Sacramento Kings: Where they stand in the playoff race after loss to C’s
The Sacramento Kings playoff hopes took a devastating blow after a loss to the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night, can they still make it?
Don’t let go of the rope. That was the slogan for the Miami Heat Beat team during the Miami Heat’s ill-fated playoff push in the 2016-17 season. It’ll be ours this year. It didn’t work for them, but it will work for the Sacramento Kings, we just have to have a little faith.
Yes, tonight hurt. It hurts even more when it’s a loss that shouldn’t have happened. Better ball security, better rebounding, better free throw shooting — all of it could’ve led to a win for the Sacramento Kings. But it didn’t and it won’t. The game is over and all we can do now is look forward, keep the faith and, most importantly, not let go of the rope.
After tonight’s loss, the Sacramento Kings are now four full games behind the San Antonio Spurs after they beat the Atlanta Hawks Wednesday night. The Kings have a chance to gain one game straight-up when they travel to San Antonio on March 31, but aside from that, they’ll need some help. Fortunately for the Kings, their upcoming schedule is pretty favorable.
In their next five games, the will play the New York Knicks (13-52, away), Washington Wizards (27-37, away), Boston Celtics (40-27, away), Philadelphia 76ers (41-24, away) and the Chicago Bulls (19-47, home). That’s five very winnable games, but it won’t be easy. The Kings should be able to get wins against the Bulls, Wizards and Knicks, but the key will be to get at least one of: Boston or Philly. The Kings just lost to Boston by two and beat Philly 115-108 last month, so it’s well within the realm of possibility for them.
The Spurs, meanwhile, have a couple easy games, but face a difficult slate of games overall. Their next five games they’ll play the Milwaukee Bucks (48-16, home), Dallas Mavericks (27-37, away), Knicks (13-52, home), Portland Traiblazers (39-25, home) and the Golden State Warriors (44-20, home). That’s three likely losses, which could open the door for the Sacramento Kings to make up a game or two should they take care of business on the road.
After that five-game stretch, the Spurs will play four-straight against teams in or near the playoff picture in their respective conferences, while the Kings will play just one. I’m not saying it’s going to happen, but they say it’s not over ‘til the fat lady sings — and I’m not hearing any music…yet.