The Sacramento Kings will look to win their third straight game and take another step in a season of breakthroughs when they host the hapless San Antonio Spurs on Sunday afternoon.
The Kings (47-30) can clinch their first Pacific Division title since the 2002-03 season with a win in any of their last five games. Sacramento has already clinched its first playoff berth since 2006, is in third place in the West and can finish no worse than fourth in the conference.
The Kings head home after beating Portland for the second time in three days via a 138-114 road victory on Friday.
Domantas Sabonis had 20 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists for Sacramento, with De’Aaron Fox adding 20 points, 11 assists and eight boards. Keegan Murray and Malik Monk scored 20 points each, and Kevin Huerter scored 14 points.
Sacramento has won four of its past five contests. The Kings remain two games behind Memphis in the Western Conference.
“These guys really play for each other,” Kings coach Mike Brown said. “I mean, the ball gets swung and I think a guy has an open shot, and that guy makes one more pass to a guy who’s completely wide open. It’s just a remarkable thing to have from a group that is extremely connected. They all want each other to succeed.”
Brown said though the Kings have accomplished plenty this season, he would not rest his players until more goals were attained.
“Right now, it’s too close to think about resting when there’s a chance to get to the second spot,” Brown explained. “So we’re going to keep playing and when and if everything gets settled and a certain point, then I think we’ll revisit then.”
San Antonio (19-58) has long been eliminated from postseason consideration and is guaranteed to finish this forgettable season with one of the three worst records in the league. The Spurs have dropped six consecutive games, the most recent a 130-115 setback at Golden State on Friday.
San Antonio led by as many as nine points in the game and was still up 88-87 after three quarters. But that all came apart in a fourth period when the Warriors scored 43 points, beginning with an 11-2 run. San Antonio was never in the game after that spurt.
“Golden State got hot down that stretch — that’s what they do. They did a great job of taking over in the fourth quarter,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “I thought our effort was great. Did a lot of good things defensively and offensively. Really pleased with some of the development of the guys out there.”
Keldon Johnson scored 22 points, Malaki Branham had 19 and Keita Bates-Diop and Gorgui Dieng scored 14 points apiece for the Spurs. Sandro Mamukelashvili had 13 and a game-high 11 rebounds to forge his second career double-double, and Tre Jones scored 10 points for San Antonio.
The Spurs played Friday without Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan, Doug McDermott, Romeo Langford and Zach Collins due to injuries. All will be game-time decision for participation on Sunday.
–Field Level Media