After making their first playoff appearance since 2006, the next logical step for the Kings is to win a series. Last season, they came close, but Stephen Curry wasn’t ready to go home yet.
So, Sacramento would love to get that done this year. The West is incredibly strong, however, and the Kings won’t be the favorites in any first-round series. If the regular season ended today, the Kings would be facing the Minnesota Timberwolves in one of the more favorable matchups out there.
The standings change quickly in the West, though, and no first-round matchup is set in stone. So, let’s look at three first-round matchups that could end up being disastrous for the Kings.
3. The Denver Nuggets
As of now, the Nuggets are second in the West, 0.5 games behind the young Thunder. Unless the Kings fall back into the Play-In Tournament to finish the regular season, this is an unlikely first-round matchup. Luckily.
No one wants to face the reigning champions in the playoffs. The Kings have gotten the better of them in the regular season, but we all know that Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and co. still have another gear.
The NBA world agrees that the road to the finals goes through Denver in the West because they have proven it before. Sacramento, meanwhile, has yet to win a playoff series with this core. If they somehow were to meet the Nuggets in the first round, it might very well be a short postseason appearance.