Lakers (4-4) at Kings (4-5)

THE PARTICULARS

Where: Golden 1 Center

When: Thursday, 7:30 p.m.

TV/radio: TNT, 950, 1140

THREE KEYS

1. Limit turnovers: Before Tuesday’s game against New Orleans, coach Dave Joerger said turnovers were “killing” the Kings’ defense. The Kings committed a season-low 10 against the Pelicans and held them to fewer than 100 points. Turnovers prevent the Kings from setting their defense and could be costly against a Lakers team averaging 20.0 points off turnovers.

2. Stay committed: On average, opponents have outscored the Lakers by nearly three points in the first half, but the Lakers have flipped the script after halftime, averaging the fourth-most second-half points (55.2) in the league. The Kings cannot let up defensively if they take an early lead. Joerger is telling his players to keep up the defensive energy for 48 minutes.

3. Big matchup: The Lakers signed Timofey Mozgov to a $64 million deal last offseason, and so far the returns have been disappointing (8.0 points, 5.6 rebounds) The 7-foot-1 center should see a lot of DeMarcus Cousins, who could be poised for a big offensive night.

PROJECTED STARTERS

KINGS

10 Ty Lawson PG

40 Arron Afflalo SG

8 Rudy Gay SF

15 DeMarcus Cousins PF

41 Kosta Koufos C

LAKERS

1 D’Angelo Russell PG

0 Nick Young SG

9 Luol Deng SF

30 Julius Randle PF

20 Timofey Mozgov C