SACRAMENTO -- Heartbreaking. Devin Booker’s buzzer-beating 20-foot bank shot over the outstretched arms of Matt Barnes sent the Kings to their third straight loss and sucked the air right out of the building Friday night. After a long road trip, this was not the way Sacramento envisioned their homestand beginning.
“Yeah, guy took a contested 20 footer,” Joerger said. “I don’t know how [he made it]. Somebody’s going to get it – somebody’s going to get a shot. [Booker] hit a shot on a 6’8’ guy and only he’ll tell if he went off the glass or not on purpose.”
It was another punch to the gut for a Kings team that competes on a nightly basis, but is still searching for that last ingredient to get them over the hump.
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“Tough night – tough to take the loss, but so proud of our guys,” Joerger added.
The locker room was almost empty when media was finally allowed in during postgame. DeMarcus Cousins, still wrapped in a towel, sat in his stall with giant ice bags strapped to each of his shoulders.
Like half the Sacramento Kings roster, he’s banged up, but for a player who has put this team on his back most nights, the ice bags seemed appropriate.
“I’ve been dealing with some soreness in my shoulders, I don’t really know what the hell it is,” Cousins said.
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The Kings are depleted. Injuries to Rudy Gay, Omri Casspi and Garrett Temple have the team extremely short-handed at the wing. A stomach virus for Arron Afflalo only compounded the issue against the Suns.
“We’re going to need every guy in this locker room,” Cousins said. “We’re aware of the injuries we’re dealing with right now, it sucks. They’re big pieces to this team but it also gives other guys opportunities to step up and fill in their role so this is their chance.”
Cousins’ leadership has been questioned plenty of times during his seven-year career, but the All-Star big is doing his best to get everyone involved. His triple-double performance was overshadowed by the last-second shot by Booker, as was his season-high 12 assists.
Seldom used Ben McLemore stepped into the starting lineup and missed his first four shots. It looked like Joerger was going to have to turn to rookie Malachi Richardson to sure up the shooting guard position until Cousins found the high-flyer for a breakaway dunk.
Darren Collison set up McLemore for a 3-pointer, followed by another triple off a pass from Cousins. By the end of the first quarter, McLemore had a team-high 10-points and was locked in on defense.
“I need every guy on the floor, man,” Cousins said. “I need every guy to be aggressive. I need every guy to have confidence in their game – believe in the ability to make shots. I think guys did that – tonight guys stepped up, made shots, and played with confidence, but we fell short.”
Down the stretch, Phoenix aggressively attacked the Kings on both ends of the floor. With 29 seconds remaining and the Kings up 101-100, Cousins missed a 26-footer from the top of the key. He thought he was fouled on the play by P.J. Tucker, but the officials held their whistles.
“I don’t think we get the same respect as other teams in this league, which is obvious - I’m not really going to go into details,” Cousins said. “You can read between the lines. It never really goes our way. We never get the benefit of the doubt. It just is what it is.”
On the other end, Tucker knocked a 3-pointer from the corner to give Phoenix a two-point lead and set up a wild final 21.6 seconds.
Cousins found Collison for a 15-foot baseline jumper to tie the game at 103-103, before Booker drilled the bank shot to finish off the Kings.
“I think Matt played good, tough defense,” Cousins said. “He hit a tough shot. That’s what it is. It happens.”
This is the third straight loss for the Kings and it only gets worse on Saturday night when the 43-7 Golden State Warriors roll into Sacramento for a back-to-back.