BOSTON – The wound was already there, the opening widened almost every time out by the way the Kings continue to lose.
But the salt for rookie forward Jason Thompson and second-year big man Spencer Hawes came with Wednesday's news that they had not been voted to the Rookie-Sophomore game on All-Star Weekend. In a season full of disappointments for the Kings, Thompson said it was a missed chance to have a memory worth holding onto.
In that vein, Thompson provided a rare highlight in the lowly Kings' 119-100 loss at Boston by finishing with 21 points and 11 rebounds. And afterward, he admitted it was on his mind as he played against the Celtics. The league's assistant coaches vote on the rosters for the game.
"Oh yeah," he said when asked if he was disappointed. "That was a statement right there, to anybody that voted. I definitely feel like I deserved it."
As Thompson made clear, his primary concern was the way in which the Kings fell yet again. They gave up 100-plus points for the ninth consecutive game, a span in which Kings opponents have averaged 120.4 points.
"You're not going to win ballgames doing that," he said.
With the playoff picture nonexistent for the Kings, the continued development of Thompson and Hawes will be key. Thompson is averaging 14.9 points, 7.8 rebounds and 29.1 minutes in his last 10 games.
"I'm just trying to do whatever it takes to help the team out," he said. "I obviously have to develop, so why not start now when the playoff picture is not looking too bright?"
Hawes, who was just 1 of 6 shooting for three points and had six rebounds in 23 minutes against the Celtics, finds himself moving in the opposite direction. Before Kings coach Kenny Natt took over for Reggie Theus, Hawes had played 30-plus minutes in five consecutive games. Yet he has hit the 30-minute mark just once in the 19 games he has played under Natt, while averaging 20 minutes in that span.
Hawes' production has fallen off as well, as he is shooting 38.2 percent during that time while averaging five rebounds and one block. After the Kings' loss at Cleveland, he said his situation would need addressing when the team returned to Sacramento.
"I guess probably when we get home from this (trip) I'll probably have to go talk to either (Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie or Natt), but I was kind of trying to stay away from it," Hawes said. "I thought (his development) was going in the right direction earlier (in the season), so it's frustrating that it has continued on that track."
Greene returns – Kings rookie small forward and new father Donté Greene rejoined the team in Boston.
The 20-year-old missed the first three games of the trip while he was with his fiancée in Charlotte, N.C., where his son, Donté Dominic Greene II, was born. Greene played four minutes late against Boston.
Read the Kings blog at www.sacbee.com/kingsblog.
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