Sydney returned to the NBL for the 2010-11 season after a three-year absence following losing in the semi finals in 2007. It has been a battle the past two seasons with a ninth and seventh place finish, but Shane Heal took over as coach full-time for this campaign and things were tracking nicely.
The Kings were looking solid in third position at the turn of the year sitting on a 10-6 record after a win over the Adelaide 36ers on January 5.
With no team outside the top four anywhere near a 50-50 win-loss record and with fellow NSW team Wollongong going on a similar slide having to deal with a horror injury run, the Kings have still looked likely of playing finals this season.
That was until the losses kept on mounting and now Sunday's dismal 26-point loss at home to the Wildcats has seen the Kings slump to a 10-14 record with eight straight defeats to now surrender third and fourth positions in the NBL ladder to Melbourne and Wollongong.
Sydney has a tough run over the last four games of the season as well with two games against a Townsville team that could still play finals if it wins all its matches as well as against the second-place Wildcats and then fourth-place Wollongong.
The Kings have not been helped in recent losses to Cairns and Perth following the season-ending injury to import point guard Corin Henry, but now Heal's men will need quite the turnaround to make the finals for the first time since 2007.
The game on Sunday at the Crown Kingdome was virtually over at quarter-time after the Wildcats piled on 25 points to the Kings' 11.
The Wildcats extended their lead 18 points by half-time and then a massive 26 by the final buzzer after a dominant 27-15 last period.
The win was the Wildcats' sixth straight for the season and 11th in their last 12 matches as the 19-5 Perth continue to put pressure on the 20-3 New Zealand Breakers for top spot.
Co-captain Shawn Redhage scored 23 points for the Wildcats with reigning NBL MVP Kevin Lisch scoring 19 to go with eight assists. Damian Martin had 13 points and nine assists, Matt Knight 12 points and Jeremiah Trueman 10.
''You've got to play to your strengths, he's (Martin) the best defensive guard in the country by a mile, he's that good,'' Perth coach Rob Beveridge said.
''He wins games through his defence, so his stats may not look that great from an offensive perspective, but tonight he was pretty good and he sets the standard.''
Ben Madgen scored a game-high 28 points for the Kings on 11-of-16 shooting from the field, but he received precious little help with Aaron Bruce the only other player scoring in double-figures with 10 points.
''If there was any game you would think we would come out ready to play, it would be this one,'' Kings coach Heal said.
''We were fresh, hungry and I felt like we didn't have a lot to lose in this game, we had a lot to gain, but I couldn't be more disappointed with the way we came out and the mindset we came out with.''