What could the future (rest of this season) hold for the Kings?
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Tetsujin
The Game Thread Dude
We're literally as close to the eighth seed as any other team in the race.
For playoff chances (this year), Tonight is a critical game as a win protects the Kings against the 1st tiebreaker (pulls the season series even) and gains the Kings a whole game in the race. over the Blazers A loss would be devastating as the Blazers would gain the overall tiebreaker giving them in effect a 2-game lead. It is 1/5 *MUST-WINS*. Holmes playing would certainly help things. Blazers favored by ~6pts.
This is probably true, but I'm still holding onto a bit of hope.....Kings cannot afford a losing streak now. They are down to 5 or 6 losses,, and they have some much better teams ahead to play.
sactowndog
All-Star
yep a loss today puts a nail in it. At that point, they won’t, but the Kings would be better off tanking for the Avdija.
I am curious to see if Bazemore gets up a little more for this game
Section 101
All-Star
LoungeLizard
Starter
That’s a BRUTAL schedule...if they keep the 8, then damn they earned it
Suicide King
Starter
Well no one is going to give us the 8th seed, we have to take it. Can't control other teams.
So far so good.
So far so good.
Tonight was critical; they passed the test! Tomorrow is a back-to-back. A win would really be nice to follow to pad against Portland and put the pressure on the Grizzlies. Its a game-by-game break now; a win tomorrow helps soften for the Pelicans, but a loss tomorrow really puts the pressure on for the Pelicans game which is the more important of the 2.
Section 101
All-Star
Another bonus is the 2nd to last game against the Lakers they maybe resting players.
That is just potentially -- way too early to count. The Kings have to go a long way before that becomes actually possible.
Section 101
All-Star
Just did some checking.
In 3 way tie for 8th with Kings/Pels/Blazers, Kings will need to win both games against the Pels to get the tie breaker. Pels swept the Blazers 4 games this year.
In 3 way tie for 8th with Kings/Pels/Blazers, Kings will need to win both games against the Pels to get the tie breaker. Pels swept the Blazers 4 games this year.
That's a tall order the way the Pelicans have been playing.....the Kings would do well to split, but they need the sweep - technically they are both *MUST WINS* for the Kings.....who need all the cushioning they can get because the Pelicans have an easier strength of schedule. The Pelicans also play the Grizzlies twice in a couple weeks.....since the Grizzlies have a much more difficult schedule, we'd want the Grizzlies to win both the Pelican games and hope better teams bite the Grizzlies in other games. Then there's the Spurs who have a more difficult end to the season than the Pelicans as well but have an outside chance or can play spoiler. Remember that awful OT loss earlier in the season?....that was too bad.
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2020-nba-predictions/
The Kings percentage went up 1% while the Blazers down 3%. They have the Pelicans with a 55% chance with only a 2 game differential?
If this is true, the head-to-head games are even more important against the Pelicans. Meanwhile the Spurs are only at 2% just an extra game back?
Its all about strength of schedule. Last year the Spurs had a 9 game winning streak and then .500 in the 8 games to reach the playoffs. That would be a great facsimile to try for.
Anything on Bagley returning too? Weird sparin injury..... At minimum it would solidify front-court depth more.
The Kings percentage went up 1% while the Blazers down 3%. They have the Pelicans with a 55% chance with only a 2 game differential?
If this is true, the head-to-head games are even more important against the Pelicans. Meanwhile the Spurs are only at 2% just an extra game back?
Its all about strength of schedule. Last year the Spurs had a 9 game winning streak and then .500 in the 8 games to reach the playoffs. That would be a great facsimile to try for.
Anything on Bagley returning too? Weird sparin injury..... At minimum it would solidify front-court depth more.
It will partially depend on the ordering and desire for homecourt in some cases. It could be a smaller factor. The Grizzlies get to play the Pelicans twice more too.....for the Kings this is why other non-head-to-head games are important. They lost a winnable game to the Sixers. Tonight's game took on some more importance due to that. The Pelicans have alot of young talent. Right now they look better than the Blazers and maybe Grizzlies.
The prediction site is not wrong to favor them.
bajaden
Hall of Famer
You know, I'd usually agree with you, but I don't see a dramatic difference between the 1st pick in this draft and the 20th pick in this draft. Of course there will be a couple of stars in this draft, and it may well be one of the projected top five, but I wouldn't bet on it. I don't see an absolute sure thing. So for me, lets give it a go for the 8th spot. If we end up in the lottery, I don't think there's a lot of difference between 10 and 14 as far as our chances go.
bajaden
Hall of Famer
Personally, I don't think the Grizz are even in the conversation. I could be wrong, but that schedule is brutal, and with the injuries they've had, I don't see them surviving. But if they do, then they've earned every bit of that 8th spot. Not going to happen...
sactowndog
All-Star
well I think we have to go for it regardless and luckily we won last night so it doesn’t seem like a fools errand. If Buddy and Bogi both stay hot and the team moves the ball we might have a chance. But 8 and 14 do have a big difference in chances (odds) for top 4. But I agree their isn’t the clear all stars up top either.
KingsFanSince85
All-Star
This is a rather silly statement.
The KINGS are 13-6 in their last 19 games. If they duplicate that record over the next 19, they’d finish at .500. Given Memphis’ schedule, it’s more than possible.
Now, the KINGS have to keep up or exceed what they’ve been doing and Memphis will have to play .500 ball or less, but neither are totally unlikely.
Will it happen? IDK. Knowing the KINGS history and luck the past 14 years, probably not. But the 8th seed is definitely still in play right now.
Section 101
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Site is a joke for predicting playoff odds. They have the Pels winning 39 games/Griz 38 and still have the Blazers tied with the Kings at 37. They are only going off of players production. The teams fighting for the 8th spot all still have lots of games against each other.
VS Teams for the 8th spot.
Kings 4 games. 2 pels 2 spurs
Pels 6 games, 2 Kings, 2 Spurs, 2 Griz
Griz 5 games, 2 Pels, 2 Blazers, 1 Spurs
Spurs 6 games, 2 Kings, 3 Pels, 1 Spurs
Blazers 2 games, 2 Griz
Yeah there's alot of intergame play W/L statistics that I dont care to dis-entangle - someone else might....but it seems kinda fishy. I love when there's a close race with many teams......1 of the most compelling part of sports
Section 101
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to put it in perspective, they have the Kings going 9-11 the rest if the year.
Its possible - a similar poorish-performance happened last year......I was writing about ending records of many of the in-play teams being all bunched up. As far as 9-11, the Kings play what 8 playoff level teams......if they have a poor aggregate outing off that, they could alreaady lose 6 or 7 games right there. I put out an ideal scenario for the Kings last week 5-0 vs 8th-seed teams, 5--4 vs playoff teams and 5-2 vs the rest.......they really need at least to try to go .500 against playoff teams, going 2-6 puts them t the mercy of other teams.
Section 101
All-Star
3 of the 8 are on the road. 2 are the last week of the season @Nuggets (Sat) @Lakers (Tues) when they could be resting players. Lakers most likely will be locked into the top seed in the west and #2 overall.
Last year the Kings had a 4-6 stretch around the same time where they lost some close hard-fought games that pretty much sunk 'em then. Other teams were playing better last year. This year the field is closer. - in the Kings favor Its game-by-game....play hard, compete. - see what happens.
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