When Rudy Gay left the game with a left knee injury late in the first quarter, memories of the Sacramento Kings’ (16-22) recent poor play minus a star resurfaced. The thought came to fruition as DeMarcus Cousins joined him on the sidelines in the waning seconds of regulation, and the short-handed Kings fell to the visiting Dallas Mavericks (27-12), 108-104.

The Kings are currently 2-2 on their six-game home stand and return to action on Friday in a contest against the Miami Heat. Join Cowbell Kingdom’sJames Ham as he recaps the action from the floor of Sleep Train Arena.

Golden State Warriors Projected Starters (31-22)

What to watch

1. Can the Kings win without DeMarcus Cousins?

The Kings are 0-7 without their starting center and it looks like Cousins will miss another game on Wednesday with a strained left hip flexor. Andrew Bogut is questionable for the Warrior with left shoulder inflammation, as is reserve Jermaine O’Neal (sore back). This game might turn into a track meet, which doesn’t bode well for Sacramento.

2. Can the Kings defend the 3-point line?

Sacramento ranks 28th in the league against the long ball. The Warriors starting backcourt of Curry and Thompson have already shot close to 800 3-pointers on the season. If the Kings don’t stay with Golden State’s shooters, they have very little chance of pulling off the upset.

3. How do the Kings players handle the trade rumors?

The trade deadline is 12pm PST on Thursday and the rumors are swirling. Do the Kings players crumble under the pressure or do they come out swinging in what might be their last game in Sacramento?

According to an NBA source, Sacramento Kings point guard Isaiah Thomas underwent an MRI earlier Tuesday on his left wrist. Counter to other media reports, the results of the tests were negative and Thomas is not expected to miss any time with the injury.

Since taking over the starting position 35 games ago, Thomas is averaging 21.5 points, 6.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game in 37.5 minutes. But rumors that he was having some discomfort in his wrist began a few weeks back.

Recently, his shooting numbers have taken a dramatic dip, beginning in January when he shot just 41.2 percent from the field and 32.7 percent from long range. Thomas’s overall field goal percentage has bounced back in the month of February, but his 3-point percentage for the seven games this month is 24.1 percent.

Thomas and rookie guard Ben McLemore were the subject of a trade rumor on Monday, but coach Michael Malone and general manager Pete D’Alessandro refuted the reports following practice on Tuesday afternoon.

“The report that was, I think on Yahoo!, about our offer to Boston was so erroneous and I don’t know where it came from,” Malone told reporters on Tuesday. “We dispel the rumors that are out there that we know are not true, but at the same time, this is a business and you have no idea what can happen up until trade deadline. I think all of our players realize that.”

With injuries and possible trade rumors swirling, it should be a wild couple of days in Sacramento.

DeMarcus Cousins Injury Update

Thomas wasn’t the only Kings player to undergo an MRI today. For the second straight day, center DeMarcus Cousins made a trip to the doctors office for testing. Results of the first MRI were inconclusive, but a second test confirmed the Kings medical staff’s earlier diagnosis of a strained left hip flexor.

Cousins has been unable to participate in practice since returning from the All-Star break. He is listed as day-to-day, but considered doubtful for Wednesday’s match-up against the Golden State Warriors.

Hamady Ndiaye out of Rutgers and DeQuan Jones out of Florida are the only late additions. Ndiaye was in camp last season with Sacramento and left a solid impression. After being waived by the Kings, the 26-year old center spent last season playing for Tianjin Ronggang Golden Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association.

Jones played in 63 games last season with the Orlando Magic, including 17 starts. He averaged 3.7 points per game in a little under 13 minutes a game.

Last season it was high ropes courses in Colorado Springs, Co. This year, the Sacramento Kings open training camp away from home again, but instead of the Team USA practice facility in Colorado, it will be on the sandy beaches of Santa Barbara, CA. Camp will run from Oct. 1-6 at the Pavilion Gym on the University of California, Santa Barbara campus.

The team will head back to Northern California for their pre-season opener on the road against the Golden State Warriors on October 7, before heading to Las Vegas to take on the Lakers on Oct. 10.

After the initial week away, the Kings will continue camp in Sacramento at the team’s practice facility in Natomas.

Cowbell Kingdom has grown exponentially since its founding in 2009 and we want to make sure we know our audience. The information you provide in this brief survey will be used to help us better serve you. For your participation, you will be automatically entered into a contest to win a copy of the 2013-14 Sacramento Kings Dancers calendar and a “Blackout” t-shirt commemorating last season’s first home game.

But there’s probably no other player more overlooked and underrated on this season’s roster than the fourth-year guard. Just look no further than ESPN.com’s annual NBA Rank, which appraises the value of the league’s top 500 players. The 25-year-old guard moved up just five spots (no. 136 in 2011 to no. 131 in 2012) in this year’s rankings. These were the five players ranked just ahead of Thornton in the 2012 forecast:

Such is life on a bad team with little to no national exposure. However, those who follow the Kings closely know just how valuable Thornton is, especially his competition.

“He’s become an outstanding scorer in this league,” said Dallas Mavericks guard Darren Collisonback in January of his former New Orleans Hornets teammate. “He’s definitely made a niche in this league as far as (being) a big time scorer.

“He can shoot the ball extremely well and he can do a lot of different things off the pick and roll,” added Collison. “And he’s exceptionally quick too.”

In their rookie year, Collison and Thornton formed an explosive and exciting young backcourt for the Hornets. Though they’ve since gone their separate ways, the two remain close. Thornton worked out last offseason with Collison in Los Angeles during the lockout.

The fourth-year guard out of UCLA thinks Sacramento is a good fit for his old teammate. He believes Thornton will only continue to improve with the Kings’ green nucleus.

“This is a young team that’s going to be good in the near future,” Collison said. “He has a starting role here, so anytime you have a starting role, it’s always a good fit. And he’s one of their best scorers, too.”

Averaging 18.7 points per game, Thornton led the Kings in scoring last season and usually found himself as their go-to-guy in clutch situations. The next step for Thornton, according to another former teammate, is becoming an accomplished defender.

“He’s always been a capable scorer,” said Indiana Pacers big man David West. “Key for him has always been for him to play as hard defensively as he does offensively.”

As explosive as he is with the ball, Thornton could stand to see some improvement on the defensive end. The Louisiana native finished in the bottom three among his 15 teammates in defensive rating.

“We would challenge him to do the same thing on the defensive end,” said West of his days with Thornton in New Orleans. “Make him more of a complete ball player.”

However like Collison, West thinks Thornton will continue to find success in the league.

“He’s a strong-minded, tough-minded kid,” West said. “I knew that once he got an opportunity to just get in a system that worked for him and bring out his best skills, he’d do well.”

The Kings may not belong to Marcus Thornton. But his importance to their success isn’t an understatement.

Twenty-five years ago today, Sacramento Kings Head Coach Keith Smart hit a shot that changed his life forever.

No matter where I go, people talk about it. Once they recognize me or see a nametag on my bag or something like that, they start talking about “The Shot”. So it’s a great moment and I’m glad it went in, but wasn’t just something for me.

We just had our 25 year championship reunion. And we all got together and it wasn’t so much what we all did in the tournament and our careers. It was a friendship and a relationship that we have now that that moment brings us all together.

Diehard Sacramento Kings fan Kevin Fippin wanted to propose to his long-time girlfriend Lydia Nicolaisen. So before he popped the question on New Year’s Eve, he recruited the services of a Sacramento Kings fan favorite.