As the team embarks on the longest road trip in its Sacramento-era history, one that features three sets of back-to-backs, nearly two weeks on the road and over 9,000 miles traveled, Kings.com caught up with franchise legend and TV analyst Doug Christie to get his analysis of the first four games.

Sacramento to New York – 2,521 Miles

What was already a season-long road trip for Sacramento turned into an even longer one, when the team’s game against the Knicks was postponed on January 26 due to an impending snowstorm. Since then, the Kings have acquired a new head coach, had its first All-Star in nearly a decade and seen injuries sideline two of their starters. Meanwhile, the Knicks have had their star player, Carmelo Anthony, elect to have season-ending knee surgery.

Doug Christie weighed-in on the matchup and how important it is to start a long road trip on the right note.

“This is going to be an interesting one because you really don’t know what to expect out of the Knicks. They’ve had a tumultuous season and all of a sudden you lose your main guy in (Carmelo Anthony) and have an even tougher time winning. In my opinion the Kings can absolutely win this game. With George Karl coming in, the guys are playing extremely hard and they’re starting to get what he wants them to do. You want to set the tone for a road trip like this with a win and it would be really good for guys to go out and play well on the road because they haven’t had an extended road trip with George Karl as the head coach yet.”

“There is nothing like it, it is the mecca of basketball and just a fantastic gym to play in. It seems big from the outside but it’s quaint and they turn the lights down in the lower bowl = so it seems like the floor is a stage. It is one of the best places to play in in the NBA.”

New York to San Antonio – 1,583 Miles

In one of the more rare back-to-backs in the NBA this season, Sacramento follows its trip to the Big Apple with one down south to match up for the second time in less than a week with the defending-champion San Antonio Spurs. Although the last time these teams met Kings All-Star DeMarcus Cousins missed the game due to injury, the contest was close throughout.

“This is a team in San Antonio that is obviously going to be a playoff team. They are world champions, they are playoff tested, and they have possibly the best coach of all-time. The Kings are going to absolutely have to go in and be ready to play. The Spurs are starting to find their groove following their “Rodeo Road Trip” and they’re going to be a tough team to beat from here on out.”

“These are two absolutely iconic coaches. It’s like two chess masters matching up against each other. Pop is, in my opinion, in the top two or three greatest coaches of all time because he has molded the talent his organization has drafted to fit a system that produces nothing but wins. George Karl is just an awesome coach, but what I love so far is that he has the guys playing hard and playing the right way, the sky is the limit for this team.”

San Antonio to Orlando – 1,037 miles

Following the first of three back-to-backs on the road trip, Sacramento will have a day off before matching up against the Orlando Magic. Led by a talented group of youngsters, who have already defeated the Kings earlier this season, Sacramento will be tasked at slowing down Tobias Harris. The Tennessee forward exploded for 27 points against the Kings in December and hit several big shots down the stretch to close the game.

“Orlando is a team that is like a box of chocolates, you don’t know what you’re going to get from night to night. So you may look at them and see they aren’t winning many games, but you could still go in there and get beat. The Kings have to have high energy and effort, they will have to rebound the ball and make sure to do all of the little things. The way to beat a team like the Magic is to break their psyche early or else they could hang around and run you right out of the gym.

Orlando to Miami – 193 miles

One night later, the Kings travel to Miami to face former second round draft pick Hassan Whiteside and the Heat. The matchup presents another opportunity to defeat an Eastern Conference opponent that the Kings lost to in Sacramento this season. Although, Miami is not the same team it was a season ago sans LeBron James and recently losing All-Star forward Chris Bosh to a blood clot, they still present a formidable opponent that matches up well with Sacramento.

“Miami is a hard-nosed team, unfortunately they just lost Chris Bosh and in the NBA family we never want to see one of our brothers go down. However, this is another winnable game for the Kings. So if you look at this road trip, three of the first four are very winnable games. It would be fantastic to get three and build a lot of equity with George Karl. The team would also gain the confidence and understanding going into road games next year. So this is a really important one, although on the outside looking in, it is like ‘well the Kings are out of the playoff picture,’ but to them this is a big-time trip moving forward.“

First Four Total Miles - 5,334

Stay current with Kings.com for analysis from Kings legend Bobby Jackson on the final four games of the road trip coming soon!