Stats Corner: Suckitude Doesn't Compute

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Tonight, the Kings lost a game they shouldn't have - and not just because they were playing at home against a weak opponent who should have been slapped away like Muggsy Bogues driving for a dunk against Manute Bol.

The Kings, according to our stats scorecard, did those things that all season have led to a victorious outcome, namely:

They made more 3 pointers (82% Win Expectancy)
They made more total field goals (80% Win Expectancy)
They made a higher % of 3 pointers (80% Win Expectancy)
They made a higher % of all field goals (73% Win Expectancy)
They took fewer free throws (71% Win Expectancy)
They took fewer field goal attempts (58% Win Expectancy)

All of the above stats include Saturday's loss...

Tonight, our loyal Excel sheet let us down. But, in actuality, that was because the Kings let us down in a big way, by delivering one of the weakest 4th quarter scoring performances I've seen in a long time. In fact, the team's 12-point output is the absolute worst of the year. With only a 3rd quarter mid-December blip vs. the Jazz, one has to go to the beginning of the season when the Kings approached this level of despair.

LOWEST-SCORING QUARTERS THIS SEASON

POINTS	QUARTER	DATE	OPPONENT	OUTCOME
12	4th	Jan. 6 '07	Portland	Loss
13	3rd	Dec. 14 '06	Utah	Win
14	1st	Nov. 3 '06	Chicago	Win
16	1st	Nov. 1 '06	Minnesota	Loss
16	3rd	Nov. 4 '06	Milwaukee	Loss

You can try to blame tonight's game, or that vs. the Lakers, on missed free throws, questionable coaching, or even the pH balance in the team's Perrier, but if an NBA squad scores 12 points in the 4th quarter, I don't care who you are, you deserve to lose - not even if you do everything else right.