Kings Blog and Q&A

Tonight's game - Sacramento Kings (3-7) at Toronto Raptors (4-6):

• Jason Jones (@mr_jasonjones), in a blog post today, offers his five things to watch tonight.
• Jones previews tonight's game in today's newspaper.
• Tom Ziller (@teamziller) previews tonight's game in a blog post for SB Nation affiliate Sactown Royalty.
• Jonathan Santiago (@itsJONsantiago) previews tonight's game in a blog post for TrueHoop Network affiliate Cowbell Kingdom.
• Arsenalist previews tonight's game in a blog post for TrueHoop Network affiliate Raptors Republic.
• Chase Ruttig (@ChaseRuttigRR) previews tonight's game in a blog post for FanSided affiliate Raptors Rapture.

Last night's game: The Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Sacramento Kings 112-85 on Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Center. View the box score.

Game coverage:

• "(Keith) Smart isn't upset that the Kings don't know all of the system he wants them to run, but he does want to see them take care of the parts of the game that don't require him to diagram a play," Jones writes in today's newspaper recap.
• (Spencer) Hawes came into the league as a 7-foot-1 center with three-point range, but this season he has played more like a true big man," Jones writes in today's newspaper.
• "The Kings defense as a whole looked awful, allowing Philadelphia to penetrate at will," writes Akis Yerocostas (@Aykis16) in a blog post for SB Nation affiliate Sactown Royalty.
• "The offensive was brutal, and defensively, the Kings made life easy for the 76ers," writes Scott Levin (@KingsSLev) writes in a blog post for FanSided affiliate A Royal Pain.
• James Ham (@James_Ham) breaks down last night's game in a blog post for TrueHoop Network affiliate Cowbell Kingdom.
• "It was another methodical, blowout win for the upstart Sixers," writes Bob Cooney (@BobCooney76) in a story for the Philadelphia Daily News.
• "For any newcomer to the league, the first season is more of a learning session than anything. It's been no different for (Jimmer) Fredette, who got quite a response from the crowd at the Wells Fargo Center last night," writes Cooney in a story for the Philadelphia Daily News.
• "The Sixers improved to 7-2 with perhaps their easiest victory in a string of games that have been decidedly easy," writes John N. Mitchell in a story for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
• "The 76ers have been waiting for a game like this from Elton Brand all season," writes Martin Frank (@mfranknba) in a story for the Delaware News Journal.
• "Suffice it to say, the Kings probably won't advance to the playoffs this year," writes John Finger (@jrfingerCSN) in a story for CSNPhilly.
• Dei Lynam (@dlynamCSN) offers her Instant Replay for CSNPhilly.
• "The Sixers continued to get stellar play from the bench last night," writes Derek Bodner (@derekbodner) in a blog post for SB Nation affiliate Liberty Ballers.
• Tom Sunnergren (@James_Ham) breaks down last night's game in a blog post for TrueHoop Network affiliate Philadunkia.
• View the video highlights at NBA.com.

More news and analysis:

• "The exhilarating resurgence of the 49ers stands in stark contrast to the fragile state of the Kings, a difference in fortunes that is wider than the 90 miles between the two cities," writes Marcos Breton (@MarcosBreton) in a column in today's newspaper.
• "Mayor Kevin Johnson said Tuesday he was concerned that a decision by city officials to delay soliciting interest from the private sector in taking over downtown parking operations could" send a bad message to the NBA, writes Ryan Lillis (@Ryan_Lillis) writes in today's newspaper.
• "If there's a bright spot to be found in the continued suffering on the road, though, is that's no matter the venue, DeMarcus Cousins has been producing really well," writes Ziller in a blog post for SB Nation affiliate Sactown Royalty.
• "Jimmer is off to a slow start, and seems to be lacking any sort of confidence on the court," writes Greg Wissinger (@gwiss) in a blog post for SB Nation affiliate Sactown Royalty.
• "With the lack of practice time, Smart has limited opportunities to get the King players into proper shape, so he's using game time to replicate the needed practice time," writes Bryan Rosa writes in a blog post on FanSided affiliate A Royal Pain.
• "Two years later, the NBA's only Haitian-born player (Samuel Dalembert) prays for progress, while tempering his frustration that more hasn't been done to rebuild his crippled country," writes Chris Duncan in a story for the Associated Press.

Audio:

• Breton spoke to Carmichael Dave about "Small Market, Big Heart." Jump to the 27:30 mark:

Tweets of the day:

Say, DeMarcus Cousins has a higher PER than Pau, LMA or Dirk. bit.ly/wBJVPE It's almost like he's not the problem or something.

— Tom Ziller (@teamziller) January 11, 2012

Everyone chill. It's a loss. 1 point or 27, it shows up the same. They're making strides, you just have to look harder. Smart knows wassup.

— Carmichael Dave (@CarmichaelDave) January 11, 2012

The great thing about this league is you get to redeem yourself faster than normal.

— Bobby Jackson (@TheBobbyJackson) January 11, 2012

Online coverage from The Bee this season:

• LIVE CHATS: Join The Bee's Matt Kawahara for in-game chats during every Kings home game, just before tipoff right through the final buzzer.

• VIDEOS: Find out what some Kings players and coach Paul Westphal have to say about the upcoming season - and much more.

• BLOG: Stay up to date on the team's happenings with Jason Jones, Ailene Voisin and Matt Kawahara on The Bee's Kings blog.

• FACEBOOK: "Like" the Sacramento Kings Corner page and join Bee staffers and fans in discussions about the team and players.

• TWITTER: Follow The Bee's Jason Jones for up-to-the-minute developments, in-game updates and much more about the Kings.

If you see a Sacramento Kings-related story or blog post that we should feature, e-mail me at nmiller@sacbee.com or send me reply on Twitter at @journalistnate.