Hopefully, the Sacramento Kings have started planning trips to Cancun because they [are not playing past the end](https://aroyalpain.com/kings-close-out-2025-with-loss-so-bad-defines-year) of the regular season. Once again, they followed their standard pattern of falling apart in the second half. It's enough to make fans wonder if they're doing this on purpose.
It's become a common scene for anyone watching the Kings play what they call basketball. They're generally competitive in the first half, and possibly even have a slight lead at the end of the second quarter. Then, everything falls apart at some point in the second half, and they lose.
In last night's blowout loss to the Warriors, you can actually pinpoint the moment things went sideways. With 3:13 left in the third quarter, the score was tied 84 to 84. Golden State proceeded to score 13 unanswered points to close the third frame out, giving them a solid lead.
From there, everything went from bad to worse for the Kings. The final score was 137 to 103 for the Warriors, a difference of 34 points. Just over 15 minutes before that, the two teams were tied, then Golden State dropped 53 points while Sacramento scored 19 in response.
The Kings are almost too terrible to be real
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A similar situation [happened recently against the Mavericks](https://aroyalpain.com/kings-lost-mavs-game-so-predictable-you-could-set-watch). Sacramento led for the majority of the game, only to cough up a narrow loss as they closed in on the finish line. If it were any other team than the Kings, there may have been actual shock among the fanbase.
Again, this is a very common pattern for the Kings. The final scores aren't always the same, but the second half collapse is. It seems incredibly improbable that Sacramento could play competitive basketball for most of three quarters to suddenly play so terribly for the rest of the game so often.
There are people who have speculated that the Kings may be tanking to get a better lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. The method they appear to be using is letting veterans who don't defend and take bad shots play for 25 to 35 minutes per game. If it's an actual attempt to win, stop it. Now.
A great draft pick in 2026 would be a huge step in the Kings' rebuild process. And Sacramento wouldn't be the first team in the history of the NBA to tank a season to get that reward. If that is what they're doing, they should stop making it so obvious and confuse people by winning a game or two.