There seem to be more questions than answers when it comes to the Sacramento Kings‘ future in California’s capital.

There is no question that the Kings need to start playing better.

Sacramento will try to end a season-high seven-game losing streak Sunday when it hosts a Portland Trail Blazers team nearing elimination from the playoff race.

Although a tentative agreement was reached last month that would keep the Kings in Sacramento and have them open a new arena for the 2015-16 season, team ownership has since raised issue with some of the costs involved in the project.

“It just feels like they were coming up with reasons of why not to do the deal,” Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson said of a Friday meeting with the Maloof family.

George Maloof has mentioned that it may be possible to renovate Power Balance Pavilion, but league commissioner David Stern has said he didn’t know if such a plan would work, and Johnson has been clear that he wouldn’t support this option.

“We just focus on the games. We can’t control that part,” coach Keith Smart said Friday after the Kings lost 115-89 at Oklahoma City. “That’s really with our management side and our ownership group and the city.

“As far as myself and the team, I’ve got to focus on keeping them prepared and ready to play. They have to focus on preparing to play and playing.”

The Kings (19-41) haven’t looked prepared lately, giving up an average of 106.4 points during the team’s longest losing streak since an eight-game slide Dec. 11-27, 2010.

If Sacramento can’t beat Portland (28-32) for a second straight time, that skid could get even longer as its three-game homestand concludes with matchups against the West’s top two teams – San Antonio and the Thunder.

The Blazers are 11th in the West and 4 1/2 games back of eighth with six games left, mathematically still in the playoff hunt but with even less of a chance after learning All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge (hip) is out for the season.

Aldridge averaged team highs of 21.7 points and 12.7 rebounds in this season series to help Portland win two of the first three meetings.

Forward J.J. Hickson was on the Kings’ side for all three of those games, including Sacramento’s 95-92 home win Feb. 2, but he’s set to make a third consecutive start for the Blazers.

Since being waived by the Kings on March 19, Hickson is averaging 14.0 points and 7.4 rebounds in 13 contests for Portland.

He’ll go for a fourth consecutive double-double after scoring 13 points with 10 boards Friday when the Blazers’ rally attempt from 24 down in the third quarter came up short in a 97-94 loss to Dallas.

“It all started on the defensive end,” Hickson told the Blazers’ official website. “That’s something I love about (interim) coach (Kaleb) Canales, he always takes the positive things from games, whether we win or lose and moves forward.”

Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins has mostly struggled since scoring a career-high 41 points against Phoenix on April 3, reaching double figures just twice in six games and shooting 6 of 26 from the field over the last two.

The Trail Blazers, whose five-game winning streak in Sacramento ended Feb. 2, have won 11 of 13 overall in this series.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) Marcin Gortat had 20 points and 10 rebounds and Steve Nash added 18 points and 12 assists and the Phoenix Suns defeated the Sacramento Kings 109-100 on Tuesday night.

The Suns won their second straight and third in four games to move over the .500 mark (27-26) for only the third time this season.

The Suns moved within 1 1/2 games of Houston for the Western Conference’s eighth and final playoff berth.

DeMarcus Cousins scored a career-high 41 points and had 12 rebounds for the Kings, who have lost three of four.

Isaiah Thomas had 25 points and seven assists, and Terrence Williams had another big game off the bench with 16 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Michael Redd had 16 points and both Channing Frye and Jared Dudley had 15 for Phoenix. Shannon Brown had 12 points for the Suns.

Nash led a 12-2 run in the fourth that put Phoenix ahead 101-90. He made a 3-pointer and followed with an off-balance shot in the lane. A basket by Frye gave the Suns an 11-point lead with 4:05 remaining.

Redd scored three quick baskets to begin the fourth quarter, stretching the Suns’ lead to 87-82 with just under 10 minutes left. But three straight baskets by Cousins pulled Sacramento within 89-88.

The Suns maintained the lead in the third quarter despite having no answer for Cousins. The Kings‘ center had 13 points and eight rebounds, yet Sacramento still trailed 79-78 heading the fourth.

Nash began looking for his shot more in the third quarter when he scored seven points and three assists for Phoenix, which was outscored 27-20.

Gortat had 13 points and eight rebounds in a first-half matchup with Cousins. The Suns led by as many as 17 points in the second quarter and took a 59-51 advantage into halftime.

Cousins had 16 points and Williams had 12 for the Kings.

Notes: Despite shooting 39 percent in the opening quarter, the Suns still led 29-18. … The Kings played without starting guard Marcus Thornton (bruised left calf) and key reserve John Salmons (sore right hip). … Earning a rare start, Kings forward Donte Greene went scoreless and had three personal fouls in the first half. … Redd scored 10 second-quarter points. … The Kings made 4 of 11 free throws in the first half.

PISTONS 124, KINGS 112: Detroit sets
season-high offensive total.

Records: Pistons 16-27; Kings
14-29.

Big shot: Rodney Stuckey had 35
points, five rebounds and six assists, including a 19-point third
quarter. Stuckey was 10 of 18 from the floor, 4 of 6 on 3-pointers,
and 11 of 12 from the free-throw line. He is averaging 25 points
since the All-Star break. The four 3-pointers equaled Stuckey’s
career-high, achieved twice previously, most recently on Jan. 21
against Portland.

Big helper: Ball movement has
been a key to the Pistons’ offensive recovery in the second half of
the season and Brandon Knight was at the center of it Wednesday. On
a night when the scoring totals drew the attention, Knight quietly
had a double-double with 10 points and 11 assists, the latter a
career-high for the rookie point guard, who also had zero turnovers.
The Pistons had 29 assists overall, equaling their season-high.

That’s a lot: Tayshaun Prince
continues to rack up career statistics that symbolize his longevity
with the Pistons. He broke the 9,000-point mark with his 28-point
game, making him the 10th Piston to score that many points with the
team.

Just to recap: The Pistons set a
number of high-water marks for the season, including points scored
(124), field-goal percentage (58.1), 3-point percentage (61.5), and
points in a quarter (40, in the third). The last time they won a
game after trailing by as many as 16 points was April 14, 2010, when
they also trailed by 16 points before beating Minnesota. And they
had two 30-point scorers – Stuckey and Greg Monroe, who scored 32 –
for the first time since Dec. 19, 2008, when Allen Iverson and
Richard Hamilton did so against the Utah Jazz.

Injury update: The Pistons have
no significant injuries.

Frank-ly speaking: “Obviously,
we had three guys finish with almost 30 points, but the ball movement
was big for us tonight. Whether it was a triple handoff or the extra
pass, to have 29 assists and only 10 turnovers was a good game for us
in the end.”

Next up: 10 p.m. Friday at
Phoenix Suns (FSD)

Email David Mayo at [email protected] and
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