by Charlie O. Mallonee

“I wanted to win that game so badly. It would have been great for our morale,” said Kings Head Coach George Karl after his team lost to the Orlando Magic 119-114 on Friday night.

The fact that the Kings had a chance to win the game in Orlando was a miracle in itself. Sacramento allowed the Magic to score 68 points in the first half. The Kings took their first lead with 6:45 to go in the game off a Nik Stauskas 3-pointer. Sacramento’s biggest lead of the night was one point. Their defense was inconsistent at best.

Even with all of those things going against the Kings, they still had a chance to win the game with 32.7-seconds left to go. Omri Casspi was fouled in the act of shooting a 3-pointer. Casspi went to the free throw line and converted all three opportunities to give the Kings a one point lead.

After an Orlando timeout, the Magic inbounded the ball, the Kings defense broke down and Tobias Harris was left open in the right corner. Harris hit the “short” 3-point shot to give the lead back to the Magic and ultimately gave his team the win.

“That’s what the road is. The road is a hard place. It’s an unfair place.A place where you might have been the better team in the second half and you don’t get rewarded,” summarized Karl during the postgame news conference.

Defensive breakdowns and turnovers were the Kings downfall against the Magic. Coach Karl pointed out the Magic scored on almost every possession after a Kings turnover. Orlando scored 22 points off of the 14 Sacramento turnovers in the game.

The Kings defense allowed Orlando to shoot 56.5-percent (48 for 85) from the field and go 13 for 24 (54.2-percent) from beyond the 3-point arc. The Magic posted 29 assists and made just 12 turnovers.

Victor Oladipo led the Magic recording a double-double by scoring 32 points and dishing out 10 assists. Elfrid Payton put up a double-double with 10 points and 12 assists. Channing Frye also had a double-double putting up 22 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Frye hit six 3-pointers for the Magic.

The Kings were led by Rudy Gay and DeMarcus Cousins. Gay scored 39 points for Sacramento. Cousins had a double-double night with 29 points and 12 rebounds. Ray McCallum (13) and Omri Casspi (12) were the other Kings who scored in double figures.

The Sacramento bench added just 28 points in the game.

The Kings went 38 for 85 (44.7-percent) from the floor and a respectable 37.0-percent (10 for 27) from downtown. They went to the free throw line 38 times and were successful 28 times (73.7-percent). A team does not go to the charity stripe 38 times and come away the losers very often.

It took the Kings too long to get into the game on Friday night, and their defensive breakdowns sealed their fate.

The Kings (21-39) record falls to 1-2 for the road trip. Sacramento has to play the second game of a back-to-back in Miami on Saturday night.

Orlando ended a four game losing streak with the victory over the Kings. The Magic are now 20-43 for the year.

A Spirited Conversation

Much will be made of a “dust up” between Rudy Gay and DeMarcus Cousins late in the second quarter of the game. The two exchanged words on the bench and on the floor after a turnover. It was really nothing more than two competitors who are sick of losing taking it out on each other for 30-seconds. “There‘s nothing to see here. Move along now. Nothing to see here.”