So, it wasn't exactly the most auspicious start to the preseason for the Sacramento Kings, falling 127 to 103 to the Los Angeles Lakers. It was only game one, so there's still a lot of basketball left to play before the regular season even begins. Regardless, the Kings need to tighten their game up now.
The Lakers made their first visit of 2026-2027 to Golden 1 Center short a few big names. That included Walker Kessler, Colin Sexton, and Austin Reaves. Unfortunately for the Kings, Luka Doncic was in full effect with backup from several surprising players who are new to the franchise.
Sacramento wasn't completely at full force, either. Malik Monk, Ben Simmons, and Keegan Murray didn't suit up for the game. In the case of Simmons and Murray, that's likely about managing injury concerns in the preseason. When it comes to Monk, no Doug Christie decision makes a lot of sense.
The Kings actually started the game off relatively well, holding their own against Doncic and company. By then end of the first quarter, Sacramento was eight points back. That's not terrible. By the end of the first half, they were down by 26. That is, in fact, terrible.
What went wrong felt exceedingly familiar to Kings' fans
It's the same old story for the Kings. In the second quarter, the wheels came off thanks to sloppy work on offense and a complete collapse on defence. Both the veterans and the young guns just seemed out of their element for the last bit of the first quarter and most of the second.
Fouls and turnovers were both big issues. Sabonis had five fouls before the halfway mark of the second quarter. Dylan Cardwell, who had issues with this last season, also had five fouls while rookie Emanuel Sharp straight up fouled out of the game. Turnovers were as much of a problem.
To be fair, the Lakers didn't play a clean game, either. Sacramento finished with 32 personal fouls and 26 turnovers while Los Angeles had 31 and 21. It's also worth noting that the Kings had a much better second half. They cleaned their game up a bit, and outscored the Lakers 56 to 54.
This the first game of the season for everyone. For someone like Sabonis who missed most of last season to an injury, there are a lot of cobwebs and court rust to shake off. It wasn't a good looking game, but it honestly could have gone much worse. Sacramento will continue to tighten things up.
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