Kings’ ugly losses might be even more costly than we first thought 

Forty-five wins in today’s NBA are nothing to sneeze at. After all, some teams haven’t even made it to 20 wins. In that context, the Kings’ record looks solid, but it is only enough for eighth place in the West. That is a spot in the Play-In Tournament. 

While it is certainly much better than missing the playoffs, it is a big step down from securing the third seed last season. The rest of the West has gotten stronger, overtaking the Kings, and now they might not even make the playoffs. 

The other three teams currently in the Play-In Tournament are the Suns, Lakers, and Warriors. Those are not easy opponents, heavy with star power and desperation to make the playoffs. 

Winning just one game in that scenario will be difficult enough, and the Kings might still fall into the bottom half of the Play-In Tournament. 

Kings’ ugly losses come back to haunt them as Lakers and Warriors catch up with them

For most of the second half of the season, the one consolation for Kings’ fans was that their team had a healthy distance between them and the two squads in ninth and tenth place. That distance has vanished now. 

The Kings, Lakers, and Warriors all have a 45-35 record. Fortunately, Sacramento owns the tiebreaker over both teams, but that won’t help them if they can’t win some games down the stretch. 

Right now, it is not looking too good, as the Kings just gave up a 20-point lead to the Thunder and were demolished by the Pelicans once again. Sacramento’s last two games are against the Suns and the Trail Blazers. At least one should be a safe win, but we all know how the Kings play against bad teams. 

That tendency is coming back to haunt them now. Several times this season, Mike Brown’s squad failed to take care of business against some of the worst teams in the league. 

The Kings lost to the Trail Blazers, the Hornets, the Pistons, and the Wizards. It was just four games, but those four losses might very well cost the Kings the playoffs. If they had won those games, they would have a 49-31 record, which would put them in sixth place in the West. 

Instead, they will have to battle their way through the Play-In Tournament.