The Sacramento Kings are only two games into the regular season, and their defense is looking about as bad as ever. It was so unproductive against the Blazers that Walker Kessler outperformed the whole Kings team on the same night. It demonstrates how badly the Kings need to fix this issue.

Okay, so this comparison is a little odd. Kessler, the Lakers’ new center, was in Los Angeles taking on the Clippers. The Kings, on the other hand, were at home facing the Blazers, who have become somewhat of a nemesis to Sacramento over the last couple of seasons.

What Kessler has been doing for the Lakers this season has already been huge. He’s become a force on both offense and defense, and is making huge plays every time he’s on the court. The man had ten dunks in his first game, and added another three against the Clips. Kessler is dangerous.

Last night’s defense was even more impressive. In addition to his 22 points, eight rebounds, and three assists, Kessler also had three steals and six blocks. This is where things get grim for the Kings. The whole team had 10 steals and zero blocks against the Blazers, which isn’t good at all.

The Kings defense is still wildly broken

In case you were wondering, the Lakers had a total of 13 steals, which isn’t that much more than the Kings had overall. The +/- paints a much more grim picture. As a team, the Kings were at -25 while Kessler had a +18 by himself. Honestly, it’s a great demonstration of Sacramento’s issues.

The comparison gets worse if you stick with starting centers. Domantas Sabonis gave the Kings a triple-double, but also had zero steals and, obviously, zero blocks. Kessler didn’t put up the offensive numbers Sabonis did, but his defense was a huge reason why the Lakers won last night.

If the Kings want to show real improvement, they can’t be putting up defensive performances as they have been. No one wins titles by letting teams like the Clippers or the Blazers drop 120+ points on their heads on a regular basis. Sacramento has to be able to hold the line to pick up victories.

It also highlights how much this team needs Maxime Raynaud and Dylan Cardwell. The sophomore duo plays solid, reliable defense, especially alongside players like Precious Achiuwa and Nique Clifford. Basically, Sacramento needs the Beam Boys back together to get anywhere this season.

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