Kings' Loss to Lakers Raises New Rotation Questions

After getting their first win of the season against the Dallas Mavericks on Monday, the Sacramento Kings fell back to earth tonight against the Los Angeles Lakers, falling 116-103 in a long, physical game that felt like it was never going to end.

The Lakers shot a whopping 38 free throws, making 34 of them, and even the Kings got to the line consistently throughout the night, ending with 28 attempts (21 made). But Sacramento just couldn't keep up with the Lakers' physicality, turned the ball over too much, and, like the rest of the league, couldn't slow down Luka Doncic to save their lives as he finished with 40 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists.

Rotations Still Up in the Air

We're just eight games into the season, so it makes sense that Doug Christie is still searching for lineups that work, but tonight made it clear that the rotations are still very much in the air. One of the difficult things about the Kings roster is that they have so many role players that the number of combinations they can run is almost limitless, and Christie keeps trying new combos.

Christie went 10-deep tonight, with Leaky Black, Emanuel Sharp, Dylan Cardwell, Malik Monk, and Nique Clifford all getting minutes off the bench. Clifford only played 3:18 total minutes and, once again, looks like the odd man out, but even a nine-man rotation is a lot, knowing Keegan Murray and Maxime Raynaud are eventually coming back.

It's not so much that there are so many players getting on the court, but it's for short stints, different groups that don't have chemistry, etc., that is making it difficult for the Kings to get any traction going for long stretches of time.

The other number that stands out is Darius Acuff Jr's minutes, as he played a game-high 42:28 minutes. He finished with 22 points, 12 assists, and 3 rebounds on a less-efficient 8-of-24 from the field and 3-of-11 from three tonight, and if one thing is clear, it's that the Kings lack of point guard depth is glaring.

Monk has been playing more at the shooting guard spot, which leaves just Acuff as the point guard for Sacramento. Sharp continues to play a three-and-D role compared to a point guard spot, so Acuff just doesn't have anyone else to back him up other than Monk in that different role.