By: Eric He

The road has not been kind to the Sacramento Kings early in the season, as they dropped their third consecutive loss away from home to kick off a five-game road trip with a 102-94 defeat to the Magic.

DeMarcus Cousins poured in 33 points to lead the way, but it was not enough as the Kings were once again riddled by rebounding woes and lack of flow on offense. The Kings allowed 23 second chance points to the Magic while they were held to just 11 assists by the Magic.

Cousins and Rudy Gay started off hot to give the Kings an early lead. But the Magic took over in the second quarter, winning the frame 33-21 as Orlando’s bench delivered.

Sacramento struggled offensively in the second half, held to just 16 points in the fourth with Cousins scoring half of them. Gay was hounded by Magic forward and Bay Area product Aaron Gordon, who finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds but played physical defense on the Kings’ winger.

“It was one of those games,” Gay told the Sacramento Bee.” We have to get better; we have to find ways to get rolling and get these wins.”

The Kings trailed 56-50 at halftime and 84-78 entering the fourth quarter. They clawed within two with under five minutes to play on a jumper by Cousins, but the Magic scored the next eight points to put the game away, while the Kings managed just one field goal.

Cousins was the only Sacramento player who had much of an offensive night. Gay recorded 16 points while Omri Cassipi had 12 points off the bench.

The Kings fall to 2-4 on the young season and 1-3 on the road. Their road trip continues on Friday when they take on the Bucks in Milwaukee.