The Kings lost to the Grizzlies 97-83 on Monday at FedEx Forum and in the process, lost forward Rudy Gay.
Sacramento was already without DeMarcus Cousins, who was out resting, and then Gay took an inadvertent elbow from Grizzlies' center Marc Gasol while attempting a back door cut late in the third quarter, leading to his departure.
Gay left the game at the 2:23 mark of the third quarter with Memphis leading 73-59 after scoring 24 points and did not return.
Late Monday evening, the Kings announced that Gay sustained a concussion and won't play Wednesday against the Rockets. He is required to go through the league-mandated return to play protocol and there is no timetable for his return.
[RELATED: Kings' Gay exits after taking elbow to head vs. Grizzlies]
Without Gay, Sacramento trailed 75-64 entering the fourth quarter and an Omri Casspi 3-pointer with 9:04 cut the deficit to 78-70 but that’s as close as the Kings would get as the Grizzlies led the game from wire to wire.
Sacramento is now 3-14 without Cousins in the lineup.
Mike Conley led a balanced Memphis attack with 18 points while Jeff Green had 16 and Zach Randolph added 15.
After Gay’s 24 points, Ray McCallum scored 12 points and Derrick Williams finished with 10 points off the bench in the defeat.
The Kings were unable to bounce back in Memphis after the Pelicans thwarted Sacramento’s attempt to match its longest winning streak of the season of five games on Friday in New Orleans.
Just as the Kings were unable to support Cousins' heroic 39-point, 20-rebound performance in the Big Easy, Sacramento’s supporting cast wasn’t able to sufficiently rally around Gay against one of his former squad’s in the Grizzlies.
With the win, the Grizzlies (51-24) snapped a four-game losing streak and claimed a 3-1 season series advantage over the Kings after sweeping Sacramento 3-0 last year.
Sacramento (26-47) has now lost two straight games, falls to 10-26 on the road, 8-13 under Karl and 5-6 in its last 11 games.
STANDOUT PERFORMER:
Tri-MVPs of Jeff Green, Mike Conley and Zach Randolph combined for 49 points to lead the way for the Grizzlies.
TURNING POINT:
The Kings chipped away at the deficit in the second half, but never made a significant run after Gay left the game.
INJURY UPDATE:
Kings -- F Rudy Gay (head) sustained a concussion and will not play Wednesday. C Demarcus Cousins (rest), G Darren Collison (core muscle injury) and F Eric Moreland (left shoulder labral tear) were out.
Grizzlies -- G Tony Allen (left hamstring strain) was out.
WHAT’S NEXT:
The Kings four-game road trip concludes Wednesday in Houston against the Rockets.
