The Sacramento Kings’ first round playoff series against the Golden State Warriors could hardly have started better, with back-to-back wins on their home floor opening up a 2-0 lead for the league’s pluckiest young team against the reigning champs. Since then, however, things have taken a dramatic turn for the worse.

The Warriors’ two subsequent wins on their home floor – the second by just a point – levelled the series, though the Kings still held home court at that point. Not anymore. Their loss in front of their adoring home fans on Wednesday night swung the series in Golden State’s favor, and leaves the Kings needing to win in San Francisco to keep themselves alive.

As a collective, the Kings were a step off in Game 5. They struggled defensively, allowing the Warriors to shoot 52.1% from the floor despite going at just 28.9% from three-point range, and no one was great on offense, either. There were, however, a few players whose performances had a particularly big impact on the result. These are the three players most to blame for the Kings’ Game 5 loss to the Warriors.

3. Keegan Murray

It might seem harsh to place too much blame on a first-year player for a loss in the most significant game of his young career to date. And, on face value, Murray’s game wasn’t too bad; he’s a pretty low volume shooter in most games at this point in his career, and of his five shots on Wednesday night he hit four, and went 2-2 from long-range. But while it might not be his job to score in bulk, he certainly needed to give his side a little more value during his 35 minutes on the floor than what he did in Game 5.

Murray started like a freight train, scoring ten points in the first six minutes to open up a narrow 19-16 lead for his Kings. He went on to play another 29 minutes, and from an offensive perspective gave them almost literally nothing. Last year’s fourth pick in the NBA draft didn’t take another shot over the last three-and-a-half quarters of the game, and his only contribution to the stat sheet over that time was four defensive rebounds. At this stage in his career Murray is largely reliant on others to get his shots, so some responsibility needs to be placed on the Kings’ ball handlers for his failure to shoot after starting the game so well. Zero shots in 29 minutes, however, is hard to fathom. If Murray wants to play 30+ minutes again in Game 6, he needs to offer them a little more on offense than what he did in Game 5.

2. Domantas Sabonis

Domantas Sabonis hasn’t been at his best this postseason. The Lithuanian made his third All-Star appearance in four years after playing a key role in the rise of the Kings this season, but his numbers have dropped off this series. His points are slightly down, his efficiency is significantly down, and perhaps most significantly, he’s gone from averaging 7.3 assists in the regular season to just 4.4 in this series.

Game 5 was an extension of those struggles. He was actually reasonably efficient from the floor, going 9-15 en route to 21 points, but with others struggling offensively he needed to be more aggressive with ball in hand. Significantly, Sabonis again struggled to make plays; he dished out just four assists while turning the ball over five times, continuing the trend in a series in which he’s now managed just 22 assists accompanied by 20 turnovers. Sabonis was also bullied by Kevon Looney, who grabbed 22 rebounds in the game, seven of which were on the offensive glass. Sabonis was far from the worst player on the floor, but as one of their two superstars he needs to be a lot better if the Kings are to come from behind and snatch this series.

1. De’Aaron Fox

Fox has had an excellent season, and alongside Domantas Sabonis has been the major reason for the Kings’ drastic improvement. He was named the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year for good reason, but unfortunately he didn’t put his best foot forward with the series delicately poised at 2-2 on Wednesday. He did, in fairness, play with a broken finger, though Fox himself refused to blame that for his performance.

Fox’s efficiency has dropped this postseason with increased usage, but he’s still been a really dangerous offensive player for the Kings. That drop in efficiency, however, hit rock bottom in Game 5. Fox went 9-25 from the floor in that game and got to the line on just three occasions; that’s after getting there at least eight times in three of the first four games of the series. He dished out nine assists, but they were accompanied by six turnovers; not just his most in the series, but his most since January 23 and just the second time he’s turned it over that many times since the opening game of the season. It was Fox’s worst game for the series, and could hardly have come at a worse time.

After three consecutive losses, the Kings find themselves in a deep hole and look up against it to advance out of their first round playoff series after a brilliant season. Fortunately, they have plenty of scope to improve. All of the above three need to be better, but Sabonis and Fox in particular weren’t nearly at their best in Game 5. If they can muster up an improved performance in Golden State on Friday, it will go a long way to extending this series to seven games and giving them a chance to win it on their home floor.