Sacramento Kings can clinch playoff spot at home this week. Here’s their magic number
Break out the cowbells, power the lasers and prepare to light the beam, Sacramento. The Kings are on the verge of ending the longest playoff drought in NBA history.
The Kings have a chance to clinch a top-six seed and an automatic playoff bid during a four-game homestand that begins Tuesday with a marquee matchup against the Boston Celtics at Golden 1 Center.
The Kings are moving closer to their first playoff berth since 2006 with every game they win and every game lost by teams like the Golden State Warriors, Oklahoma City Thunder, Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers.
Sacramento’s magic number is four, meaning the Kings can clinch a playoff spot with any combination of four wins and/or losses by the Warriors, who are currently seventh in the West. The top six teams in the West will earn automatic bids to the playoffs. The teams that finish seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th will compete in the play-in tournament for the last two playoff berths.
The Kings (43-27) were tied with the Memphis Grizzlies for second in the Western Conference as they looked to wrap up a 4-0 road trip with a win over the Utah Jazz on Monday night in Salt Lake City. Sacramento and Memphis split the season series, but the Kings hold the tiebreaker based on their conference record.
The Kings will be facing the Celtics (49-23) on the second night of a back-to-back in front of a raucous home crowd in Sacramento. They will continue their homestand when they play host to the Phoenix Suns on Friday, the Jazz on Saturday and the Timberwolves on Monday.
The Suns have fallen five games behind the Kings and Grizzlies with three weeks remaining in the regular season. At this point, the Suns will have a hard time catching the Kings, who had won three in a row and 11 of 13 since the All-Star break going into Monday’s game against the Jazz.
