Despite winning three matches in a row prior to Monday night's defeat at the hands of Melbourne United, the Kings have been slow out of the blocks for most of the season.

"We've played six games now and I think in the first five minutes of five of those games, we've been down six or eight (points) so our starts haven't been great in general," Gaze said after Sydney fell to United 77-70 on Melbourne Cup eve.

While the Kings remained competitive until the final quarter, Gaze was left to rue another sluggish opening term that allowed United to run out winners in front of 10,300 fans at Melbourne Arena.

The Kings missed their first six shots of the match to see United jump out to a 10-2 lead.

And while Gaze's men twice fought back from double-digit margins, they were unable to take a lead at any point of the match.

"Maybe we've got to look at our starting line-up, maybe we've got to change a few things because there is a consistent pattern of getting behind the eight ball," he said.

"We're good enough to figure out a way through it but you can't keep giving teams head starts at home or away."

Making his first NBL appearance in his hometown of Melbourne, prized recruit Andrew Bogut was a defensive force for Sydney but typified their offensive struggles with eight points on 4-of-10 shooting and just two assists.

The Kings also shot poorly from the free throw line, making only 4-of-12 from the line in a seven-point defeat.

Gaze gave credit to United's defensive effort for disrupting Sydney's offence but noted his talented roster were still finding their way after six games of the season.

"I think the intent individually was really good but against a good defensive team, you need to be better than that," Gaze said.

"You've got to be able to collectively work your way through things - we didn't do that.

"You've got to have that balance right - because going up and just trying to rely on the individual brilliance, which we have disproportionately against good defences, it becomes a bit of a lottery."

Gaze is hoping his squad finds that balance in time for Saturday's away clash with the Adelaide 36ers, where he expects another tough challenge.

"Because of the nature of the narrative around our team, we are not catching anyone off guard," he said.

"We are bringing out the best (in them) - everyone is cranking up when the Sydney Kings are coming to town.

"Everybody is super excited about testing themselves against us because of the personnel that we have so we've got to do better at executing in the first five minutes."

Australian Associated Press