During much of the Kings' past two weeks of struggles, they almost always had a reason to rest easy after leaving the arena with a loss.

Injuries to Kevin Martin and Francisco García had created a company line that trying hard and simply competing was enough, with the end result a mere afterthought on some nights until the roster had returned to health. But their 116-114 overtime loss to New Jersey on Wednesday night left no room for rhetoric, the game coming down to factors of the more elementary nature and surely qualifying as inexcusable to the announced crowd of 11,650 that filed out so slowly and sullenly after overtime.

Having trailed by 17 points, the Kings took a five-point lead with 2:19 remaining in the fourth quarter after Spencer Hawes and Brad Miller hit back-to-back threes and John Salmons buried a floater from the right. But what came next was easily the most mishap-filled stretch for the Kings this season.

There were missed free throws – 6 of 12 attempts from the 2:00 mark of the fourth until the end of overtime. Calm in key moments wasn't there, and neither was composure. Miller stalked official Courtney Kirkland and shared his views over a non-call so loudly that a technical with 2:39 left in overtime allowed the Nets to tie the score 110-110.

But as the Kings lost for the fifth consecutive time at home for the first time since March 1998, it was the inconceivable defensive lapses that did them in worst of all.

With 16 seconds left and the Nets trailing 105-102, Bobby Jackson played off Nets point guard Devin Harris so far on the left wing that Kings coach Reggie Theus nearly rushed the floor to take over the assignment himself. Harris coolly converted a three with seven seconds left to force the extra period. Shockingly, it only got worse.

With 37 seconds left in overtime, Harris drew the defense with his drive and somehow convinced Beno Udrih to leave Keyon Dooling alone in the right corner for a three that tied it 113-113. Harris – who had 18 points and seven assists – finished the job with 12 seconds left, driving on Jackson and losing him with a spin before his 16-footer was all net, and New Jersey won at Arco Arena for the first time since Nov. 30, 1997.

"We have to make better decisions on defense," said Udrih, who had 16 points and 10 assists. "We had it, and we lost it again."

Salmons wasn't saying much afterward, the loss more than enough to prompt a trademark of his own. The towel over his head was there for good reason, as his career-high 38 points (11-of-19 shooting) had gone for naught.

"It's just a tough loss," Salmons said. "We need to get over this hump."

It had been a long road back for the Kings, beginning when Bobby Simmons hit a three from the left to put the Nets up 66-51 and prompt Theus to holler, "You're not that good, young fella, you're not that good," reasons unknown to those who heard.

Nonetheless, he might as well have been talking about the Nets.

Theus' body language said it all near the end of the first quarter, as his shoulders drooped and his chin dropped when his team's fifth turnover was as sloppy as those that had come before it. A bad Salmons pass was picked off by Dooling, who buried a 17-footer to put the Nets up 29-23.

Salmons was having his way offensively, hitting five of his first seven shots en route to 18 first-half points. But midway through the second quarter, his teammates were a combined 4 of 20.

With eight minutes left in the second quarter, Hawes' turnaround right-hander in the post came after four misses and was the first field goal from the team's bench to that point. He hit another a minute later, squaring up against former Stanford star Brook Lopez for an 18-footer that cut the lead to five.

But despite Theus yelling late in the second quarter, "Come on, we need some stops," the Nets were rarely being challenged inside or out.

The challenges at the end, of course, would be self-induced.

Read the Kings blog at www.sacbee.com/kingsblog.