Kings need to start lighting the beam at home

The Kings have the No. 6 offense and the No. 14 defense in the NBA this season. They're outscoring their opponents by 3.2 points per game, the 12th-best mark in the league. Yet they're sitting in 12th place in the Western Conference standings at 13-13.

Why? Their home record of 6-7 is a big culprit. The Kings have dropped a number of close games on their home floor at the Golden1 Center, including an overtime loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves and three other losses by five points or less.

That means the fans of Sacramento have only seen the beam lit six times in person this season. Officially, it's the "Laser Space Cannon," a collection of six high-powered lasers that shoot purple light into the sky. Kings owner Vivek Ranadive claims the beam goes "further up than the human eye can see," which is why the team has to notify the Federal Aviation Administration when they're about to turn it on.

Generally, the beam-lighting is assigned to a Kings player who performed especially well in the victory, though sometimes there's a celebrity assisting, like 50 Cent.

While the beam is lit after Kings wins at home or on the road, the home experience is much more exciting, with the fans counting down and chanting "Light the beam!" The Kings have a great opportunity, and perhaps a necessity to get the beam lit this week, as Monday begins a stretch of five home games in 11 days.

The first matchup pits the NBA's double-double leader, Domantas Sabonis, against its triple-double leader, Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets. Then the Kings have two games against the Los Angeles Lakers and Anthony Davis, who Sabonis had beaten 10 times in a row before Davis notched a win in October. Finally, they face the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons.

Sacramento needs to light the beam at least three times in this long homestand to reassert themselves in the playoff race. More than that, the fans of Sacramento deserve far more lasers than they've received this season.

The Kings are home through Dec. 26. If they want to get their season back on track, there needs to be more than Santa Claus and his sleigh in the skies above Sacramento this holiday season.