{"id":248507,"date":"2026-04-02T14:19:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T14:19:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/248507\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T14:19:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T14:19:18","slug":"raptors-lament-on-tough-loss-to-lowly-kings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/248507\/","title":{"rendered":"Raptors lament on \u2018tough\u2019 loss to lowly Kings"},"content":{"rendered":"

TORONTO \u2013 The disappointment in RJ Barrett\u2019s face was evident.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Mississauga, Ont., native blankly stared at the statsheet, taking his time before getting his thoughts out. When he walked out of the press conference, he mumbled while shaking his head in disgust.<\/p>\n

Barrett led the Toronto Raptors with 20 points in a 123-115 loss to the lowly Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night. The Kings entered the game tied for the NBA\u2019s worst road record at 6-32, while also having the league\u2019s fourth-worst record.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been doing well. We have a solid record, but it\u2019s nights like these where this is a game we\u2019re supposed to win no matter what,\u201d he said when asked about the process of a team that hasn\u2019t been on a playoff run together. \u201cProcess or no process, we can\u2019t lose this game. Just straight up what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Toronto, which entered the contest in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, fell to seventh \u2014 a play-in spot \u2014 due to a tiebreaker with Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

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The Raptors were coming off a road loss to the East-leading Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night and admittedly came out without the necessary energy. And it showed as Toronto was outrebounded 48-32, giving up 19 offensive rebounds.<\/p>\n

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\u201cDefinitely a tough loss for us,\u201d head coach Darko Rajakovic said. \u201cI think the game was really (about) rebounding. It came down to that they had dominated the glass \u2026 we just did not have enough discipline, enough effort to close on those possessions.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid a really good job on (DeMar) DeRozan in the first half. But \u2026 he can at any point catch fire. He was at two points in the first half, finished the game with 28 \u2026 but when you don\u2019t approach the game from the start, with the level of intensity and attention to detail that you need to have, this is the outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

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DeRozan and Precious Achiuwa, both former Raptors, were the primary culprits on Sacramento\u2019s end.<\/p>\n

DeRozan scored 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the fourth quarter, including the dagger three-pointer with 1:05 left amid a 5-0 personal run that pushed the game out of reach.<\/p>\n

Achiuwa had 28 points and 19 rebounds, which included an 11-point, 10-rebound showing in the second quarter alone. He entered play with averages of 9.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.<\/p>\n

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\u201cCan\u2019t let him (do) things like that,\u201d Barrett said of Achiuwa\u2019s stat line. \u201cThey had a lot of offensive rebounds tonight. Our fight just wasn\u2019t where it needed to be from the beginning of the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cUs being in some early foul trouble kind of made us be less aggressive, but we\u2019ve got to understand that we can\u2019t lose the aggressiveness at that point. We\u2019ve got to stay there, just do it without fouling.\u201d<\/p>\n

With six games remaining in the regular season, the Raptors sit just two games ahead of eighth-place Charlotte and 1 1\/2 games back of fifth-place Atlanta in a tight race for seeding in the East.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis loss didn\u2019t create urgency, there\u2019s been urgency,\u201d Barrett said. \u201cAnd I think that\u2019s part of why tonight is frustrating. It\u2019s because we know what it is, we know how close this race is.<\/p>\n

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\u201cEspecially now after tonight, if we don\u2019t come out and fight with everything that we\u2019ve got for these next couple of games, we\u2019ve got to play like our life depends on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 2, 2026.<\/p>\n

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