To face Mavs, Kings need 4 on the floor
Wins in their final four games would guarantee a playoff series against Dallas.
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Friday, April 15, 2005
LOS ANGELES - If the Kings want to orchestrate their fourth playoff meeting in four seasons against the Dallas Mavericks, they can do so by winning their final four games of the regular season starting tonight at the Staples Center against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Kings still can finish anywhere from fifth to seventh in the Western Conference, which means they still can match up against San Antonio, Phoenix, Seattle or Dallas. Either San Antonio or Phoenix will finish second and then would play the seventh-seeded team.
Memphis' loss Wednesday night at Houston limited their best possible season-ending record to 48-34, which is as poorly as the Kings can finish. However, Sacramento won the season series 3-0, and thereby would win the first playoff tiebreaker and finish no lower than seventh.
Sacramento (48-30) will take a one-half game lead over Houston (48-31) and a one-game lead over the streaking Denver Nuggets (47-31) into tonight's matchup against the Lakers.
It is the first of a three-game road trip that continues through Phoenix and Utah before the Kings end the regular season at Arco against the Pacific Division champion Suns.
The Kings, who have won three straight and four of their past five, can finish with a 52-30 record by ending the season with four more wins.
Sacramento must finish with a better record than Houston to earn the tiebreaker edge because the Rockets hold that advantage over the Kings.
Sacramento and Houston split four regular-season games. However, the second tiebreaker is conference record, and Houston would finish with a better mark. The Kings, by virtue of a 2-1 season-series victory, hold the tiebreaker advantage over the Nuggets.
Kings coach Rick Adelman said he will continue to try to win games and let the season play itself out.
"We're going to play to win," the coach said this week. "We can't worry about what happens around us. And we can't control any of those other teams. We will try to continue to work on things during our games that we will use during the playoffs."
Adelman's next regular-season victory will give him 707 and tie him with John MacLeod for 14th on the NBA's all-time coaching list. The Kings' franchise leader in coaching victories, Adelman ranks fourth in wins among active coaches behind Detroit's Larry Brown, Utah's Jerry Sloan and Denver's George Karl.
After the momentous battles Adelman's teams in Portland and Sacramento have waged against the Lakers, he'd love nothing more than to add one more win to the ledger. However, few players and/or coaches believe games now carry the same significance that they did just a season ago.
It was then when the Kings lost the Pacific Division title during the regular season's final week when Lakers star Kobe Bryant nearly single-handedly defeated the Trail Blazers in Portland to give L.A. the division. "It's completely different now," Bryant said. "Now you have Kenny Thomas and Brian Skinner out there playing. The only ones that are there from the rivalry days are Mike Bibby and Peja (Stojakovic)."
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/12729210p-13581084c.html
Wins in their final four games would guarantee a playoff series against Dallas.
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Friday, April 15, 2005
LOS ANGELES - If the Kings want to orchestrate their fourth playoff meeting in four seasons against the Dallas Mavericks, they can do so by winning their final four games of the regular season starting tonight at the Staples Center against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Kings still can finish anywhere from fifth to seventh in the Western Conference, which means they still can match up against San Antonio, Phoenix, Seattle or Dallas. Either San Antonio or Phoenix will finish second and then would play the seventh-seeded team.
Memphis' loss Wednesday night at Houston limited their best possible season-ending record to 48-34, which is as poorly as the Kings can finish. However, Sacramento won the season series 3-0, and thereby would win the first playoff tiebreaker and finish no lower than seventh.
Sacramento (48-30) will take a one-half game lead over Houston (48-31) and a one-game lead over the streaking Denver Nuggets (47-31) into tonight's matchup against the Lakers.
It is the first of a three-game road trip that continues through Phoenix and Utah before the Kings end the regular season at Arco against the Pacific Division champion Suns.
The Kings, who have won three straight and four of their past five, can finish with a 52-30 record by ending the season with four more wins.
Sacramento must finish with a better record than Houston to earn the tiebreaker edge because the Rockets hold that advantage over the Kings.
Sacramento and Houston split four regular-season games. However, the second tiebreaker is conference record, and Houston would finish with a better mark. The Kings, by virtue of a 2-1 season-series victory, hold the tiebreaker advantage over the Nuggets.
Kings coach Rick Adelman said he will continue to try to win games and let the season play itself out.
"We're going to play to win," the coach said this week. "We can't worry about what happens around us. And we can't control any of those other teams. We will try to continue to work on things during our games that we will use during the playoffs."
Adelman's next regular-season victory will give him 707 and tie him with John MacLeod for 14th on the NBA's all-time coaching list. The Kings' franchise leader in coaching victories, Adelman ranks fourth in wins among active coaches behind Detroit's Larry Brown, Utah's Jerry Sloan and Denver's George Karl.
After the momentous battles Adelman's teams in Portland and Sacramento have waged against the Lakers, he'd love nothing more than to add one more win to the ledger. However, few players and/or coaches believe games now carry the same significance that they did just a season ago.
It was then when the Kings lost the Pacific Division title during the regular season's final week when Lakers star Kobe Bryant nearly single-handedly defeated the Trail Blazers in Portland to give L.A. the division. "It's completely different now," Bryant said. "Now you have Kenny Thomas and Brian Skinner out there playing. The only ones that are there from the rivalry days are Mike Bibby and Peja (Stojakovic)."
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/12729210p-13581084c.html
