 20-point loss of the season.
Offense didn’t seem to be the problem for Sacramento, who shot 52 percent from the field and had six players score in double figures. However, the Kings turned over the ball 15 times compared to just three from the Hornets, and allowed them to shoot 57 percent from the field and 47 percent from behind the arc.
Sacramento was completely outmatched by Charlotte during the first two quarters and entered the locker room at halftime down by 20 points. The Kings were able to come storming back in the third quarter to cut the lead down to 11, but the Hornets refused to back down and put the Kings away.
Zach Randolph had a stellar outing with 24 points and ten rebounds on 11/18 shooting. Oft-forgotten Skal Labissiere had his best night of the game with 17 points and 15 rebounds and was able to find his way on the court for 28 minutes. The 15 rebounds marks a career high surpassing 13 he post last year also against the Hornets.
Star rookie De’Aaron Fox started in his first game since partially tearing his quad back in December. He had 17 points and played 33 minutes to lead the team.
Charlotte had a huge night offensively with eight players scoring in double digits. They were led by Nicolas Batum with 21 points and Dwight Howard with 20 points.
The Hornets dropped 100 points on the Kings in the first three quarters, which is the most they’ve given up this season in that span. The next closest was 92 against the Atlanta Hawks.
Since routing the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday, the Kings have struggled mightily and lost all of their games by double digits. They scored well in two of those three games, but defense has been a huge weak point during this losing streak.
Bogdan Bogdanovic posted 11 points off the bench and lead the team with excellent passing and five assists. Sacramento falls to 12-25 with this loss and don’t play again until they host Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets on Saturday.
