The Sacramento Kings closed out 2025 with a road trip to Los Angeles that saw them take on the Lakers and the Clippers. It didn't go well for the Kings. Point guard Dennis Schroder wants to see his squad get back to what was working before those games, and he's not wrong.
The first couple of months of the 2025-2026 NBA season were not kind to the Kings. They had an incredibly difficult schedule that saw them take on the Thunder, Nuggets, and Timberwolves in 33% of their games. And that was before Nikola Jokic's possibly MVP-ending injury.
During the last couple of weeks, the Kings went through a bit of a transformation. They were forced into a series of changes to their lineup thanks to a myriad of injuries. In particular, the Kings' rookie trio stood out, helping noticeably improve both Sacramento's defense and offense.
Unfortunately, the last two games of 2025 were huge steps back for the team. They lost to the Lakers by 24 points, then got utterly stomped by the Clippers by 41 points. It was a massive regression back to how the Kings were playing earlier in the season before the improvements seen in December.
Dennis Schroder hits the nail on the head
In his recent media availability, Schroder discussed what was working before the Kings' rough couple of days in Los Angeles. Specifically, he highlighted improvements in passing, defense, and overall speed. He was right about all of those improvements the Kings had managed to put together.
Asked Dennis Schroder what was working for Sacramento’s offense in the five games prior to this LA trip:
— Brenden Nunes (@BrendenNunesNBA) December 31, 2025
“We played fast. Zach is hurt. But I think we’ve got to find our defense again and from there on play... sharing the ball we looked good. So I think we’ve got to find more of… pic.twitter.com/tX2PATg5xy
Heading to LA was always going to be difficult for the Kings. The Lakers are on a bit of a slide and have big injury issues. They're still a solid team headlined by Luka Doncic and LeBron James. The Clippers have been on a roll since sending Chris Paul home, particularly Kawhi Leonard.
The point is that these are two dangerous teams in the Kings' own conference, and both games were going to be tough fights. Still, these games went worse than expected. The Kings need to get back on track as soon as possible if they want to make anything out of the rest of this season.
With a current record of eight and 25, just staying out of last in the Western Conference is an achievement for the Kings. When they had a rhythm going, they managed to win two out of five games, and the losses were tight. If they can get back in that groove, there are wins in their future.