What we learned as Kings lock up No. 9 seed with win vs. Blazers

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What we learned as Kings lock up No. 9 seed with win vs. Blazers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SACRAMENTO – Domantas Sabonis notched his NBA-leading 77th double-double of the 2023-24 NBA season, and the Kings locked up the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference with a 121-82 win over the extremely short-handed last-place Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday at Golden 1 Center.

The victory sets the Kings (46-36) up for a shot at revenge in Tuesday’s play-in game against the Golden State Warriors. After Sacramento ended a 17-year playoff drought last year, the Kings were knocked out of the postseason in the first round by Golden State.

The Kings pulled out the needed win against the Blazers after stumbling down the stretch with five losses in their previous six games that dropped them down in the Western Conference standings.

Sabonis helped prevent the slide from continuing with another stellar effort. Sacramento’s big man, who had a streak of 61 consecutive double-doubles, got the Kings going early and finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists to finish plus-37.

His effort on Sunday tied Sabonis with Moses Malone for the most double-doubles in a season since the NBA/ABA merger in 1976.

De’Aaron Fox scored 24 points, Harrison Barnes had 17 and was also plus-37 as the Kings had six players in double figures. Keegan Murray added 12 points and Davion Mitchell had 11.

Sacramento needed the win to avoid going on the road for the win-or-go-home play-in game.

It helped that Portland played without a large chunk of its team in the regular-season finale. The Blazers, who lost 15 of their last 17 games, finished with the worst record (21-61) in the Western Conference.

The Kings took a 12-point lead in the first quarter, led by 28 at halftime and were never threatened in the second half.

That sets the stage for what should be a thrilling matchup with the Warriors on Tuesday at Golden 1 Center.

Here are the takeaways from Sunday’s game:

Fox Hunt

Fox played like a man fully invested in carrying the Kings on his shoulders in what was the team’s most important game of the season thus far.

Sacramento’s…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/learned-kings-lock-no-9-215742695.html

Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2024-04-14 23:15:38

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