The Portland Trail Blazers will host the Sacramento Kings at the Moda Center this evening in the regular-season finale for both teams.
After defeating the Los Angeles Clippers in an inspiring, high-stakes performance on Friday, it’s imperative the Blazers take care of business against the tanking Kings. If they do, the Blazers will head into the NBA Play-In Tournament as the Western Conference’s No. 8 seed and secure their first winning record since the 2020-21 season. If they lose, the Blazers will need
the Clippers to lose to the Golden State Warriors this evening to avoid falling to No. 9 in the standings.
Standing in the other corner of the ring, the bottom-dwelling Kings have already punted on this season in the name of chasing ping-pong balls (once you see the injury list, you’ll see it to be true). The only stakes they have up for grabs tonight is an outside chance of dropping below the Utah Jazz in the standings to secure the fourth-best NBA Lottery odds (they’ll need a loss, plus a Utah win over the Lakers today to make it happen).
However, while the Kings organization may be counting on a loss, the young players suiting up may have other ideas as they try to take advantage of starring roles. Even with practically the same lengthy injury report in their last game, the Kings downed the Stephen Curry-led Golden State Warriors 124-118 on Friday. Devin Carter, Nique Clifford, Maxime Raynaud and Daeqwon Plowden all scored at least 20 points in the win. The Kings players would probably love nothing more than to play spoiler against the Blazers and grab one more win before clocking out for summer vacation.
What You Need To Know
Portland Trail Blazers (41-40) vs Sacramento Kings (22-59) – Sun Apr. 12 – 7pm Pacific
ow to watch via antenna or cable: See your options on the Rip City Television Network.
How to watch via streaming: BlazerVision in Oregon and Washington; League Pass everywhere else
How to listen: Rip City Radio 620AM
Trail Blazers Injuries: Jerami Grant, Damian Lillard (out); Vit Krejci (questionable); Matisse Thybulle (probable).
Kings Injuries: DeMar DeRozan, Drew Eubanks, De’Andre Hunter, Zach LaVine, Malik Monk, Keegan Murray, Domantas Sabonis, Isaiah Stevens, Russell Westbrook (out).
What To Watch For
Energy and focus. The Blazers came out with a competitive edge against the Clippers on Friday that carried over throughout the game. They attacked hard on offense and took care of the ball, turning the ball over just 13 times. They also locked in defensively and made numerous extra-effort plays. Will the Blazers bring the same energy and focus to this more unadorned (but just as important) showdown with Sacramento, or will they fall victim to a letdown? That may be tonight most pivotal question. If the Blazers bring the right sense of urgency again, they could take care of business early and allow the benches to empty for the fourth quarter. If they come out flat and allow Sacramento to hang around, the pressure will only increase the deeper into the game.
What Others Are Saying
In an article laying out what every NBA team is playing for on the last day of the regular season, The Athletic’s Joe Vardon had this to say about the Kings’ perspective for this matchup (subscription required):
A gentle reminder — players on the court don’t “tank.” Tanking is an organizational decision to play — or not play — certain players to increase a team’s chances of losing and increase its chances in the draft lottery. So when we say the Kings would do well to lose Sunday and hope that Utah wins, that’s at the front-office and head-coach level.
Also from The Athletic, Sam Amick dropped big news this morning when he reported the Kings will keep Doug Christie on as head coach (subscription required).
With the Kings (22-59) falling well short of their internal expectations, and league-wide speculation that they might move on from Christie at season’s end, the decision has been made to continue forward with the 55-year-old, first-time head coach. Christie, a former King who remains a fan favorite, took over for the fired Mike Brown on an interim basis in late December of 2024 and signed a three-year deal last summer.
We did it, everybody. It’s game 82 of 82. What are you looking for in tonight’s regular-season finale?
