Sydney's slide down the NBL ladder could turn into a spiral following news top pointscorer Brad Newley is out indefinitely with a hamstring injury.
After dominating the league for the majority of the summer, the Kings have fallen to fourth after losing five of their past six and are in real danger of missing the finals.
And with their next three games all on the road, the loss of their star small forward is a bitter pill for rookie coach Andrew Gaze to take.
"It's extraordinarily disappointing. Brad has been a very important part of our program this season and he has been playing really well," Gaze told News Corp Australia on Monday.
"Even though sometimes he may not shoot the ball as well as he would like, his effort, his energy and the way in which he causes the opposition to guard him, he is going to be missed.
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"But we are fortunate we've got good depth and we've got some other guys that can come in and we move on."
Newley's injury comes at a horror time for the Kings, who will now be forced to rely on recent additions in import Garrett Jackson and rookie William McDowell-White.
The Kings next take on New Zealand on Friday.
