The Sacramento Kings faced the OKC Thunder for the third time in less than four weeks, and lost to the defending champions. Yet, it remained an impressive outing for the Kings, particularly on defense in the first half. It was the best defense the team has played all season, and showed a spark of life.
Whoever makes the regular season schedule for the NBA apparently hates the Kings with a fiery passion. They face OKC, the Denver Nuggets, and the Minnesota Timberwolves three times each before New Years' Eve. Heck, they took on the Thunder three times in less than a month.
In their first faceoff, the Kings only lost by six points, which was respectable considering who they were playing. Round two saw the Kings lose by 31 points, one of several blowouts in a dismal home stand. Last night saw somewhat of a rebound as the Kings lost by 14 points.
Yes, that is where the Kings' season is at. The team is in the midst of a seven-game slide, which is part of their three and 12 start to the season, and fans are excited by them only losing a game by 14 points. It is worth celebrating as the Kings showed they still have some fight in them.
Any progress is good progress for the Kings
For the Kings' defense to be abysmal, they would need to have some sort of defensive identity to begin with. It's been nonexistent for years thanks to the franchise's grossly imbalanced roster construction. That's why head coach Doug Christie made it the focus of his new regime.
So when there's a sign of improvement, that needs to be acknowledged, and fans got that last night. In the first half of the game, the Kings played easily their best defense for this entire season. Everybody contributed on some level, holding the Thunder to less than 60 points in the first half.
OKC did take control in the second half, but they are the defending champions and a veritable scoring machine. The likelihood of Sacramento picking up the win were never great. Still, they did manage to keep Thunder at 113 points total, which is an improvement for what the Kings had been allowing.
No one is suggesting that the change is so drastic that Sacramento should now be considered a contender. There is still a lot of work to do on all aspects of the Kings' game. But their loss to the Thunder was still a step in the right direction, one fans should be happy to see.