Kings have lost quite a few lately, we beat them all 3 times this season so owe the tie-breaker and they have a tough schedule ahead. They would need to lose realistically at least 5, but given the competition and 2 very tough back-to-backs with Knicks & Celtics (on the road) + Pelicans and Suns (at home) I think it's good to keep an eye on them. I bolded the tough games, counting 6 of them so let's see. 74 Sun, Mar 31, 2024 9:00p Utah Jazz 75 Tue, Apr 2, 2024 10:00p Los Angeles Clippers 76 Thu, Apr 4, 2024 7:30p@ New York Knicks 77 Fri, Apr 5, 2024 7:30p@ Boston Celtics 78 Sun, Apr 7, 2024 7:30p@ Brooklyn Nets 79 Tue, Apr 9, 2024 8:00p@ Oklahoma City Thunder 80 Thu, Apr 11, 2024 10:00p New Orleans Pelicans 81 Fri, Apr 12, 2024 10:30p Phoenix Suns 82 Sun, Apr 14, 2024 3:30p Portland Trail Blazers
Kings are in deep trouble. Huerter had surgery this week and is out for the season while Monk sprained his knee yesterday and is probably out for a while. I take for granted now the Lakers will pass them and qualify to play the Suns in the #7/#8 matchup. One could argue the dream scenario for the Rockets is to pass the Warriors and play the weakened Kings in the #9/#10 game.
We both have 9 games left. If the Kings lose ALL of those tough games and win the others, they'll finish at 45-37. That means we would have to win 7 of our remaining 9, meaning we'll have had to finish our season with a run of 19-3. That seems impossible, but hey, I've been wrong before. Maybe the Kings will totally sh|t the bed now. I still say the Warriors are the only team we might leap to make the play-in. Odds against even the Lakers are slim.
We have some tough opponents fighting for position coming up, starting tonight. Keeping the win streak alive is going to be very difficult. Too much ground to make up against the Kings or Lakers unless we literally win out or come very close to winning out, and that just doesn't seem likely.
Not a ridiculous premise. The Suns, Kings, Lakers and Warriors are all worth keeping an eye on. I think its unlikely, but not impossible.
Damn, that’s tough, definitely not happy about this. I actually love the Kings and wanted them to do well.
The West is crazy tough.. even with 2 or more losses with the rest of our schedule likely means we're out of the playins. It only gets tougher next year with Memphis coming off an injury year so all those pre ASB games against bad teams are must-wins.
Meh, next year who knows how things will be. GSW is legit getting old with no real next star in sight, Phoenix is also not steady with Durant getting a year old and Bradley Beal always having his injury issues, and LeBron will also be a year older. Things can be completely different next year with Rockets ascending and other descending, similar to this year with OKC and Minni going up in the ranks.
The Clippers ain't getting any younger either. The Rockets' ascension though will be more about them getting really good rather than waiting for the rest of the West to decline. Learning to win on the road after the All-Star Break will be huge for them going into next season.
I don't think it is, but hopefully the Sabonis/Fox pair isn't a forecast for Green/Sengun. I think Rockets already have a better supporting cast and more upside but the Kings and Nuggets are the two best analogies
