Cousins' triple-double spoiled by Kings' helpless defense

The Sacramento Kings' porous defense has hit a new low.

The Brooklyn Nets, owners of the league's fourth-worst offense at 95.6 points per game, hung 128 points on the Kings as part of a thrilling 128-119 victory Friday night.

In doing so, the Kings wasted a magnificent performance from DeMarcus Cousins, who posted his fourth career triple-double with 24 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists in the loss.

As always, the Kings played at a frenetic pace in an all-out hunt for early offense. That strategy yielded 28 fast-break points and allowed the Kings to shoot over 50 percent from the floor, but they simply couldn't get stops.

The Nets shot 55.8 percent from the field and connected on 18 of their 28 tries from beyond the arc. All five Nets starters finished in double-digits, led by Joe Johnson's 27 and 10, which marked the first time in six years that he topped the 20-point, 10-assist plateau.

An early injury to Rudy Gay only served to exacerbate the Kings' defensive woes. Gay has embraced the role of a multi-positional stopper this season, but he only logged four minutes thanks to a sprained left ankle. That left Johnson, his assignment, to wreak havoc on the Kings' overwhelmed backups.

After the game, a frustrated Cousins went the diplomatic route in explaining the Kings' defensive shortcomings.

Sacramento has now lost six of their last seven games while conceding an average of 116 points over that stretch.