SACRAMENTO -- The Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Lakers were expected to take little time settling into the bottom portion of the Western Conference standings this season.Instead, theyve spent the campaigns first two weeks stubbornly rebuking that conventional wisdom.Not that they seem all that pleased with themselves heading into the first meeting at the new Golden 1 Center Thursday night.We can get better, Kings C DeMarcus Cousins told reporters after Sacramentos 102-94 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday. We had some letups that you cant have.Cousins comments came on the heels of Sacramentos second straight victory. A third consecutive win would put the Kings (4-5) at .500 after 10 games, the second time in three seasons they will have had such an encouraging start. That 2014-15 campaign featured a 9-5 burst from the gate before things fell apart, a path these Kings are trying to avoid.Without more consistent intensity and defensive execution, they will struggle to do so, coaches and players said.I kept getting ticked off about all the shots they were making, Kings coach Dave Joerger said after watching the Pelicans make 49 percent of their shots from the field in the second half, including 10 of 20 in the third quarter. But I kept looking up, and the score was never getting away from us. Ninety-six possessions. Thats not a slow-paced game.Sacramentos defense has been sneaky good at times but it also has gone missing too.The Kings have held three opponents under 100 points and won all three times. But they have surrendered an average of 107.0 points in their five losses. In all, theyve allowed an average of 101.4 points in their first nine contests, down from a league-worst 109.1 per game last season and 13th among the leagues 30 teams.Its not something that you can just come out and do, Cousins said. It takes a lot of energy, but it also takes a mindset and a focus. We have to more consistent that way.Lakers coach Luke Walton has conveyed a similar message about his team. Fresh off the worst three seasons in franchise history, Los Angeles proved a surprise in the first two weeks, putting together a three-game winning streak and showing off an offense that is tied for fifth in scoring (108.6 points per game). A win against the Kings will give the Lakers four wins in a five-game stretch for the first time since November 2013.But Walton, the first-year coach who won two championships with the Lakers as a player, doesnt seem to be focused on wins and losses, so much as he is his teams growth.If we lose three in a row, all the stories will be the same, about a young team thats trying to figure it out, Walton told the Los Angeles Daily News. Ive said it from the beginning: We try not to get caught up in all that, not worry about that. Just focus on what we do as a group.So far, the group has looked to one another to score. DAngelo Russell, Lou Williams, Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle and Nick Young all are averaging at least 14 points per game. Williams, Luol Deng and Russell are also making at least 34 percent of their 3-pointers.Cousins is averaging 25.5 points and has led Sacramento in scoring in seven of its nine games. He averaged 27 points and 11.3 rebounds in four games against Los Angeles last season.Sacramento has won the last seven meetings with the Lakers. The Kings averaged 117 points in four games last season and swept the season series from Los Angeles for the first time.Nike Pegasus 33 Homme Noir . -- Kyrie Irvings last-minute 3-pointer helped seal another victory for Cleveland -- and the Cavaliers longest winning streak since LeBron James left. Nike VaporMax Pour Homme Noir et Jaune . Bryant, who signed a five-year, $34 million contract as a free agent with Cleveland in March, reported symptoms on Monday morning, a team spokesman said. http://www.airvapormax.fr/prix-nike-air-vapormax/nike-vapormax-femme.html . Each of Houstons starters scored in double figures as the Rockets improved to 2-0 against the Spurs this season, with both victories coming on the road. They also moved within 3 1/2 games of San Antonio (22-7) for the lead the Southwest Division. Air Force One Blanc Basse Pas Cher .ca NHL Power Rankings for the second straight week, ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche. Nike Air Vapormax Flyknit Homme . Only three players drafted by NHL clubs were included on the Czech selection camp roster on Wednesday. Those players were Dallas Stars 2012 first-rounder Radek Faksa, Winnipeg Jets 2013 fourth-rounder Jan Kostalek and Phoenix Coyotes 2012 seventh-rounder Marek Langhamer.Its easy to picture Kane Williamson as a school head boy. Like the best of them, he is extremely talented, has a fine work ethic and seen to be