SACRAMENTO -- No rest for the weary. After having their lunch money stolen on Thursday evening, the Sacramento Kings are back in action Friday when they roll into Portland.
Waiting for the Kings is a high-powered Trail Blazers team that is averaging a 111.8 points per game during the preseason.
The 132-93 loss to the Jazz Thursday night was a tough lesson for a young Kings team. Utah showed no mercy as they geared up for next week’s season opener.
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Here are three things to watch as Sacramento looks to bounce back after a blowout loss to Utah.
Better effort - The Kings were outclassed on Thursday evening in almost every facet of the game. Utah ran them over in front of their home crowd and it wasn’t pretty.
It’s the NBA. There’s always another game just around the corner which comes with an opportunity to improve. Portland is another Western Conference opponent, but these are the teams Sacramento will face all season long.
The Kings need to find a way to compete night in and night out or it’s going to be a long season in Sacramento. They need to play harder, smarter and for each other.
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Guard play - De’Aaron Fox, Yogi Ferrell, Buddy Hield and Frank Mason all struggled against Utah. It wasn’t a good showing at all by the group and now they face one of the best guard tandems in the league.
Fox needs to take the lead and start directing traffic. Ferrell and Hield need to hit their shots to space the floor. Mason has to run the team when he’s given minutes.
These are the four guards that are going to play minutes when the season opens on Oct. 17. They need to play better.
Defend - Joerger is working with a group that hasn’t played a lot together and the defense is well behind the offense at this point. It will take time to find chemistry for the group, but other NBA teams aren’t going to wait around for the Kings.
You can mask a lot of problems by upping the effort and intensity. They also need someone to step forward and lead on this side of the court.
Who that leader might be is a major question.