The Sacramento Kings and host Orlando Magic find themselves in similar positions heading into Saturday’s matchup, with both jockeying for positioning in the late-season play-in race.
Orlando (35-39) was unable to gain ground on Atlanta for seventh place in the Eastern Conference when the Magic’s three-game winning streak ended on Thursday in a 101-92 loss to Dallas.
The Hawks maintained a half-game lead over Orlando for the most favorable of the four play-in seeds in the East as a result, despite Atlanta losing at slumping Miami, 122-112. The Hawks are off until Sunday when they visit Milwaukee.
The Magic lead the NBA in scoring defense at 106 points allowed per game, and outperformed that number on Thursday. But as the season’s lowest-scoring offensive team at 104.9 points per game, Orlando’s most consistent problem returned against the Mavericks.
The Magic scored at least 108 points in their seven previous games, going 5-2 over that stretch. They are 3-23 on the campaign when scoring fewer than 100 points.
“We turned it over, (gave up) some easy shots, then you (pile) that one with not making baskets, it builds,” Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley said.
When the Magic turn the ball over 16 or more times this season, they are 9-14 including Thursday, when they coughed up possession 17 times.
“We continue to grow from that, and learn from it,” Mosley added. “There’s not many left, so you’ve got to understand exactly what you need to do in these moments.”
Another potentially pivotal moment looms with Sacramento (36-37) coming in, playing the first date in a critical, six-game road swing.
The Kings snapped a four-game losing skid on Thursday with a 128-107 rout of Portland. Sacramento shot a season-best 64.9 percent from the field.
Zach LaVine scored 29 points on 13-of-18 shooting, DeMar DeRozan recorded a 21-point, 10-assist double-double, and Domantas Sabonis recorded his 53rd double-double of the season with 22 points and 19 rebounds.
Sacramento interim coach Doug Christie introduced a lineup change to mix things up on Thursday, as well, starting Keon Ellis on the perimeter and bringing Malik Monk off the bench.
“It seemed like we wanted this one more. That’s the way we have to go about it over these next two weeks,” LaVine said. “We didn’t perform well (over the prior stretch) so it’s good to go out on the road feeling better about ourselves.”
Sacramento holds a half-game lead over Dallas for ninth place in the West and a one-game lead over Phoenix through Thursday. The Kings’ tour through the East pits them against four teams currently in position to qualify for the postseason, including Orlando.
These teams last met on Feb. 5, which was LaVine’s Kings debut after being traded from Chicago. He shot just 4-of-13 from the floor and scored 13 points.
LaVine has since settled in reuniting with his former Bulls backcourt mate DeRozan, who joined Sacramento in the offseason. DeRozan’s 22 points per game lead the Kings, with LaVine averaging 21.5 points in his 23 contests with Sacramento.
The 130 Orlando scored in a 19-point win over the Kings marked the Magic’s second-highest scoring performance of the season. Franz Wagner scored 31 points and Paolo Banchero added 23. Banchero leads the team with an average of 25.9 points per game and Wagner is second at 24.3.
–Field Level Media
