The Sacramento Kings made it a close contest with the Golden State Warriors, but just like we’ve seen over and over throughout his career, Stephon Curry hit a dagger three to keep the Kings from upsetting their Northern California foes.
In a game with a multitude of injuries for both teams, it turned into a battle of depth and team-scoring for both sides. The highest scoring player for either team was De’Anthony Melton with 21. No one on the Kings scored more than Killian Hayes’ 18, and both teams had six players score in double digits.
It was a game that wreaked of ‘end of season’ and was they type of game where almost anything can happen. If anyone would have guessed that Melton would lead the Warriors in scoring while Hayes led the Kings, they would have been questioned for time travel.
The good news for the Kings is that they were able to hold even with the Utah Jazz, who lost their tenth straight game tonight. Both Sacramento and Utah now sit at 21-59 with just two games left and are tied for the fourth worst record in the NBA. The Kings have another game against the Warriors before ending their season against the Portland Trail Blazers, while the Jazz will face the Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Lakers.
The Jazz seem willing to do whatever it takes to lose, and the Kings seem to be leaning into that aspect more with DeMar DeRozan missing tonight’s contest. It wouldn’t be surprising if the future hall of famer is done for the season now that he’s climbed into 16th on the all-time NBA scoring list.
The Kings also still have an outside chance of catching up with the Brooklyn Nets, who won tonight against the Milwaukee Bucks. They moved to 20-59 on the year with three games left, and will face the Indiana Pacers, Bucks again, and Toronto Raptors.
Lottery Watch Not as Fun as Playoff Watch