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

The Lakers (36-11) had to play their first game this week on Friday, taking a home loss against the Portland Trail Blazers. The lengthy delay was because of the passing of Kobe Bryant and that made for an emotional game on Friday. Having to play the second half of a back-to-back set here is going to be a tough task after that sort of night but it could also be a good thing for these players to keep the grind going. What's also going to make it easier is the fact that this team has been winning a lot recently, entering this matchup winning 12 of their last 16 games. That has them sitting atop the Western Conference and it would be hard to imagine anyone catching them with Anthony Davis and LeBron James running the show.

The Kings (18-30) have been one of the most difficult teams to understand in the NBA. Their last three results show just why. Three games ago, Sacramento overcame a 17-point deficit in the final three minutes against the Minnesota Timberwolves. They followed that up with a blowout home loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder and then pulled out an upset road win over the Los Angeles Clippers in their most recent victory. While that does give them three wins in their last four, it shows the volatility of this ball club. The thing that's made them so volatile is their offense, ranked just 24th in scoring. That's shocking considering they were Top-10 last season and it simply makes no sense with these young pieces all sticking around. That would make one believe that improvements are right around the corner but it's impossible to predict what these Kings will do at this point.

These teams have played once this season, with Los Angeles prevailing, 99-97, on November 15. That gives the Lakers three-straight victories over the Kings in total.