The Sacramento Kings got thoroughly outplayed on their homecourt on Friday, losing 125-111 to the Washington Wizards. Despite playing on a back-to-back, Washington looked like the more rested and well-prepared team.

Here are four takeaways from another disappointing loss for Sacramento that dropped the team to 17-14 on the season.

The Kings aren’t good enough to overlook inferior opponents

For the second time in less than a week, the Kings lost to an inferior opponent who was playing the second end of a back-to-back at Golden 1 Center. Sacramento’s performance on Friday against the Wizards and Monday’s loss to the Charlotte Hornets were performances that seemed all too familiar, especially compared to previous versions of this team.

It has been so common in recent years for the Kings to lay eggs on their home court to inferior opponents, and Friday was just that. Sacramento doesn’t have the roster talent to sleepwalk through games against capable opponents and still win consistently.

Mike Brown hasn’t found an answer at the backup center

When Domantas Sabonis leaves the court, bad things tend to happen to the Sacramento Kings. After a multi-week stretch where Chimezie Metu had taken a stranglehold of the backup center position, the Kings appear to be searching for answers once again at that position.

On Friday, Sacramento tried out both Neemias Queta and Richaun Holmes, and neither particularly impressed in their minutes. Whether it’s via trade or someone on the active roster, Sacramento is really going to need this spot in the rotation squared away because, right now, nothing is really clicking.

A Kyle Kuzma trade would help the Kings out.

Kuzma was the best player on the Golden 1 Center court on Friday, scoring 32 points on an efficient 14 of 23 shooting, with nine rebounds and five assists. 

Earlier this month, the Kings were one of the teams linked to Kuzma, and Friday’s performance is a good example of why. Sacramento just doesn’t have a guy at his size that create, dribble and shoot on the perimeter.

Harrison Barnes and Keegan Murray have proven to be Sacramento’s only two capable forwards this season, and Kuzma would slot in perfectly to Sacramento’s rotation and be another offensive weapon for this team.

Domantas Sabonis continues to produce

Even despite a stinker of a performance from the team, Domantas Sabonis continued to fill up the stat sheet for the Kings on Friday. Although he wasn’t as efficient as he typically is, Sabonis still finished the night with 20 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists, good enough for another triple-double.

Since De’Aaron Fox’s blistering start to the season cooled down, Sabonis has been Sacramento’s best and most consistent player on a near-nightly basis.

Sacramento will get three days to go over the film and enjoy the Christmas holiday before hosting the Denver Nuggets for a rare home back-to-back on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.