19 HRS AGO - Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images Let’s talk about the play-in! The no. 11 and no. 12 seeds in the Western Conference face off tonight in what could be a key battle for the postseason play-in. Whoever wins between the Pelicans and the Kings will take the season series and have the standings tiebreaker at the end of the season. Game Information Who: Sacramento Kings (22-31) vs. New Orleans Pelicans (24-29)When: 6 p.m. PTWhere: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, LouisianaRegional broadcast: NBC Sports CaliforniaRadio: KHTK Sports 1140 AM We’re trying something new here for today’s game with this chat instead of the usual game thread. If you’re logged in to comment, you should be ready to go, though you may be prompted to verify your email address. If you’re not logged in, you can do so the same way you always have (there’s a button below, too). If you’re having technical issues, please email coralsupport@voxmedia.com and we’ll get right back to you. (function () { Collapse

2 DAYS AGO - Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images Sacramento hung with the best team in the NBA, but couldn’t come up with a win in Utah. The Sacramento Kings gave everything they had for 42 minutes against the team with the best record in the NBA, but came apart late in the game. Donovan Mitchell had 42 points, while Mike Conley chipped in with 23 leading the Utah Jazz to a 128-112 win over the Kings. De’Aaron Fox had 30 points and eight assists to lead Sacramento, which has now lost its last six games. ARE YOU ING KIDDING ME?! pic.twitter.com/xIyWxqBttL— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) April 11, 2021 The Kings did everything right for most of the contest, but couldn’t keep up with the Jazz over the final six minutes. Veteran Harrison Barnes’ dunk gave Sacramento a 105-104 lead midway through the final quarter, but it was all Utah from there. Mitchell and Conley combined for 18 points during the last 6:05 seconds, helping the Jazz go on a 24-12 run to finish the game. Collapse

4 DAYS AGO - Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images We’re testing out a new Game Day experience. This coming Monday, during the game against the Pelicans, we’re going to be trying something a little new on Sactown Royalty. Instead of having a regular game thread, we’re introducing a live chat in its place which hopefully is a little friendlier to use. The post with go live 10 minutes before tip-off. so around 5:50 p.m. PT. If you already have a commenter account, there shouldn’t be any additional registration process to join the chat, though commenters may be required to confirm their email address. This is trial run, so there might be some bugs with the chat, but it’s been fun to use so far in our demos. There will be a survey after the game for you to give feedback on the interface and its features so that we can continue to improve the product. If the test goes well, we can bring the live chat back very soon! If you have any questions, let us know in the comments and we’ll address Collapse

5 DAYS AGO - Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images A four-game losing streak hasn’t dimmed enthusiasm about the direction of the team. Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Each week, we send out questions to the most plugged in Sacramento Kings fans, and fans across the country. Sign up here to join Reacts. According to the most recent SB Nation Reacts survey, 72 percent of Kings fans are confident the team is headed in the right direction. That’s down slightly from 75 percent last week but up from 40 percent the week before. The level of confidence in the Kings is still mostly tied to the rebuild. However, other teams around the league are beginning to prepare for the postseason. That preparation and jockeying for position isn’t necessarily just shown by who has the best record. According to NBA fans around the country, the Lakers have the best chance of the top Western Conference teams to reach the NBA Finals, with 30 percent of the vote. Collapse

6 DAYS AGO - Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images In general manager Monte McNair’s first year at the helm, the Sacramento Kings have had an up and down season. The team has gone on impressive runs but also looked less than stellar during specific stretches of the season. During his introductory press conference, McNair preached patience and has tried to make moves to maintain financial flexibility going forward, especially as he tries to build a roster around two talented young pieces. The Kings have the building blocks in place, with De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton just scratching the surface of their potential. ESPN released its NBA’s best 25 under 25 list, and both Sacramento players were selected. Fox came in at No. 6: Fox is one of only seven players in the NBA averaging at least 24 points and 7 assists per game as the leader of a Kings franchise that finally appears headed in the right direction. As I outlined last year, the game has slowed down for Fox — he’s striking that Collapse

4/5/2021 - Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images Sacramento needs to beat teams like the Minnesota Timberwolves and Detroit Pistons if it wants to stay in the postseason race. The Sacramento Kings have been up-and-down all season. The team went 7-1 between Jan. 22 and Feb. 7 and then followed that up by losing nine games in a row. It looked like the Kings would fall out of the Western Conference playoff race, but they had a resurgence with a 7-1 stretch that got them back into the hunt for a spot in the postseason. Unfortunately, Sacramento has lost three in a row since, including an ugly 21-point loss to a depleted Los Angeles Lakers squad. The good news is that the Kings are still very much in it, only trailing the Golden State Warriors by a game for the second play-in spot. Sacramento’s upcoming schedule will give it a great opportunity to make up some ground. The Kings will play six of their next nine games against teams sitting outside the top 10 of their respective conferences. Collapse

4/3/2021 - The Kings have had a habit of streaking in both directions this season. The last time the Kings faced off against the Bucks was during their worst stretch of the season, a nine-game losing streak that included injuries to most of the team’s key players. Sacramento is healthier now, and at home, but it remains to be seen if their quality of play is any better than it was then. The team had won seven of its last nine games before dropping an inexcusable contest to the Lakers, and the defense was at the heart of that turnaround. To then surrender a 115.0 offensive rating to a Los Angeles squad that was barely topping 100 points per possession in LeBron James’ absence over the past two weeks was rather disappointing, and things don’t get any easier with the Bucks. Game Information Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, California When: Saturday, April 3 at 7:00 p.m. PT How to watch/listen: NBC Sports California, KHTK Sports 1140 AM Projected Starting Lineups Kings (22-27): De’Aaron Fox, Collapse

4/1/2021 - Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images Sacramento struggled, shooting just 41.8 percent from the field for its first defeat in six games. The Sacramento Kings finally came down to earth. After winning their previous five games, the Kings suffered a 120-106 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. De’Aaron Fox had 20 points and four assists, while rookie Tyrese Haliburton chipped in with 18 for Sacramento. San Antonio was led by DeMar DeRozan, who finished the contest with 26 points and seven assists. The Kings have still won seven of their last 10 and remain firmly entrenched in the Western Conference playoff race. Sacramento was due for a bad game after playing some of its best basketball of the season over the past two weeks. Things started well for the Kings as they led 9-6 early, but the Spurs bounced back with an 11-2 run to go back in front by six less than seven minutes into the game. Sacramento was able to close the gap over the final six minutes and trailed 33-27 after one. Collapse

3/30/2021 - Photos by Logan Riely/NBAE via Getty Images The Kings are on another one of their hot streaks except this time, they have the talent to keep it up. The Sacramento Kings are streaking. With a win over the San Antonio Spurs on Monday, the Kings earned their fifth consecutive win, which is their longest winning streak of the season and their longest winning streak since the 2015-16 season. The Kings got meaningful contributions from the usual suspects — De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield and Richaun Holmes — but they also got a nice boost from the players that they acquired at the trade deadline. Terence Davis, who the Kings acquired from the Toronto Raptors, led all bench scorers with 14 points on 4-7 shooting from the field and 3-5 shooting from behind the arc. Additionally, Maurice Harkless, who the Kings acquired from the Miami Heat along with Chris Silva, was right behind Davis with 13 points. The Kings wanted to use the trade deadline to be “value buyers” and while the new guys Collapse