The Kings faced what one would call "bad teams" five times in 16 December games: Utah twice, the Lakers, the Bobcats and the Magic. All but two of those games were on the road. So the Kings basically had two likely wins: home games over the Lakers and Jazz. The next two weeks of Kings basketball includes visits from the Sixers, Bobcats, Magic and Cavaliers. Hurray for the NBA schedule!

One note, though: those two winnable home game in December against the Jazz and Lakers? The Kings lost them both. But beat the Rockets (twice) and Heat. I don't know either.

NUMBER OF IMPORT

The Kings currently have the No. 2 strength of schedule in the NBA, per Basketball-Reference.com.

MATCHUP OF THE GAME

Thaddeus Young vs. Jason Thompson

Young has been incredible lately, averaging 20 and 7 over his last 10 games. He's a combo forward playing up in the weight class but doing pretty well, though the Sixers are predictably awful. Thompson, meanwhile, is not doing so hot right now. If Young starts torching him, expect to see lots of early Derrick Williams. On the other end, Thompson should be able to use his size to get some clean looks against Thad.

3 THINGS

1. Philadelphia has won two straight, and totally pasted the Nuggets on Wednesday night in Denver. What does Philly do well? The Sixers are currently No. 8 in the NBA in opponent turnover rate. So, there's that.

2. The Sixers are absolutely horrid from beyond the arc, which should help out the Kings. The only threats are Spencer Hawes and Thad.

3. Hawes could cause some problems for DeMarcus Cousins due to that range; as Philly plays Hawes and Young up front, you can't really let Boogie take the power forward. Hawes might have a big game.

PREGAME HAIKU

PREDICTION