Sacramento Kings get an additional game on national TV

As a result of the Sacramento Kings’ new-found success last season, the team was scheduled for 22 games on national TV in 2023-24. While this is still far off from the Los Angeles Lakers’ and Golden State Warriors’ 40+ games on national TV, it is a nice number for the Kings. It actually marks the highest number of nationally televised games for the team since the 2004-05 season. 

Now, it was just released that Sacramento will get an additional game in front of a national audience. On April 4, the Kings are going to Madison Square Garden to face the New York Knicks on TNT and avenge the close loss earlier this month. 

Initially, the game between the Atlanta Hawks and Dallas Mavericks was supposed to be aired on national TV in that slot, but that was recently changed. It will be good practice for the Kings in a playoff-like atmosphere. The Knicks play incredibly physically, Jalen Brunson is a certified star, and the game will have a big audience. 

The Kings get another chance to show out in front of a national audience

As a small market team that sucked for almost two decades, the Kings don’t get too many chances to impress a national audience. With the new game, they now have seven games left on NBA TV and TNT against the Philadelphia 76ers, Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, New Orleans Pelicans, and Phoenix Suns. 

Sacramento may not be the favorite in all of those games—especially against the Celtics and Pelicans— but it is a great opportunity for De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis to display their overlooked All-Star talent and for Malik Monk to audition for potential suitors in free agency. 

The newly-added TNT game should be must-watch TV for all Kings, Knicks, and general basketball fans. When those two teams met earlier this month, they turned time back to the 90s. 

Neither team scored 100 points, as the Knicks were in full control of the game. They may be short-handed, but they are not without an identity. It was a physical defensive battle, and the Kings handled it surprisingly well. They are not the most physical team out there, but they competed, and Mike Brown was rather happy with how his squad played defensively.