According to Martin McNeal of the Sacramento Bee the defending champions are not an immediate concern for the Kings right now.  While the Lakers try to get back to their winning ways the Kings aim is to pull away from the Phoenix Suns and the Portland Trail Blazers.

The unexpected resurgence of the Suns and the good start of the Trail Blazers has given the Kings a new focus.

?Everyone keeps talking about the Lakers and everything,? said Adelman, ?Forget about (the Lakers) right now. It?s Portland and Phoenix we?ve got to worry about.?

Adelman was not caught off guard by the Trail Blazers and expected them to be part of the Pacific Division?s elite.

"I'm not surprised about Portland," Adelman said of the Trail Blazers, "I didn't know what kind of team Phoenix was going to be.

?You didn't know what Stoudemire was going to be like. You didn't know if Hardaway was going to be healthy. You knew they had Marion and Marbury, but at first when they were there (the Pacific Division's upper echelon), I was wondering if they were going to be able to stay with everybody.?

"But they are. And they are pretty darn good."