SACRAMENTO - The Kings aren't necessarily road warriors, but they are road weary.
The Kings are in the midst of a murderous stretch, their most brutal of the shortened season, with nine games in nine cities over 14 days and with just two home games jammed in. The road run ended Monday with a 101-89 loss at Portland, then a rare home date on Wednesday, a 122-93 loss to Denver in which the Kings looked tired, allowing 93 points in the paint. Now back on the road for two games, starting Saturday at the Jazz.
All told, the 11 road games are tied for the most in the NBA this season, and the grind shows on the youngest roster in the NBA. The Kings are 2-9 away from Power Balance Pavilion, with each setback by double-digits.
"I put a little laundry in this morning before I left to come over here," coach Keith Smart said. "I get home, I'll go put it in the dryer, and we're ready to go again."
What Smart is looking for and hoping for is maturity away from home.
"The camaraderie has to develop in hostile environments," Smart said. "Can you still maintain your composure? When a team goes on a run, will you still execute the play? All of those little things are building character for us.
"We've shown so far, a little bit, that we can play in some environments on the road," he said. "Now we've just got to clean up a four-minute segment here, a five-minute segment total, where the game gets away from us."
The recent road trip included a season highlight with a win at San Antonio last Friday, the club's first over the Spurs in 12 tries. Then reality hit with blowout losses at Memphis on Saturday and at Portland.
"We're growing as a team, but we have those spurts for three minutes, five minutes where we just break down. Can't do that if we expect to win on the road."
USA Today
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