The Golden 1 Center in California will burst into life on Thursday, when the Sacramento Kings play host to the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA play-in tournament.
Sacramento secured ninth place during the regular season with a record of 40-42, while the Mavericks finished 10th in the West (39-43), three games ahead of the Suns.
Match preview
© Imago
The winner of this match will face either the Golden State Warriors or the Memphis Grizzlies this weekend for a chance to make the playoffs, while the loser will be eliminated from the postseason.
The Sacramento Kings ended the regular season with an impressive 109-98 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Sunday, marking the fourth win in their last six games, but they had only won four of 15 prior to that, indicating the difficulty with consistency they had faced this year.
Much of Sacramento's struggles have come on the defensive end, and the trade of De'Aaron Fox left them short of an on-court leader, while Zach LaVine has been fairly inconsistent since arriving in Sac-town.
However, the Kings' attacking quality cannot be denied, with Domantas Sabonis and DeMar DeRozan averaging 19.1 and 22.2 points per game, respectively, while as a team, Sacramento are inside the top 10 in the scoring charts, averaging 115.7 PPG.
Doug Christie's side finished with an identical 20-21 home and away record during the regular season, though they did sweep the series against this opponent 3-0, with the most recent encounter ending in a 122-98 victory at the start of last month.
© Imago
Meanwhile, even if the Dallas Mavericks make a deep run in the postseason, the 2024-25 campaign will be remembered for their decision to trade away their best player in Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.
While the franchise inherited Anthony Davis in the same move, he has spent a large chunk of his time in Dallas on the sidelines due to injuries, alongside Kyrie Irving, whose absence has certainly been felt.
Jason Kidd's team posted a 17-25 record on the road this season, and while they did beat Phoenix by three games to claim the final play-in spot, there is an argument to be made that the final standings was more down to the Suns' total collapse rather than the Mavs' own doing.
The Mavericks are 38-42-2 ATS and were a mid-table side on both ends during the regular season, averaging 114.2 points per game (15th in the league), while allowing 115.4 on defence (20th overall).
- W
- W
- W
- L
- L
- W
- W
- L
- L
- L
- W
- L
Team News
© Imago
Ahead of their season finale, the Kings revealed that Jake LaRavia would sit out the match due to an injured thumb that would be reassessed in seven to 10 days, meaning that he will likely remain out for this game.
However, the major blow for Sacramento is the absence of Malik Monk, who sustained a calf injury in the victory over the Detroit Pistons just over a week ago, which has ruled him out for the remainder of the season.
Davis has only played nine times since being traded to Dallas due to a left adductor strain, and he sat out their final game of the season as part of the injury management, which suggests he should be available for this match.
Olivier-Maxence Prosper and Kyrie Irving will play no part in the postseason owing to a wrist and knee injury, respectively, while Dereck Lively (ankle) and PJ Washington (ankle) are listed as day-to-day.
Sacramento Kings possible starting five:
DeRozan, Murray, Sabonis, Ellis, LaVine
Dallas Mavericks possible starting five:
Davis, Christie, Lively II, Marshall, Thompson
We say: Sacramento Kings to win by 2+ points
The Sacramento Kings enter this match as the clear favourites owing to the home court advantage, but while they have the better offence, they also have a reputation for underperforming in the postseason.
However, the Dallas Mavericks are not the same team that reached the final last season, and provided the Kings can avoid a total meltdown, we fancy them to come get the win in this one.
Devesh Jaganath