an all-round good bloke.As with all good head boys, Williamson finds himself at the nervecentre of every activity. Team meeting? Call Williamson. Press conference? Williamson will tackle it.There is also the inevitable comparison with his predecessor - Brendon McCullum - to contend with. While McCullum had the class of 2015 rapping to the tune of fearless, attacking cricket, Williamsons imprint is still work in progress.The class of 2016 does not comprise slackers - most of McCullums merry men continue with the good work - but the India tour has proved to be overwhelming for many of them. Martin Guptill has resembled an agonised drifter, while Ross Taylor seems to have gone uncomfortably numb. After the Test series whitewash, the free fall continued in the first ODI in Dharamsala. Who do they call on to arrest it? You hear a chorus, Captain Kane!It is not like Williamson has had it all worked out himself. While he has looked good on different occasions during the tour - never mind the bullying by R Ashwin - he had not managed a century. That is a good place to start, Mike Hesson, the headmaster, may possibly have told Williamson on the eve of the game. And, for heavens sake, win the toss. No pressure, Kane.Hours later, Williamson loses another toss. Minutes later, he watches Guptills bat stay away from the balls path. Seconds later, Williamson walks out. Indias new-ball pair of Umesh Yadav and Hardik Pandya has a skinny leg-side field, and they keep the off side interested by bowling well outside off. Further, the slip goes out to short cover, and a gully is in place to shut down the dab to third man, one of Williamsons strong scoring zones.Williamson, standing on middle and leg stump, moves closer to the off stump. The counter-strategy is to enable him to connect deliveries outside off better, and also create an angle favourable for leg-side play. And so, Williamson flicks and tucks balls that remotely veer towards middle and leg, while flaunting his cover drive when the bowler overcorrects and goes too wide outside off.MS Dhoni is doing everything to seal the off side, especially in front of square on a dull track, but there is the left-hand solidity of Tom Latham to contend with as well. Like many head boys, Williamson has a geeky, loyal sidekick in Latham, who refused to abandon the crease in Dharamsala even as the rest of his mates loped off.Thee pitch has by now begun misbehaving, and the balls keep low as promised.dddddddddddd But Latham is driving and pulling smoothly, as is Williamson, who does so by going down on his knee. At the start of the 13th over, he stays low and bashes Axar Patel through midwicket, and two balls later steps out to loft him over mid-on for six. The next delivery is flat and fast. Williamson lets the ball go past him and taps it on its head past gully. When Wiliamson is not playing these strokes, he is sweeping firmly and wristily. He has scored a half-century, but there is no theatre. The celebrations can wait. New Zealand, though, are breathing more easily at 115 for 1 in 20 overs.That soon changes as Kedar Jadhav dismisses Latham with his Virender Sehwag-esque offbreaks. Jadhavs larger contribution, however, is drawing Taylor out of the dressing room. For the next 10 overs, Taylor is swiping at everything, but mostly air. Attempted cuts are inside-edged and slower ones are missed. The bowlers are now bowling further away from off stump. When one of Taylors desperate swishes lands into the fielders hands, New Zealand have scored only 38 runs in the 10.3 overs since Lathams dismissal.Williamson knows the momentum has been snatched away. The bowling side is on top. He merely looks downwards with one hand on his waist. There is no discernible emotion otherwise. There is Corey Anderson on the comeback trail, and together they attempt to rebuild, brick by brick. As Williamson nears his hundred, the exertions are showing. On a day of unusual injuries - Rohit Sharma later seems to have a bicep cramp - Williamsons forearms are cramping. Massages are given and fluids are administered, literally, as he is not able to hold the bottle.But, Williamson gets back to work, drives crisply to gather the two runs needed for his century. The bat is held up momentarily and the helmet is off, more as a polite thank you than in any sense of accomplishment. Soon, he watches Anderson depart. Not long after, he departs, too, after battling three flanks - Indias tactics, his team-mates inadequacies and his own body.New Zealands last ten overs are a laborious blur and they only just manage a par score. But, as the night comes to a close, the head boy is making his victory speech. Unlike whatever he has done on the field, it is vanilla and free of passion. The good head boy is glad to keep it this way. ' ' '