It was beginning to look like another impressive Kings comeback effort. After trailing by as much as 18 in the first half, Sacramento cut the New Jersey lead to eight by halftime. The run continued into the second half, and the Kings found themselves up 97-89 with just over three minutes to play. But then DeMarcus Cousins fouled out. The Nets, fueled by Devin Harris, seized momentum and held off a late Kings rally to win, 106-100.

The Kings shot out of the gate last season, surprising the NBA with a 13-14 start that injected life back into the flailing franchise.

Luck continued to elude the Kings at Tuesday’s NBA Draft Lottery, as Sacramento landed the fifth pick in the 2010 NBA Draft.

With just less than a week until the NBA Draft Lottery, anticipation in Sacramento is building.

Thursday was the culmination of 20 years of hard work, a dedicated support staff and one supremely talented basketball player.

It is unknown yet whether Tyreke Evans’ first season in the NBA was good enough to earn him Rookie of the Year honors. However, it is clear that his accomplishments did not go unnoticed.

Phenom. Star in the making. The future.

It seemed like everything was clicking. Tyreke Evans and Jon Brockman were back, and the Sacramento Kings came out of the gate with high energy and fluid offense. Beno Udrih and Carl Landry made steady contributions as well, and Sacramento sprinted to a 15-point lead. But the Kings came out flat in the second half. They scored just four points in the first 8:30 of the third quarter and watched the Indiana Pacers jump to a 102-95 victory.

A meager 35.8 percent field goals, 72.7 percent free throws, 15 turnovers. What else needs to be known? Stats like those will not beat even the worst of teams, as evidenced by the Sacramento Kings’ ugly loss Wednesday to the New Jersey Nets, 93-79. The Kings never showed any semblance of a productive offense, with terrible shooting compounded by sloppy ball control. The Nets improved to 8-63 in their quest to avoid being the worst team in NBA history.

The Kings hung around Tuesday night with the defending champs. But because of some poor shooting, they were unable to make any runs, falling to the Lakers, 106-99. Sacramento shot just 42.9 percent from the field and compounded that by making just 71.4 percent from the free throw line. They kept the deficit around 10 for much of the second half but couldn’t close in on Los Angeles, which got 79 points from Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum.