Sacramento Kings vs Los Angeles Clippers Predicition: Out-of-sorts Clippers takes on motivated Kings

The NBA saga has reached its final stages and what a superb season this has been with action going to the crunch time. We have a fuzzy picture past the third standing and it will be interesting to see what teams will end up in the top six, which teams end up in four play-in positions, and which teams miss out. Anyway, in another crucial battle for the Playoffs' positioning, Sacramento Kings will take on the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Kings come into this game after defeating the Thunder 123:117 as Harrison Barnes nailed 29 points. They have four wins in a row and have accumulated seven victories in the last nine games. Because of this strong window, their season has taken steam and they now have an impressive 36 wins and 25 losses. The Kings have surely been one of the best scoring teams in the league and have constantly breached 120+ points mark. After starting the season with a great knick, De’Aaron Fox has now found more support from Harrison Barnes whereas Malik Monk’s recovery has helped matters. The trade to bring Domantas Sabonis last season is now reaping big rewards for the squad. Sabonis has been perhaps the second-best all-around player besides Nikola Jokic.

The Clippers enter the game after losing 91:115 to the Warriors despite a 21 points performance by Kawhi Leonard. The Clippers have now lost four in a row and six of their last eight games. They have once again hobbled at a crucial point, having lost 32 and won 33 games. They remain in a position to seize the top-six spot but their prospects don’t look too alluring at this point because of their poor play. The trouble is that now they are losing even when their duo of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard has been active, which means that the earlier analysis about the team not having George and Leonard together was the main cause. Now, these are together, Westbrook has joined the fray, but the results are still on the short side.

• Clippers: OUT: Kawhi Leonard. Game-Time Decisions: Ivica Zubac, Marcus Morris, Norman Powell;
• Kings: Game-Time Decisions: Richuan Holmes. PROBABLE: De’Aaron Fox.

• Expected Leading Scorers: De’Aaron Fox(27+ Points), Paul George(24+ Points);
• Expected Leading Rebounders: Domantas Sabonis(12+ Rebounds), Mason Plumlee(10+ Rebounds);
• Expected Leading Playmakers: Domantas Sabonis(8-11 Assists), De’Aaron Fox(7-9 Assists), Russell Westbrook(6-9 Assists).

When last time these two met, they played an OT game that made up for the second-highest combined total in the history of the league. Such things happen once in a generation so it shouldn’t be expected here. However, what can be expected is a big performance from the Kings these days. The Clippers are playing awfully and they will be coming with low confidence. That’s why I lean toward the Kings here. I predict a scoreline of 124:115.