Kings get defensive, top turkeys, Jazzed up & more

	Kings leading scorer Kevin Martin (right) credits Ron Artest with helping him maximize his abilities in his third season. AP

Quick. Who is the best defensive team in the NBA this season? The Bulls? Close. The Spurs? Closer. Actually, it's the Rockets. But that's not surprising considering Jeff Van Gundy is calling the shots.

What is surprising, though, is one of the teams nipping at the Rockets' heels for defensive supremacy -- the Kings. That's right, the franchise once thought so soft it was famously dubbed "the Queens" by Shaquille O'Neal, has dug its collective heels into the hardwood, holding opponents to 93.4 points a game through the season's first two weeks.

"You have to be able to [defend and score] to be a real good team," Sacramento GM Geoff Petrie says. And while the Kings had little trouble putting the ball in the hoop before this season, finishing among the top three scoring teams in five of the last six seasons -- they dropped to 10th last year -- they also haven't finished better than 17th in scoring defense since 2001. The imbalance ultimately foiled the Kings during the Rick Adelman coaching era, resulting in eight straight playoff appearances without reaching the Finals.

Enough apparently was enough for Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloof, who set about "looking for a little bit different style of play and a different mentality," Petrie says. "The object [of the owners] and the subject [Adelman] have to be in sync at some level and that didn't seem like it was going to be possible going forward."

Consequently, the Kings let Adelman's contract expire, then hired former Warriors coach Eric Musselman to lead the makeover.

"Eric has a strong defensive mind-set, but that, in and of itself, didn't mean he was going to be the right guy for a team [like ours]," Petrie says. "What you need is [somebody who] when you watch their teams play, there's a recognizable style of some kind that is fairly consistent."

For the Kings this season, that means an effort to hold opponents to 42 percent shooting or less and a greater commitment to helping teammates defend. It also means an emphasis on effort from the coaching staff through the end of he bench.

"I never thought a coach could have that much energy and intensity for the game," says guard Kevin Martin, who has emerged as the Kings' leading scorer in his first full season as a starter. "[Musselman] is in the gym more than any two players combined. He's coaching every second."

But Musselman is only part of a transformation that began last season when Sacramento sent Peja Stojakovic to the Pacers for a then-team-suspended Ron Artest. Acquired with the Kings languishing at 18-24, Artest helped spark Sacramento to a 26-14 finish and an unexpected playoff berth.