Sacramento Kings' Biggest Obstacles in the Month of December

The month of November presented no shortage of challenges for the Sacramento Kings. But despite playing the league’s second-strongest schedule, head coach Mike Malone’s team has blown preseason expectations out of the water and currently sits ninth in the Western Conference pecking order with a 9-6 record.

Unfortunately, things won’t be getting much easier for the Kings as we put the first full month of the 2014-15 campaign behind us and flip the page to December.

While November was mainly about grinding out wins over some of the top-tier teams throughout the league (Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers, Phoenix Suns), December will serve as more of a mental test for this Kings team.

Slated to play 15 games over the course of the final month of the calendar year, Sacramento will face a collection of opponents that combine for a meager .441 winning percentage, well short of the .580 mark of their November foes.

So, what kinds of obstacles could the Kings possibly be facing with such a soft schedule ahead of them, you ask? The first, and perhaps most important, is avoiding complacency.

When a team as young and impressionable as this Sacramento team gets a little taste of success early in a season, it's common for guys to start both looking and playing entitled. They begin to believe they'll handle the league’s bottom-feeders by simply showing up to the arena.

Sure, the Kings will use upcoming contests against the Toronto Raptors, the Houston Rockets, the Golden State Warriors and the Phoenix Suns to see if they can contend for a postseason berth as early as this season, but it’s the games sprinkled in between that will arguably be more telling.

Games against the likes of the Orlando Magic, the Utah Jazz, the Detroit Pistons, the Los Angeles Lakers, the New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics will tell us a lot more about where Sacramento stands. While the majority of these teams won't be competing for a playoff spot come April, they are all capable of topping the league’s best on any given night.

Malone's troops need to be playing with major chips on their shoulders (DeMarcus Cousins already has everyone beat in that department); otherwise, they could easily end up dropping more than half their December games. That's not something a team can afford in the West.

The Kings will also be faced with a trap game or two as the month unfolds. The first comes against the Lakers on the second night of a back-to-back (they’ll play Utah at home the night before). The other, also the second leg of a back-to-back, will be against the Knicks at home following a visit from the Suns.

These are situations in which the Kings' mental toughness will be tested. Do they have what it takes to beat a tough opponent one night and prevent themselves from coasting against a weaker opponent the next?

Bleacher Report’s Sim Risso has more:

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The game against L.A. could be a trap game, with Sac playing on the road on the second night of a back-to-back. The Kings should win that game, but seeing them lose it wouldn't be too shocking.

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Assuming the Kings keep up what we've seen from the first month of the season, they should rightfully sweep those games. However, the team could suffer a letdown against the Knicks, as it'll be a back-to-back off a difficult contest against the Suns.

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Again, for a young team, this can be difficult. One of the toughest challenges NBA players face is getting themselves up to play weaker teams, especially if they've played a tough opponent the night before. The Kings will have to learn that teams worthy of playing in the postseason cannot play down to the level of their competition.

The month ahead will certainly be an interesting one in Sacramento. Cousins, Rudy Gay, and Darren Collison will be instrumental in keeping this team moving forward. In the Western Conference, a few dropped games early in the season could put the Kings on the outside looking in come playoff time.

So, will the Kings sink or swim? We’ll find out.

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