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Welcome in to your morning cup of Kings, once again in the afternoon. The Kings continue to struggle, falling for a franchise-record 15th consecutive game on Thursday night. It wasn’t pretty as the team collapsed in the second quarter and never got off the mat.

Here is the latest Locked On Kings discussing the highs and lows of the game:

Hunter, who joined the Kings at the trade deadline in a deal with the Cavs, caught a stray finger to the eye during the Kings’ loss to the Clippers on February 6. The initial prognosis had the 28-year-old forward out with iritis in his left eye.

Hunter appeared close to a return, even speaking to the media on Wednesday leading up to the team’s game against the Orlando Magic on Thursday.

News broke on Friday afternoon, first from the tandem of Chris Haynes and Marc Stein, and later confirmed here at The Kings Beat, that Hunter’s season is officially over. The veteran forward is set to undergo surgery on his left eye.

Hunter played just two games in a Kings uniform, scoring a combined 15 points over 51 minutes of action. The former No. 4 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft is under contract next season at $24.9 million and should make a full recovery.

15 and counting. The Kings dropped their 15th straight game Thursday night at Golden 1 Center. On their home court, Sacramento allowed the Magic to hit 27 3-pointers in a 131-94 drubbing. Here are six quick thoughts as the Kings fell to 12-45 on the season:

🏀 1. Welcome back. Keegan Murray played just his 20th game of the season and his first since Jan. 4. He didn't miss a step. Murray played excellent defense, hit the glass and made some buckets on his way to 15 points and 8 rebounds. We need to see more than 13 shots from Murray. 

🏀 2. The energy was back. Malik Monk missed 3 straight games heading into the break due to illness. He looked like he had a bounce in his step and his connection with rookie Maxime Raynaud is blossoming. Monk posted 14 points and dished out 2 assists. 

🏀 3. Growing up. Max Raynaud is going to get the bulk of the minutes at the 5 with both Domantas Sabonis and Dylan Cardwell out. The rookie clearly did some homework over the break and came back as a passing big. Raynaud finished with 17 points, 14 boards and 4 assists.

🏀 4. Don't sleep on Precious. Achiuwa has been a tremendous pick up for the Kings all season, be it as a starter or off the bench. With a full grown Paolo Banchero starting at the 4, Achiuwa got the call and responded with 14 points, 9 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks.

🏀 5. Figured it out. DeMar DeRozan couldn't get a shot to fall, but that didn't stop him from being impactful. The veteran wing scored 13 points on 3-for-11 from the field and 7-of-8 from the line. He also added 6 assists and 3 rebounds in 19 minutes of action. 

🏀 6. Didn't figure it out. Russell Westbrook had a rough shooting night and he didn't do anything else to help out. Westbrook shot 2-of-8 from the field and 1-of-6 from three to post 5 points. He added just 1 assist and 0 rebounds while turning the ball over 3 times in 17 minutes. 

Here are clips of the postgame interviews with Keegan Murray, Maxime Raynaud and Doug Christie: