It is safe to say that the Sacramento Kings have had an up-and-down 2024-25 NBA season. However, despite all the crazy twists and turns their year has taken, they are 30-28 and still firmly in the mix for a play-in mix in an unforgiving conference (10th in the West).
Unfortunately, there is one stat that shows that the Kings' record is not as strong as we think it is.
Sacramento Kings can't beat great teams
On a recent episode of the well-regarded Ryen Russillo podcast, Russillo went through all 15 teams in the Western Conference, and when he discussed the Kings, he cited a stat that fans are not going to want to hear.
The Kings are 20-10 (.667) when playing teams not currently ranked in the top 10 in the NBA. That alone is a good record. After all, you want a playoff hopeful to be able to take care of business against bottom-tier teams.
If you hadn't already guessed, they are far less impressive when it comes time to play the heavy hitters. Against top 10 teams, the Kings are a lackluster 10-18 (.357).
Now, obviously, when you play tougher teams, your record will not look as good as it does when you play the Washington Wizards and Utah Jazzs of the world (sorry, guys). But when you look at the teams that are viewed as consensus title contenders, the Kings don't compare.
According to Cleaning the Glass, the Cleveland Cavaliers are 13-5 (.722) against teams with a top-10 point differential. The Boston Celtics are 10-6 (.625), and the Oklahoma City Thunder are 13-8 (.619).
Yes, those are the best of the best, but to be a legit contender in this league, you need to be able to beat the best of the best. In the playoffs, there won't be a team like the Wizards. Instead, the Kings will have to deal with a team like the Thunder or the Houston Rockets (who also perform well against good teams).
The kind of good news here is that the Kings will have an opportunity to prove us wrong. As we've mentioned before, the Kings have the second-hardest strength of schedule in the NBA – behind only the Phoenix Suns (per Tankathon).
Will the Kings be up for the challenge? I sure hope so because, so far, history tells us that they are not.