The Los Angeles Clippers will work on improving their seeding in the play-in tournament when they pay a visit to the Sacramento Kings on Sunday.
After holding a 6-21 regular-season record just before Christmas, the Clippers have rallied to their current 39-38 mark that has made them play-in eligible.
Currently ninth in the Western Conference standings, Los Angeles would prefer to play in the play-in matchup between No. 7 and No. 8 teams that requires just one victory to become playoff eligible. A No. 9 seed has to win the 9-10 matchup, then defeat the loser of the 7-8 game to reach the eight-team playoff field.
The Clippers’ spot in the standings took a blow when they lost 114-104 to the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday. The Trail Blazers are now the No. 8 seed, while the Clippers slipped to No. 9. But Los Angeles does have a game remaining at Portland next week.
Of the Clippers’ five remaining games, three are against teams below them in the standings. The Trail Blazers have four games remaining, with the next three against the Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs and Clippers.
“I think we just need to get back to being the aggressor, to getting out there, being the more physical team,” Clippers big man Brook Lopez said after the Clippers’ 118-99 loss Thursday to the Spurs, who were playing without Victor Wembanyama.
“Part of that, you look at our schedule, we’ve been playing every other day for a month now. So naturally, I know I feel a bit fatigued, our guys feel a bit fatigued.”
Los Angeles will get a two-day break before playing at Sacramento, where the Kings are on a two-game home winning streak after a 117-113 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday.
Mired in a brutal 21-57 season, the Kings have been better of late, going 7-7 since March 8. That run includes a 118-109 victory over the Clippers at Los Angeles on March 14. Russell Westbrook delivered a triple double for Sacramento against his former team, scoring 12 points with 12 rebounds and 10 assists.
The Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard rolled his left ankle and had to leave that game early but has missed just one game since. Leonard still managed to score 31 points in 26 minutes and is on a franchise-record streak of 53 consecutive games with at least 20 points.
Sacramento matched a season-best by shooting 58.5% from the floor in the victory over the Clippers. DeMar DeRozan, Precious Achiuwa and Maxime Raynaud combined to shoot 80.0% (32 of 40), while highlighting the Clippers’ issue with physical play in the interior. The trio combined for 75 points.
“It was a team effort (and) a lot of guys came in ready to play and follow the (gameplan),” Achiuwa said after the victory. “I think we executed at a high level, and I think we match up really good with (the Clippers).”
Before the Kings’ victory over the Clippers last month, the teams played at Sacramento in early February when Los Angeles earned a 114-111 victory. Even in the midst of a brutal 16-game losing streak, the Kings led that game by 10 points early and were up 84-81 with 10:53 remaining.
Of the Kings four remaining games, they leave Northern California just once, when they close out the schedule next Sunday at Portland.
