Kings learn lessons the hard way, hit sprint to the finish line

Over the last few games the Kings have struggled with some defensive looks being thrown their way. Against the Utah Jazz, it was a zone. When the Boston Celtics rolled through Sacramento, they switched everything on every play, and once again the Kings’ high powered offense ground to a halt.

While the team didn’t want to make excuses, the fact that they played five games in seven nights in four different time zones clearly took a toll. The absence of shooting guard Kevin Huerter hurt as well.

“Definitely, I feel like we all kinda felt it today, but you know, that’s not an excuse, it’s part of the schedule and every team’s going through it,” Domantas Sabonis said following the 132-109 loss against the Celtics. “At the end of the day, we just had to fight through it and do a better job of it in the second half.”

Boston was finishing up a six game road trip, but they had Sunday and Monday off to prepare. The Kings played the Jazz in Utah on Monday night and then flew home to face the No. 2 team in the Eastern Conference on the second night of a back-to-back.

As for the different looks they faced, this might be a blessing in disguise. Facing adversity is a good thing. In a seven game series, teams will throw the kitchen sink at the Kings as they try to slow down their historically good offense.

“The last two games have been great for us because there’s a lot of teaching points, and there’s a lot of learning points for us as well, especially on the offensive end,” Malik Monk said following Tuesday’s loss.

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