The Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings have a limited amount of time to improve their standings.
The Kings (48-31) utilized a 121-103 triumph at New Orleans on Tuesday night to secure the Pacific Division title and stay up with the Memphis Grizzlies (50-29) in their bid for the No. Western Conference’s second-ranked seed.
The Kings hold the gathering record sudden death round over the Grizzlies would it be a good idea for them they finish in a tie, yet that would require Memphis losing something like two times in its last three games.
Sacramento plays a home game against the Golden State Warriors on Friday before traveling to play the Denver Nuggets on Sunday after a stopover in Dallas.
Meanwhile, the Mavericks (37-42) got a break on Tuesday when the Warriors beat Oklahoma City 136-125. This put the Thunder (38-42) and Dallas (38-42) in a tie for the 10th and final play-in spot in the West.
Since the Thunder hold the tiebreaker for the season series over the Mavericks, even if Dallas wins its remaining games, Oklahoma City still has a chance to win the playoffs by defeating the visiting Utah Jazz on Thursday and the Grizzlies on Sunday.
The Mavericks conclude their season with home games against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday and the Chicago Bulls on Friday.
On Wednesday, the Kings and Mavericks’ season series will be decided. In February, the teams played two games at the same location in Sacramento. The Kings won the second game, 133-128 in overtime, after losing 122-114.
The star of Tuesday’s victory over New Orleans was Domantas Sabonis, who had a triple-double of 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists.
After the game, Kings coach Mike Brown did not specify whether the No. 2 seed was a higher priority than resting his players for the beginning of the end of the season games one week from now. However, the Kings’ post-game celebration of their franchise winning its first division title since 2003 may have provided the answer.
Kyrie Irving was playing in his second and third games with the Kings since being acquired from Brooklyn on Feb. 6 when the Kings last saw the Mavericks. In the first of the two games, he had 25 points and 10 assists. The next night, he had 28 points and seven assists, respectively, in the overtime loss.
Luka Doncic scored 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds in only the second game of the series.
The Mavericks will take the court after returning from a five-game trip with a three-game losing streak. In each of the three defeats, Irving and Doncic worked together.
However, Irving has a sore right foot and Doncic has a bruised thigh, and both are listed as questionable for the game against the Kings.
On Wednesday, there was a rumor that Irving and Doncic would be benched for the remainder of the season; however, Doncic insisted that this will not be the case at this time.
