Sydney coach Andrew Gaze admits the Kings need a back-up plan for Andrew Bogut or risk being dethroned at the top of the NBL table.
Or, even worse, missing the finals for what would be a sixth-straight season.
That's how tight the league is after the Kings lost two games in a row, including a rare off night from their superstar centre.
It leaves Sydney with a 13-8 win-loss record, which is just one win better than fifth-placed Adelaide (12-10), with seven games remaining for the Kings.
"It's brutally even. One through seven are still in finals contention. The difference between one and seven is negligible," Gaze said on Tuesday.
The Kings will be desperate to right the ship this week, beginning with a road trip to a resurgent Brisbane on Friday, before they host Perth on Sunday.
And they'll have to improve a defence that was the cornerstone of their title push before they gave up 119 points to the 36ers on Saturday.
Sydney also lost the rebound count by a mammoth 43-18.
League MVP favourite Bogut had a quiet night, battling foul trouble as he was limited to just six points and two boards.
"Obviously he's been extremely dominant, particularly on the boards," Gaze said.
"He can camouflage a lot of our problems because he can protect the rim.
"Whether it's fouls, form or whatever, when he's not at that elite level, then we have a problem...
"But you need to have other people to step up to make sure that we help out."
Captain Kevin Lisch admits the team has struggled to defend without their NBA championship-winner.
"We probably rely a little too much on him to go up and get rebounds and do those kind of things," Lisch said of Bogut, who is averaging a league-high 12 rebounds and three blocks a game.
"I think it's up to us to take a bit more responsibility and hopefully we can keep him in the game next time."
After signing with the Kings last week in a move to improve their rebounding stocks, American power forward Ray Turner fouled out in just seven minutes on debut.
He finished with just two points and two rebounds.
"But that's not uncommon when you're adjusting to the different officiating, style of play, and just the natural enthusiasm that he had to contribute," Gaze said.
""He's an unbelievable insurance policy for us. He brings some defence, some good size, got good basketball IQ."
