NEW YORK - The bench has been a mess lately. The defense has been laughable at times and the team's leading scorer, DeMarcus Cousins, is publicly questioning the head coach.
Outside of that, there's nothing noteworthy about the Sacramento Kings.
The Kings play the New York Knicks tonight where this road trip could get even worse if the Kings don't change a few things from their three losses on this six-game trip.
1. First half malaise: It's as if the Kings don't take the first half seriously. In the three losses on this road trip, they've been dominated in either the first or second quarter and trailed by 15-plus points. The Kings aren't good enough to turn on the intensity when they're down.
2. Defense, please: Denver and Boston both shot better than 60 percent in the first half of their wins. Philadelphia flirted with 60 percent most of the first half.
3. Offensive efficiency: Sacramento is shooting 38.5 percent in its last two games (59 of 153).
4. More from the bigs: DeMarcus Cousins is averaging 10 points, six rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.3 steals and 3.5 turnovers during the road trip. Cousins is shooting 41 percent from the field and 47.1 percent from the free throw line. Jason Thompson is averaging 6.0 points and 4.3 rebounds. Thompson is shooting 42.3 percent, while dealing with inconsistent playing time.
5. Rebounding: The Kings have been outrebounded by 10 or more in three of their last four games.
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