Kings’ Darius Acuff Jr. on 1-10 start: ‘I’m not a loser, so it’s not fun’

Darius Acuff Jr. is producing plenty for a rookie. Enjoying his introduction to the NBA has been more difficult.

The Kings fell to 1-10 with Tuesday’s 107-100 loss to the Magic, despite Acuff’s 29 points and six assists in 39 minutes. Asked afterward how he was handling the losing, he didn’t offer much of a silver lining.

“I’m not a loser, so it’s not fun,” Acuff said, via Jonas Panerio of Basketball Network.

Hard to dress up that record. Acuff didn’t try.

“When the clock say zero, we lost,” he said when asked about the most frustrating part. “I don’t know what to do, man. I feel like we trying, everybody as a whole. We just not coming out with the win.”

Then came a fairly accurate summary: “I don’t know, man. One and 10 just don’t sound right.”

Acuff is averaging 26.2 points and 7.3 assists, giving Sacramento considerable production from its rookie point guard. But Tuesday also provided examples of where he and the Kings need to improve.

Sacramento committed 20 turnovers. Acuff had four and made sure to include himself when discussing the mistakes.

“We try to make the hard play sometimes,” he said. “Even myself, I had four of them. So, take accountability for that, for sure.”

That’s a useful response from a young player carrying a significant responsibility. The scoring has been impressive. Learning when to keep a possession simple is part of the job, too.

The Kings have been looking into additional backcourt help, with Kevin Porter Jr. and Gabe Vincent among the names linked to Sacramento. Acuff, meanwhile, pointed to finishing games as an immediate priority.

“We got to come together at the end, fourth quarter, just kind of get better as a team and close the games,” he said. “It takes time, but we’ll figure it out at some point.”