Following a 121-115 loss to the Washington Wizards, the playoff chase for the Sacramento Kings is just about nearing an end.
It was right there all night. The Sacramento Kings had every chance to win against a mediocre Wizards team Monday night, but turnovers, mistakes and missed shots ultimately doomed them and potentially their playoff hopes.
Buddy Hield was atrocious shooting the ball tonight (6-21 FGs, 1-9 3PT), as was Bogdan Bogdanovic who has struggled enormously since Marvin Bagley III went down. Willie Cauley-Stein disappeared for long stretches of the game too and when you add in Barnes ghosting in the second-half, you get a recipe for a terrible loss.
The Kings also turned the ball over 16 times, which led to 25 Washington points, including several late game turnovers that killed any momentum the Kings had gained. All in all, this one hurt.
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After Monday’s loss, the Sacramento Kings (33-33) are now 4.5 games back of the playoffs, behind the Los Angeles Clippers, San Antonio Spurs and Utah Jazz by an equal margin. The Clippers play Boston tonight, but win or lose they weren’t going to provide an avenue for the Kings to jump them, regardless of what Sacramento did. The Jazz are also in action tonight, playing the Oklahoma City Thunder — a team they’ve gone 0-3 against this season.
The Spurs are not in action, but both the Spurs and Jazz each have one game against the Sacramento Kings remaining, which could provide the Kings a chance to overtake one of them in the standings, though it would take a near miracle for them at this point.
The Sacramento Kings have 16 games left, half of which are against current playoff teams. The playoff pursuit isn’t over just yet, but it’s certainly on life support. Last week I said I wouldn’t let go of the rope, and I won’t — yet.
The Kings likely needed to finish this 10 game stretch 8-2 or better to realistically have a shot at making the playoffs. After two games they’re 1-1, but don’t face any world-beating teams on the upcoming schedule. They do, however, play both Boston and the Philadelphia 76ers on the road in this stretch, meaning one of those games now must be won. Even still, a 7-3 stretch of games would still give them a shot, especially if the Jazz and/or Spurs run into troubles of their own to close out the season.
Tonight’s loss was devastating for the Sacramento Kings, especially after having so many opportunities to grab the win. It isn’t a death-blow though, it just makes things harder. And if there’s one thing we’ve seen with this Kings team, it’s that they respond well to adversity.