Kings betrayed by offense in fourth-quarter collapse

Sacramento appeared to have the game in hand Tuesday night, leading the Phoenix Suns 109-87 with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. But they scored only five points in the game's final six minutes and went on to lose 119-117.

Coach Mike Brown called it a "great learning lesson," but he acknowledged that the Kings have had trouble scoring against small lineups this season. During the Suns' comeback, they played Kevin Durant at center alongside a group of three-point shooters. While Phoenix sank six triples during its comeback, the Kings couldn't take advantage by scoring inside.

Malik Monk had his shot blocked three times in the final eight minutes, a brutal stretch for him that included two turnovers and two missed three-pointers. Phoenix scored within six seconds after each Monk turnover or blocked shot.

But it's the whole team that's struggled to score inside. Last year, the Kings had the NBA's top offense. This year, they're eighth in points and 14th in offensive rating. The biggest difference is that they're making fewer two-pointers and they're not drawing fouls. When they do draw fouls, they aren't making their free throws.

Sacramento is dead-last in free-throw percentage, a baffling statistic for a team that's made the third-most threes in the league. The biggest culprits are Domantas Sabonis (67 percent from the line) and De'Aaron Fox (72.4 percent), who are also enjoying easily their best three-point shooting seasons of their careers. Are the free-throw struggles making the Kings stars hesitant to draw contact?

The Kings are taking 19 percent fewer free throws this season. They're making five percent fewer two-pointers. Monk is making only 57 percent of his shots near the basket, down from 70 percent last year.

The result is that, even with a much-improved defense — they've gone from 26th to 17th in the league — the Kings are struggling to hold leads. They're going to have to learn their lesson about scoring when opposing teams go small, or their next lessons will be about surviving the play-in games.