SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The strangest part of the Sacramento Kings’ abbreviated early-season schedule happened a few weeks ago. They had a stretch of four games in five nights that sent them from Sacramento to Utah, Atlanta and Toronto. The Hawks and Raptors road games were back-to-back, which wouldn’t have tired the Kings as much if they returned to California after the Toronto game, or at least not on their flight path.

But instead they turned back southeast, flying from Toronto back over Atlanta and landing in Miami for the fourth game of a busy, logistically confusing road trip.

“I’m sure I’ve had (a crazier period),” 17-season veteran DeMar DeRozan said. “I played in a lockout year (when there were back-to-back-to-backs).”

Fast forward two weeks and there was an air of relaxation palpable in the Kings’ Thursday afternoon practice. They opened their season with 15 games in 25 days. After a loss on Monday to the Hawks — who were missing DeRozan, Domantas Sabonis and Malik Monk due to minor injuries — the Kings became the latest team in the league to finally get a multi-day break between games. They took Tuesday completely off, went live briefly on Wednesday and had a light session on Thursday.

After fifteen games, the Kings have a somewhat disappointing record of 8-7, considering their recent run of defeating opponents and narrow defeats. But it felt like a refreshed team with reinforcements on the way. DeRozan and Sabonis, who have missed the past few games due to back tightness, have been practicing fully and should return Friday against the LA Clippers. Monk, who has missed a handful of games due to a serious ankle sprain, is also on the cusp of a return, doubtful for Friday but not out of the question.

“Use this to reset and get back into a rhythm shooting the ball,” DeRozan said. “Get everyone’s legs back under.”

There’s a reason DeRozan mentioned shooting specifically. The Kings are currently hitting 34 percent on 3s and are 24th in the league. They were last dead about a week ago and have only gone up recently as De’Aaron Fox has been scorching hot everywhere and Keon Ellis recently made nine threes in a game.

But the collective is still in a team-wide slump. Kevin Huerter, a career 38 percent shooter from deep, is at 31 percent and went 1 of 10 on 3s in a one-point loss to the Hawks. He’s been back from his offseason shoulder surgery for almost a month and has missed a few games due to an illness that he believes has swept through the team, but said he believes this time of rest and reset could allow him to do some more generate consistency.

Monk was 12 of 43 from 3 before spraining his ankle. Fox was just under 30 percent before this recent hot streak pushed him to 35 percent. But the biggest concern right now is Keegan Murray, the catch-and-shoot threat who set an NBA rookie record with 206 made 3s (with 41.1 percent accuracy) in his first season. His percentage has decreased as his responsibilities have increased.

Murray has come on in leaps and bounds over the past two seasons. He has become a versatile defender who now often gets the toughest perimeter assignment. The Kings want him to test himself offensively with more action off the dribble and pitting him against smaller defenders at times.

But opponents fear Murray most as a big catch-and-shoot weapon with a quick release from nearly nine yards out in half-court. There he appeared on the scene as a rookie. It is also what he is currently having a hard time with.

“He’s going to be fine, man,” DeRozan said. “We’re all going to have a point in the season where we have a breakdown, we have a struggle. It’s a matter of not letting it bleed over. We’re all going to play games where you’re going to question some of us. It happens.”

Kings coach Mike Brown specifically mentioned a hesitant Murray possession from the fourth quarter of the Hawks loss. The ball was swung to him in the corner and the smaller Bogdan Bogdanović finished late with his hands down. Murray had a clear window to set up a barely contested Turn 3. Instead, he pumped fakes, drove into traffic and threw up an off-balance missed fadeaway floater.

The Kings prefer that he only take the catch-and-shoot 3 in these types of situations.

This isn’t a tough moment for the Kings. The numbers actually give them a level of internal optimism. They still rank sixth in the NBA in offensive rating (115.9), despite the shooting inaccuracy they believe will level out. They also rank a respectable 16th in defensive rating (112.6), but know tougher tests lie ahead.

Brown called their transition defense against the Hawks the worst he had seen in his three seasons as Sacramento’s head coach, but said he wouldn’t panic about it because they have been generally solid in that area this season.

Even without Monk, Sabonis and DeRozan, the Kings almost won that Hawks game. Fox, who recently went for 60 and 49 points on back-to-back nights, had a drive at the buzzer to win this one but was stripped by Dyson Daniels. Small losses – including overtime defeats to the Minnesota Timberwolves and Raptors – have dropped their record to 8-7, while the numbers might suggest they should have nine or 10 wins at this point.

High minute totals for DeRozan and Sabonis may have led to a tight back that led to missed time. The Kings currently have four players (Fox, Murray, DeRozan, Sabonis) in the top 14 in minutes played per game. Brown said he’d like to get them down to a maximum of 35 and feels like he’s getting a little more feel and confidence in his bench to make that happen.

During strategy meetings, Brown’s staff likes to divide the season into five-game subsections. Up to and including 15 they are 8-7. This series of needed days off allowed for a reset. Their next five: at the Clippers, at home against the Nets and Thunder, at the Timberwolves, at the Blazers, gives the Kings a reasonable chance to gain some traction.

(Photo of Keon Ellis, Mike Brown and De’Aaron Fox: Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)