Right now, collectively, the Kings couldn't finish a sentence.

The Kings Tuesday night staged a valiant comeback from a 20-point second quarter deficit before falling 113-109 to the Phoenix Suns before a crowd of 13,630 at Arco Arena.

Sacramento thrice tied the game in the fourth quarter, but never could take the league in spite of multiple possessions.
The Kings lost their fourth straight game and fell to 14-20, while the Suns, who had lost seven straight road games entering the night improved to 22-13.

Kings coach Paul Westphal admitted the frustration that stems from close loss after close loss.

"This 'close but no cigar' is going to end," the coach said. "I don't know when, but it's going to end. I feel for the players. They are playing hard. (The Kings) played a great fourth quarter, a great second half and executed down the stretch. They got excellent shots every time. ... (had) hustle plays. ... and still we came up short. Is it upsetting? Yes.

"But we will not be discouraged and we will start winning these games. For whatever reason, we've had a string of having our heart pulled out of our chest, but ... this team is coming back."

One of the reasons why the Kings continue falling into holes is an absence of inner defense. They give up way too many uncontested layups during the course of a game. Those make it easier for opponents to string together points and build leads.

Sacramento received another spectacular performance from rookie guard Tyreke Evans, who had team-highs of 27 points, a career-high tying 11 rebounds and seven assists. Rookie forward Omri Casspi scored a season-high 24 points and did everything from grabbing seven rebounds to defending Phoenix point guard Steve Nash.

Second-year power forward Jason Thompson had his 13th double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Meanwhile, the Kings received yet another spark off the bench from forward Jon (Wildman) Brockman. He scored six points on three of three shooting and grabbed eight rebounds in 23 minutes.

Said Westphal, "I don't know what you can say about Jon Brockman. What an unbelievable performance he gave us in the second half. We were out-rebounded by nine in the first half and then ended up out-rebounding them by eight."

The Kings fruitless effort can be summed up by one offensive trip down the floor. Westphal called time with 1:10 left and the Kings trailing, 105-103. Evans drove down the middle and got to the rim, but missed the lay-in. Thompson missed a tip-in and Evans then missed a follow. Nash followed with excellent use of a pick-and-roll with Amare Stoudamire to get wide open and drain a 21-footer to give Phoenix a 107-103 lead with 44.5 seconds left.

Nash then made four of four free-throw attempts during the game's final 12 seconds to begin the Kings' heart surgery - again.