Los Angeles Clippers will be keen to maintain their unbeaten start, albeit in preseason, when they take on the Sacramento Kings in an all-California clash.
Doc Rivers was speaking, a few days back, about the importance of maintaining their composure when a call or two goes against the team - something he noticed with the Clippers during his time as the Boston Celtics coach.
"We can be really good, but we have to have a stick-to-it-ness," Rivers said last week. "That's going to be a challenge for us. We have to be able to stick to us and we tend to get sidetracked, and that's where we have to improve as a group.
"When things go good, of course, that's easy, but when things go bad, that's when we have to be good. That's when we have to embrace it. No one wants to embrace being bad, but you have to sometimes, it happens. You get through it and keep pushing through it. That's going to be the key for us.
"Calls, missed shots, not playing well, executing, it creates frustration," Rivers said. "That's a good thing, but you have to move to the next play. The clock keeps ticking. There's no four-second timeout so you can get over the frustration as a group. You have to keep playing. We have to get them to see that."
For the Sacramento Kings, point guard Greivis Vasquez is scheduled to make his debut, after missing the first two games of preseason.
Isaiah Thomas has done pretty well as Vasquez's replacement, so it remains to be seen whether Mike Malone decides to use the latter from the start or from the bench on Monday night.
Where to watch
The game is scheduled for a 7.30 a.m. (IST, Tuesday) start with no live telecast.
