The Kings' second date with the Indiana Pacers in less than a week didn't go as well as the first. Sacramento saw their three-game winning streak come to an end after falling 107-97 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Saturday night.
The Kings got off to a fast start and held a 31-24 lead at the end of the first quarter, but totalled just 40 points over the second and third, as the Pacers climbed their way back to victory, slowly but surely. Buddy Hield and Indiana's Thaddeus Young led their respective sides with 20 points apiece.
Playing on the back end of a back-to-back, Sacramento failed to reach triple digits in scoring for the first time in their last 11 games. Here are three takeaways as the Kings fall to 13-12 on the season:
Buddy's blazing start
Buddy Hield scored 18 points on 6-of-16 shooting in the Kings' home win over the Pacers last week. On Saturday in Indianapolis, he nearly replicated that in the first quarter.
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Hield was on fire from the opening tip, almost single-handedly carrying Sacramento through the opening quarter. He accounted for 13 of the Kings' first 19 points in the contest, and coverted each of the first three 3-pointers he attempted. In fact, he was the only Kings player to sink a trey in the first frame.
Hield, however, cooled down significantly from that point on. He totalled just two points in each of the second and third quarters, and didn't convert another 3-pointer until late in the fourth.
He's been on a tear as of late, but may have run out of gas Saturday.
Foul trouble
Sacramento needed Hield's production in the early going, particularly due to the fact that two other typically reliable scoring options were unable to contribute much at all in the first half due to foul trouble.
De'Aaron Fox picked up his second personal foul midway through the first quarter, and Marvin Bagley matched him when he was whistled for his second personal with 19.2 seconds remaining. Making matters worse, Bagley picked up his third foul 42 seconds into the second frame, forcing him to the bench for the remainder of the half.
Accumulating quick fouls in succession proved to be an ongoing theme for Bagley, as he picked up his fourth and fifth personal fouls within a span of 11 seconds in the third quarter. He eventually fouled out on what turned out to be a three-point play for Pacers' forward Thaddeus Young in the fourth.
Every rookie is going to have growing pains, and that was certainly the case for Bagley Saturday night.
Lacking balance
In addition to missing Bagley and -- to a lesser extent -- Fox for long stretches of the game, the Kings were also without the services of guard Iman Shumpert (rest). That collectively placed an extra burden on the shrunken number of available offensive contributors; meanwhile, Indiana utilized an effective, balanced team attack.
Seven different Pacers scored in double figures, compared to five for Sacramento. Indiana center Myles Turner was the only member of their starting lineup that failed to score in double digits, and he finished with nine points, 13 rebounds and four blocks.
When the Kings' top scorers are struggling to put the ball in the basket -- Hield, Fox and fellow guard Bodan Bogdanovic combined for 49 points on 45 shot attempts -- victories are going to be tough to come by if the supporting cast can't make up the difference.
