A Royal Pain
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How many wins will the Sacramento Kings finish with?

By Jonathan Roberts

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 9: De'Aaron Fox #5 and Buddy Hield #24 of the Sacramento Kings shake hands during the game against the New York Knicks on March 9, 2019 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 9: De'Aaron Fox #5 and Buddy Hield #24 of the Sacramento Kings shake hands during the game against the New York Knicks on March 9, 2019 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Sitting at 38-39 with just five games left, will the Sacramento Kings be able to hit the .500 mark? Or will they fall short for a 13th straight season?

The Sacramento Kings are nearing the end of the road on the 2018-19 season, and with it, a rapidly shrinking chance to finish above .500 for the first time since the 2005-06 season.

After the Sacramento Kings were eliminated from playoff contention on Saturday, there’s only one thing that matters — finishing with more than 41-wins. In what has been one of the most incredible seasons in the last 20 years of Kings basketball, Sacramento is teetering on the edge on yet another sub-.500 season, a mark that’s already the longest such streak in the NBA, and one that’s inching towards the longest in NBA history.

To put it in perspective, the Orlando Magic have more playoff appearances since 2010 (2) than the Kings have winning seasons since 2005 (1). That’s not great, but it could all come to an end this year. All the Sacramento Kings have to do is *checks notes* beat at least three of the: Houston Rockets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Utah Jazz (away), New Orleans Pelicans and Portland Trailblazers (away).

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There’s four winnable games right there, potentially five if the Rockets do the unthinkable and rest James Harden. But can they get three wins out of that group? Let’s break it down.

The Sacramento Kings are 0-3 thus far against the Houston Rockets, dropping those contests by an average of…19 points per game. Yikes. Despite being at home for this one, the only chance the Kings have of getting a win against Houston is of Harden sits. That puts them at 38-40 — little room for error.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are 19-58, 2-8 in their last 10 games, will be on the road and lost to the Kings in their first matchup by 19 points. If the Sacramento Kings don’t win this game, they might as well lose out. This should be as close to guaranteed win as you can get with the NBA, but with the #Kangz making a return over the last month, anything is possible. Let’s chalk this up as a win, however, which puts them at 39-40.

The next two will be tough for Sacramento, and they’ll also decide whether the Kings finish with 41 wins or not. The Kings are a combined 2-4 against the Pelicans and the Jazz, and they haven’t been particularly close losses, either. Except for a 123-117 loss to open the season, the Sacramento Kings lost by double-digits in every other loss to the Pelicans and Jazz, and will have to face Utah on the road. Not exactly the most ideal situation, but the Kings’ only wins against the Pelicans and Jazz came at home, and on the road, respectively — exactly where they’ll play to close the season. Let’s not get too excited though, those Kings wins both happened in 2018, and things have changed a bit since. It’ll be a coin-flip, but the Kings will win at least one of these games. 40-41 it is.

While the playoff push won’t come down to the final game of the season like so many fans were hoping, the push to 41 wins likely will, and the Kings will have a good shot to get there too, despite being on the road. As you may have heard, Portland Trailblazers center Jusuf Nurkic suffered a devastating injury against the Brooklyn Nets on March 25. While devastating for multiple reasons, the Blazers are going to be without their second best player until next year, giving the Kings a wide open shot at hitting that .500 mark. Furthermore, the Blazers could opt to rest Damian Lillard in this one too, as it’s the season finale and they have the playoffs to worry about.

dark. Next. The Kings’ season has come to an end. What’s next?

Will the Sacramento Kings hit the 41-win mark for the first time in 13 years? It’s hard to predict, given the unpredictable nature of this team on a night-to-night basis, but if I was betting on it, I’d say they’re in pretty good shape.

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