You know, it’s easy to look back on Monday nights 98-94 loss to the Portland Trailblazers with frustration, but it wasn’t a terrible performance. It really wasn’t.
The Blazers are a good basketball team, and the Kings played them extremely tight on their own home floor. Yes, LaMarcus Aldridge missed a large portion of this game with a left thumb injury, but the Kings had similar issues. DeMarcus Cousins fouled out on this ridiculous Thomas Robinson flop, and the officiating was really poor for most of the night.
But I thought the Kings defended fairly well. It was certainly one of their better defensive performances since they started playing at a faster pace.
The Kings had two of their bigger weaknesses further exposed in that loss. Their lack of bench production and inability to execute down the stretch. Some of that is circumstantial. The bench is noticeably weaker without Carl Landry in the lineup, and while late-game execution has been poor all season, it gets a lot harder when your best player has fouled out.
The bench issue is odd. It’s bad, it’s been bad, and Ty Corbin isn’t really doing anything to fix it. I don’t want to pretend like Quincy Miller is a problem solver for this bench unit, but the Kings have him here for just 10 days, and he didn’t play at all on Monday night. Omri Casspi was the best player on the bench earlier in the season, and he’s not seeing nearly as much playing time as he should.
Then there is Nik Stauskas. I cannot argue that Stauskas noticeably helps the bench unit, because he didn’t when he was a consistent part of the rotation. With that being said, Corbin giving him two-straight DNP-CD’s is just weird. Send him to Reno, or let him play. I don’t think having him ride the bench is helping anyone.

Sir Charles In Charge
That brings us to today. The Kings are back in Sacramento tonight to face the Brooklyn Nets.
The Kings are coming into tonight’s game riding a four-game losing streak. If you’re trying to break a losing streak, the Nets are a good place to start.
I don’t know what Brooklyn is doing. Half of that team is on the trading block. Brook Lopez is coming in off the bench. Deron Williams is out with a fractured rib. Kevin Garnett is showing his age. Hey, at least Joe Johnson still looks like Joe Johnson.
The Nets are 2-8 in their last ten games. To be fair, the Kings are just 3-7 in that same stretch, but this is a team the Kings should be able to beat on their home floor.
If the Nets pickup a win tonight, I’d expect big games from both Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson.
Using Lopez as a bench player is an interesting approach, and it could work particularly well against the Kings undersized bench unit. Corbin may have to use Ryan Hollins tonight, but if he is sticks to his standard rotation, Lopez is going to have a real size advantage inside.
Joe Johnson is a professional scorer. Ben McLemore has made strides as a defender this season, but Johnson’s ability to move without the ball, and score in the post are two direct strengths that match up with McLemore’s weaknesses as a defender. Don’t be surprised to see Corbin use Rudy Gay on Johnson if McLemore can’t handle him.
Lastly, I wanted to pass a long a link to the ‘ask me anything’ Sacramento’s favorite radio host Carmichael Dave ran on Reddit yesterday. I couldn’t have more respect for Dave, and he always brings a certain … something to the table that I cannot really verbalize. It’s a good read, and he has a very accurate perspective on what is happening within the Kings organization.
That’s it for today. As always, check back in to A Royal Pain after tonight’s game for our postgame coverage.
Sacramento Kings vs. Brooklyn Nets
Line: SAC -5.5
Where: Sleep Train Arena – Sacramento, CA
When: 7:00 PM Pacific, 10:00 PM Eastern
Broadcast: Comcast Sportsnet California
Radio: KHTK Sports 1140 AM