Western Conference partners moving for season finisher situating meet Friday in Sacramento when the host Kings hope to haul out of a horrible pallet against a physical issue tormented Phoenix Suns team.
After losing to the Utah Jazz and Boston Celtics in consecutive games, Sacramento (43-29) is two games behind Memphis for second place in the West. Monday’s 128-120 Utah defeat ended the Kings’ perfect 4-0 road trip, which included victories over Chicago, Brooklyn, and Washington.
Prior to its current slump, which extended to two games upon the Kings’ return home on Tuesday, Sacramento had won six of seven games.
In the 132-109 defeat, Sacramento gave up 36, 27 and 20 points to the Boston trio of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Derrick White, and no King scored more than 18 points.
With Phoenix (38-34) coming to Sacramento, Sacramento faces teams that have reached the last two NBA Finals consecutively. To compete for a second Western Conference championship, the Suns acquired Kevin Durant from Brooklyn before the trade deadline.
Durant made his Suns debut on March 1 and scored 37 points in a win over Dallas in his third game. However, Durant has missed the past seven games due to an ankle injury he suffered during pregame warmups on March 8, including Wednesday’s 122-111 loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles.
Phoenix tumbled to 2-5 since Durant’s physical issue with the loss. Through Wednesday’s games, the Suns trail Sacramento by five games for third place in the West and hold a tenuous half-game advantage over the Los Angeles Clippers for fourth place.
Phoenix and Minnesota are separated by only two games. The Timberwolves are the conference’s seventh seed, which puts them last out of a guaranteed playoff spot without having to go through the play-in round.
The Suns’ current run of five defeats in six games began on March 11 when they played Sacramento. Seven Kings players scored at least 12 points and the bench combined for 65 points in the Kings’ 128-119 victory in Phoenix.
In the mean time, Deandre Ayton – – who got done with 22 focuses and 12 bounce back in the misfortune – – has missed Phoenix’s last two games with a hip physical issue.
The Suns head to Sacramento hoping to avoid a further slide and increase their frequency at the free throw line with the absence of two key players. The difference in foul shots against the Lakers was 46-20 on Wednesday.
Since March 3, Phoenix has attempted fewer free throws in each game. On Feb. 26, the Suns shot more from the charity stripe than their rivals.
