Buford's Kings eye defensive improvement against JackJumpers

Chase Buford and his Sydney Kings are sitting pretty after the first 12 rounds of the NBL23 season.

They're comfortably in first place on the ladder, following Sunday's historic Christmas win against Melbourne United.

Despite this, the NBL22 championship-winning coach knows his team are capable of more as they ramp up their charge towards finals.

"It's always great to get a win, especially coming off a loss - I was pleased with the response of the whole group against United," Buford said.

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"But there's always areas of improvement, which is why we had a good defensive review on the film today, as I feel we can be a lot tougher on the ball.

"We're a good defensive unit but I honestly believe we've got a lot more to give on that end of the floor."

The Kings' next chance to improve on that end of the floor comes against NBL22 grand final opponents Tasmania - who defeated the Kings earlier this month at Qudos Bank Arena.

"[To reverse the result against Tasmania] we've got to firstly guard in the fourth quarter and not let them get easy buckets down the stretch," said the second-year coach, who admits his team have a goal of finishing in the top two and not having to play their way into the finals.

"We've always got to move the ball better and play with more space, as we've had a tendency of getting stagnant at the end of games."

Friday's round 13 fixture with the fifth-placed JackJumpers (at 7.30pm AEDT) will be the second game of the Hoops Capital double-header, with the Sydney Flames taking on Canberra from 5pm.

"[These double-headers] are super exciting, as it gives us a chance to celebrate our two teams, one club mantra," he said.

"It's always super fun and I know both teams will be cheering each other on to victory on Friday, in what we hope is a packed house for both games."

Tickets for the hoops extravaganza can be purchased here.