Watching tonite's game is difficult. Start with transition defense, very weak. Lillard is the real deal and a lot of people now must wish that they had taken a chance on him.
The Kings got competitive last year when they started to run and were able to outscore some teams. This year the defense seems somewhat improved, but the offense is sluggish with a lot of standing around. When your center Hayes is tied for the lead in assists that tells you something. Johnson and Robinson are improving on offense. Cousins and Thomas were sorely missed. If you can't stop Portland at home to get back into a game, it is a very bad sign with regard to defense.
The Kings seem to have a marginal offense, (lowest field goal percentage in the NBA), and the defense is not there to keep them in games at crunch time. There is a lot of work to do.