One night after playing (and losing) to the Pelicans for the fifth time this season, the Kings get yet another opponent for the fifth time in the Phoenix Suns. Thanks to the quirks of the NBA In-Season Tournament, fate has granted both teams the opportunity to break a tiebreaker with a very important game tonight that means a lot for both team’s playoff chances.
Let’s talk Kings basketball!
When: Friday, April 12th, 7:00 PM PT
Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA
TV: NBC Sports California, NBA TV
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140
Last Time
The Kings and Suns last met in mid-February in a high scoring affair that saw the Suns victorious, 130-125. De’Aaron Fox scored 40 points and Domantas Sabonis added a huge 35 point, 18 rebound and 12 assist triple-double but it wasn’t enough to overcome the suns. Kevin Durant led the way with 28 points while Devin Booker, Eric Gordon and Grayson Allen combined for 67.
Three in the Key
No time for excuses
The Kings head into tonight’s matchup with their playoff hopes on a razor’s edge; They sit tied record-wise with the Warriors and Lakers and a full two games back of the Suns. Phoenix is coming into tonight with a day of rest while the Kings had to play yesterday. The Suns are basically healthy while the Kings are without Kevin Huerter and Malik Monk. But if the Kings want to make the playoffs, they cannot afford to lose tonight. Losing tonight makes it increasingly likely that the Kings will be in the 9-10 scenario of the Play-In tournament instead of the 7-8 game. A win would mean that the Kings could still have homecourt against this very same Suns team in the Play-In. The Kings have nobody to blame but themselves if they miss out on the playoffs. Not even counting all the blown leads and bad losses earlier this season, the Kings have gone 1-4 in their last five games. In two of those losses, they held 20+ point leads. In another, they had three chances at a game-winner that came up short. All those missed opportunities are coming back to bite the Kings when it matters most, but they still have a chance to control their fate, they just need to buckle down and win.
Deal with the Small Ball
In both of the Suns wins against the Kings this year, they’ve done much better when they’ve switched over to small ball. That was what spurred the huge 22 point 4th quarter comeback and also their narrow victory in the last game. The Kings can’t afford to let that happen again. Hopefully there’s enough film from those two games that the Kings can throw some new stuff at Phoenix. The addition of Keon Ellis into the rotation is another wrinkle that the Suns won’t be used to and should hopefully help the Kings match up better when Phoenix goes small.
Keep Calm and Carry On
The Kings have been letting the officiating get to their heads a bit lately. De’Aaron Fox has received technicals in two straight games now for arguing about non-calls. It is frustrating to attack the basket, get hit and have nothing whistled while the other team gets to the line for similar contact. The Suns are one of the best teams in the league at getting to the line, mainly due to the efforts of Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. The Kings can’t let their frustration with the officials get into their head. Just play your game, stay physical and keep attacking. These games are too important.
Prediction
The Kings break through and finally win a close back and forth game and even hit their free throws down the stretch.
Kings 119, Suns 115
Standings Watch
No game is more important than their own for the Kings but there are other important ones.
The Lakers are on the road to take on the Grizzlies while the Pelicans are in San Francisco to take on the Warriors. Kings fans are rooting for Memphis and New Orleans tonight.
The scenarios are pretty simple now with just two games left. The Kings have the tiebreakers over both the Lakers and Warriors, so both those teams need to finish with a better record than the Kings. If the Kings win both of their remaining games, they’re automatically ahead of them and at least in the 7-8 spot. If the Kings win both their games and the Suns lose their final game in Minnesota, the Kings will have the 7th spot by virtue of the 3-2 season series. If the Kings lose any game, the best they can do is 8th.
After tonight the Lakers play the Pelicans in New Orleans on Sunday while the Warriors host the Jazz and the Kings host the Trail Blazers.
Fan Predictions
Link to Leaderboard (Updated 2/21/24)
