Mar 18, 2014; Sacramento, CA, USA; Washington Wizards forward Trevor Ariza (1) and center Marcin Gortat (4) battle for position under the basket with Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins (15) during the fourth quarter at Sleep Train Arena. The Sacramento Kings defeated the Washington Wizards 117-111 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

After leading by as much as 5 points with under a minute remaining in the contest, the Washington Wizards managed to squander the lead in the fourth quarter and eventually went on to lose in overtime, 117-111.

The Washington Wizards gave up an offensive rebound late in the fourth quarter, which led to an Isaiah Thomas three. The Kings then followed that play up by intentionally fouling John Wall. Worst case scenario, Wall misses one free throw and the Kings have to make a three in a game-tying situation, right? Wrong. John Wall missed both free throws, just as he did against the Kings last year late in the game, and Rudy Gay knocked down a tough isolation jumper to force the game to overtime. The rest is history. Wall fouled out in overtime and the Wizards couldn’t stop Rudy Gay and Co.

It seemed like the Wizards would get by the Kings after a horrific start to the game, but they obviously failed to do so. I could point out bad individual performances, such as Bradley Beal’s 7 for 23 shooting night, but Washington got production where they needed it, for the most part. The reserves, especially Drew Gooden who continued his hot shooting with 18 points on 7-10 shooting off the bench, really stepped up and it made up for the lack of production from the starters. Al Harrington, Martell Webster, Drew Gooden and the rest of the ‘AARP squad’ helped bring Washington back from a double-digit deficit, but the starters just couldn’t close it out.

Although this loss ranks up with some of the worst losses of the year for the Wizards, it’s important that they just move on to the next game. Losing to a team that’s 20 games below .500 while you’re trying to make a push for the playoffs is unacceptable, but I guess that’s going to happen from time to time since the team relies on young, inexperienced players to carry them throughout the game.

Washington will be back at it on Thursday night against the Portland Trail Blazers. The West Coast trip continues and the Wizards have to find a way to get some wins away from home.