So, last night against the Spurs was rough for the Sacramento Kings' defense. They did everything but hand Wemby the ball and just step aside so he could run the paint. But this problem is so much bigger than one game, and there's no sign of improvement. If anything, the defense is getting worse.
When it comes to the offense, the Kings actually have some relatively solid weapons to work with. Domantas Sabonis has returned to his double-double ways, and picked up an impressive triple-double not that long ago. Zach LaVine is currently averaging 27.3 points per game this season.
Rookie point guard Darius Acuff Jr. is averaging 21.5 points per game, though he is taking an almost absurd number of shots to get there. On top of that, other players like Precious Achiuwa and De'Andre Hunter are popping up with big numbers. Scoring isn't a huge issue for Sacramento.
Sacramento's horrifying defensive numbers
The problem remains stopping the other team from scoring. If you include the five preseason games, the Kings are collecting an average of 105 points per game. The issue is that they're allowing an average of 121 points per game. They haven't kept their opposition under 110 points in nine games.
If you assume these are some of the worst numbers in the league, you would be correct. The fun part is it gets even worse. So far in the 2026-2027 regular season, the Kings are fourth last in steals per game at 6.8 and dead last in blocks at 2.5 per game. They're even second last in +/- at -17.8.
Rebounding is also somehow an issue despite having Domantas Sabonis on the roster. The Kings are 26th in the league in overall rebounding and 26th in defensive rebounds. Surprisingly, Sacramento is actually 17th in offensive rebounds. You would assume the opposite to be true.
Everything is going wrong on defense
What's crazy about this whole situation is that head coach Doug Christie's bread and butter is supposed to be defense. That's what he declared his focus was after taking over the team. If anything, the Kings' defensive profile has gotten worse during his relatively short tenure.
To be fair to Christie, his team is currently short some strong defenders in Maxime Raynaud, Dylan Cardwell, and Keegan Murray. That's going to have a negative impact on what's happening on the court, without question. It's also a small part of a much bigger problem.
Watching the Kings let the Spurs walk all over them at the three-point line without challenging their shots was the nasty icing on a gross cake. Yes, there's a lot of work to do on the roster, but even the fundamentals are disappearing at this point, and that's hard to come back from.
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