Kings at Knicks
The Sacramento Kings' hopes of making the playoffs have taken a hit over the last two weeks and they head into the weekend four games behind the Los Angeles Clippers for the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference. The Kings will try to pick things up on the road when they begin a four-game trip by visiting the New York Knicks on Saturday.
Sacramento dropped six of its last eight games to drift down the standings and will play 11 of its final 18 on the road beginning Saturday. "This league is crazy, and you never know what can happen," Kings point guard De'Aaron Fox told the Sacramento Bee. "Anybody can go on a run - I think the Spurs won like four or five in a row. If we string that together and they drop a couple, then it's a different race." The Knicks' only race is to the bottom of the standings and the draft lottery, and they own the worst record in the NBA at 13-52 after dropping their last four contests. "Just mentally we caved in for whatever reason," New York coach David Fizdale told reporters after watching his team drop a 107-96 decision at the equally-lowly Phoenix Suns on Wednesday to close out a 0-3 road trip. "Most of it was carelessness. Lack of focus on execution."
TV: Noon, ET, NBCS California (Sacramento), MSG (New York)
ABOUT THE KINGS (32-32): Sacramento's lone win in the last five games was a 115-108 home triumph over New York on Monday, and each of the team's last six losses came by seven or fewer points. "We're in it as long as there's games left," center Willie Cauley-Stein told the Sacramento Bee. "We're coming down to the last possessions. ... Each game like this, you learn a little bit more and that's really all you can ask for besides the win." Cauley-Stein scored 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting in Wednesday's last-second, 111-109 home loss to the Boston Celtics.
ABOUT THE KNICKS (13-52): New York is doing all it can to ensure it will wind up with one of the three worst records in the league and the best odds at securing the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft while also trying to develop leaders for the future. Point guard Dennis Smith Jr., who came over from Dallas in the trade that sent former franchise player Kristaps Porzingis away, is trying to step up as the team's leader. "I've got to do a better job of making sure everybody stays up out there," Smith told reporters. "I have no problem going out and competing. But something that (Fizdale) is challenging me to do is to make sure that everybody else is trying to match the team's intensity, if not beat it. I've got to do a better job of making sure that everybody is on board with that. ... I'm a young guy like everybody else, but it's just something that he's challenged me to do. I'm making strides, but I can be better."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Kings rookie PF Marvin Bagley III (knee) missed the last three games but could return during the road trip.
2. Knicks C DeAndre Jordan (ankle) returned from a five-game absence on Wednesday and delivered 17 points and 14 rebounds in 25 minutes.
3. Sacramento is looking for its first win in New York since March 20, 2016.