The Sacramento Kings play host to the Los Angeles Clippers at Golden 1 Center on Saturday.

The Clippers (12-11) got off to an impressive start, but seven losses through their last 11 games have undone all the good work early on. That bad stretch directly correlates with the returns of Marcus Morris and Serge Ibaka, with the Clippers struggling to gel with this new unit. The good news is that they grabbed a tough road win against the Los Angele Lakers on Friday, and that's hopefully a sign of things to come. It does mean that this is the second half of a back-to-back set, though, which could lead to some key players resting. This team is already shorthanded with Kawhi Leonard (knee) injured for the year, and it's becoming clear they need all horses on deck for every game to stay in the playoff hunt.

The Kings (9-14) were the first team to fire their head coach this season, and results have been encouraging since then. In fact, they enter this matchup winning three of their last five games, beating the Portland Trail Blazers and the two Los Angeles teams in that span. Those are some good teams to be beating, and it says a lot about how talented this team can be when the right pieces are in play. Guys like Richaun Holmes, De'Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton have developed into fantastic NBA players, and it pairs wonderfully with a veteran like Harrison Barnes. The one thing that's been holding them back is their defense, though, ranked 27th in defensive efficiency this season. That's sadly an improvement on their numbers last year but having the fourth-worst defense in the NBA is nothing worth writing home about.

These teams played on December 1, with Sacramento winning, 124-115. The Kings actually dominated that game, leading by nearly 30 points at times, despite the final scoreline.