After Christmas, 2013 is also coming to an end, and in the final few days, the Kings have three games left: the Rockets, Hornets and 76ers.

After the comeback to the Pelicans before Christmas, Adelman gave a speech in the locker to further strengthen the team's cohesion and set goals for the playoffs, which he believes will inspire the players to excel in the coming period.

And that's exactly what happened, with the Kings winning all three of their final three games in 2013.

After beating the Rockets again at home, they went to the East to play the Hornets and 76ers, and the Kings also won both away games. Combined with the pre-Christmas win over the Rockets and the comeback win over the Pelicans, the Kings ended their entire December '13 streak with a five-game winning streak.

21-9, after 30 games, the Kings' record can be described as beyond the expectations of many people before the season, although many people are speculating that the Kings' record will improve this season, but what they did not expect is that the improvement will be so fast.

Despite their excellent record, the competition in the West is so fierce that even though the Kings have a staggering 70% record, they can only finish fourth in the West.

At the end of December, the Thunder finished first in the West with a 25-6 record, and their performance this month surpassed the Spurs and Trail Blazers who were ahead of them the previous month, and the winning percentage rose to 80.6%, becoming the only team in the West with a winning percentage above 80%.

The Spurs dropped to second place in the West with a 25-7 record and a 78.1% win rate. The Trail Blazers have a 25-7 record, but in the first meeting between the two teams this season, the Spurs defeated the Trail Blazers, so with the head-to-head record between the two sides, the Spurs are in second place, while the Trail Blazers can only be in third place.

The next fourth is the 21-9 Kings, and the fifth to eighth places are the Clippers, Suns, Rockets and Warriors, as the eighth Warriors in the West, with a record of 20 wins and 13 losses, and a winning rate of 60.6%, which shows the fierce competition in the West.

So even though the Kings are now ranked fourth in the West, Adelman has repeatedly warned the Kings players not to be slack, because if they lose one or two games, the Kings may drop one place, and if they accidentally lose five or six games, they may fall out of the top eight in the West.

However, as a young team, it is not easy for the Kings to maintain a stable performance, entering the 14th year, the first game of the new year, the Kings received a defeat, and the losing team is not a strong team, the Utah Jazz.

Although the Utah Jazz's home court is not as famous as before, the Kings really don't seem to be too accustomed to the highland climate here, and the game is not too good, and the game ended up scoring only 92 points, while the home team Jazz scored 101 points.

In the fiercely competitive West, it is undoubtedly a pity that the game that should have been won was not won, so this defeat also annoyed Adelman. After the game, Adelman criticized the team for not concentrating and practiced hard in team training.

Young players are the most susceptible to irritation, and with Adelman's spur, the Kings are naturally motivated.

In the next game, they met the old Spurs, and the two teams staged a fierce battle. Even against last season's Western Conference champions, the Kings didn't fall into a clear disadvantage, and the two teams were deadlocked until the final three minutes.

In the final moments, the experienced Spurs took advantage of their chances, and they went on a 5-0 run in 30 seconds to extend the margin to seven points. In the end, the Kings lost to the Spurs by 3 points and ushered in a second straight defeat.

First of all, he lost carelessly, and then regretted defeat when he tried his best, and the depression in the king's heart can be imagined. As a weak team in the East, the Magic was a little sad to meet the King at this time, and the Kings vented all their frustration in the first two games in this game, with 28 points, the Kings ushered in a big victory at home, ending a two-game losing streak.

At this time, the Kings welcomed a strong opponent, the Portland Trail Blazers.

In the West, the Kings and Trail Blazers are considered two dark horses, neither team failed to make the playoffs last season, but this season, both teams have been extremely impressive, and now they are in third and fourth place in the West, respectively.

Among them, the dark horse of the Trail Blazers seems to be darker than the Kings, especially at the beginning of the season, their win rate was as high as 80%, which really surprised many people in the outside world.

In addition to who will win in the end, the matchup between Li Tian and Damian Lillard, two of the best guards in the 12th century, is also one of the highlights.

Last season, no one would compare Lee Tian to Lillard, and as the best rookie of the last year, Lillard's performance was outstanding, and even the top pick Anthony Davis couldn't compare to Lillard.

However, after coming to this season, Lillard continued to perform almost the same as last season, and the rest of the rookies have ushered in a lot of improvement. That includes Anthony Davis, Brad Beal, Andre Drummond, and Lee Twan!

Although Li Tian's score was not high in a few games in the early stages of the game, with his excellent performance after that, Li Tian's score has improved to an average of 18.6 per game, which is not significantly different from Lillard's average of 20.3 points per game.

So although Lillard's opponent in this game is Evans, because Li Tian and Lillard are both 12-time rookies, they are inevitably compared together before the game.

According to industry predictions, Li Tian is almost certain to be selected as a starter in the All-Star Game this season, and Lillard is also very likely to be selected as an All-Star as a substitute. Considering that some people in the Western Conference defenders have expressed dissatisfaction with Li Tian's high votes in the All-Star vote, Lillard, although he has not publicly expressed similar views, is not convinced, and perhaps after facing Li Tian, the future star of the Trail Blazers will be very eager to use his performance on the court to prove that he is the best guard in the 12th class.

Based on this judgment, in China, the ** network, which is responsible for broadcasting the game live, began to build momentum for this game a day ago.

"The 12th Best Defender Contest!"

In the most conspicuous position on the homepage of the NBA, such a slogan was hung out, although such a slogan Trailblazers fans may not agree, but it mobilized the enthusiasm of Kings fans.

It coincided with a domestic Saturday, and the start time of the game was 11 a.m. in China, which undoubtedly pushed up the ratings of this game.

While domestic fans sat in front of their computers, at the Sacramento Sleep Train Arena, the players of both teams had also completed the warm-up and entry ceremony, and the starters of both teams stood near the center circle.

The starting lineup on the Kings' side remained stable, with center Cousins, power forward Thompson, small forward Iguodala, scoring guard Li Tian, and point guard Evans.

The Trail Blazers' starting center is Robin Lopez, who was just traded this season, a big man who is good at defending the restricted area, and his arrival has greatly improved the Trail Blazers' interior defense, which is also a big factor in the Trail Blazers' ability to improve this season.

The power forward is LaMarcus Aldridge, an All-Star caliber power forward who has stayed with the Trail Blazers since he entered the league in '06 and has continued to improve, averaging 23 points per game this season, up two points from last season. His matchup with Cousins on the inside will be another highlight of the matchup, although there aren't many opportunities for the two to potentially face each other.

The small forward is Niklas Batum from France, a very well-rounded and playmaking small forward who has a similar style to Iguodala.

As for Li Tian's counterpart, it is Wesley Matthews. When he first entered the league last season, Li Tian always used this player to motivate himself. Joined the Jazz as an undrafted pick in 09, and then became the team's starter and played in his first season, Matthews joined the Trail Blazers in 10 years and became the Trail Blazers' starting point guard, with good offensive and defensive capabilities, outstanding defensive and projection capabilities.

The Trail Blazers' starting point guard is naturally Damian Lillard, and as last season's rookie of the year, he and Aldridge became the two cores of the Trail Blazers' interior and outside.

Cousins and Lopez were in charge of jumping the ball, and they both jumped at the same time as the referee's whistle blew.

"Lopes helped the Trail Blazers get the ball first......"

At this moment in China, whether it is the commentator or the fans, the attention has shifted from small talk to the game, the Trail Blazers take the lead in attacking, and the game officially begins!