The Kings set a Sacramento-era franchise record with their 13th consecutive loss on Monday, this one coming at the hands of the New Orleans Pelicans.<\/p>\n
Though the team hasn’t been able to pull out a win since Jan. 16 over the Washington Wizards, Sacramento has remained competitive in recent games, losing by margins of four, four, three and six points in its previous four losses<\/a> entering Monday.<\/p>\n But this was a different story, as the Pelicans rode a hot shooting night to a 120-94 win over the Kings<\/a> at Smoothie King Center.<\/p>\n With the loss, the Kings’ current skid became the team’s longest in a single season since the franchise moved to Sacramento in 1985. The Kings also lost 13 in a row in 1990, but the streak spanned two different NBA seasons. The all-time franchise record is 14<\/a> consecutive losses, set twice in 1960 and 1971-72 when the team was known as the Cincinnati Royals.<\/p>\n “Everybody is about as frustrated as you can be,” coach Doug Christie told reporters postgame. “But I would tell you … the spirit in the shootaround, like if you walked in there, you would think that we were a playoff team. The way that guys are going about their business, they’re highly professional, attention to detail; like everybody’s engaged and trying to fight for each other.<\/p>\n “Tonight, just an absolute tough one after getting off semi-early, and obviously, you can’t turn the ball over 17 times and give up 29 points [off turnovers] and give up 60 points in the paint. And then they shot the 3 ball really, really well, and we did not.”<\/p>\n Sacramento shot just 4 for 31 (13 percent) from behind the arc, while New Orleans made 16 of 39 attempts (41 percent) from range. A 29-to-10 margin in points off turnovers in favor of the Pelicans didn’t help, either.<\/p>\n The Kings hung with the hosts early on, only trailing by five after a quarter. But the Pelicans soon pulled away, winning the next two frames by a 61-41 margin. <\/p>\n