The Kings played really well against the Bobcats in the second half, outscoring Charlotte by five points by playing solid defense and scoring with some regularity (which, I suppose, is all you can ask for from the Kings). Sacramento shot horribly all game long -- 6-22 in the first, 9-25 in the second, 8-21 in the third, 9-21 in the fourth. The Kings' best offensive quarter included 43 percent shooting. It was almost enough, as the Kings lost by just five. But the complete inability to have a consistent stretch of scoring and a bad defensive second quarter sunk the team.
In the second, Charlotte shot 12-20. In the rest of the game, the Bobcats shot 20-51. That's solid defense against an awful offensive team ... except for one quarter. When the Kings' offense is as bad as it's been, you can't give up a big quarter.
Tyreke Evans was among the Kings who shot poorly. That list also includes DeMarcus Cousins, Samuel Dalembert, Donte Greene and, most tellingly, Beno Udrih, who shot 3-13 and gave up a 7-14 night from D.J. Augustin. No amount of solid offensive play from Jason Thompson, Carl Landry and Omri Casspi can fix that.
The Kings now enter a stretch of seven games against sure-thing playoff teams; there's a game against the Suns in Phoenix after that gauntlet, followed by four more against really strong teams, followed by visits to this very Charlotte team and the Grizzlies. Needless to say, this might have been the Kings' last 'winnable' game for a while.