One game to decide who inches closer to a playoff berth, and who goes home in downtown Sacramento.
The Kings host the Dallas Mavericks in a sudden-death showdown to determine who’ll get a chance to play with the Memphis Grizzlies for the final postseason seat in the Western Conference.
In addition, the survivor between the Grizzlies-Kings/Mavericks clash advances to the playoffs as the eighth seed and earns an opening-round match-up with the OKC Thunder.
🏆 PLAYOFF PICTURE 🏆
— NBA (@NBA) April 16, 2025
?? #7 GSW will play #2 HOU
?? #7 ORL will play #2 BOS
?? SAC, CHI host DAL & MIA tomorrow for more #SoFiPlayIn action #NBAPlayoffs presented by Google begin April 19th! pic.twitter.com/Qo6ZIHZcNW
Just one year removed from an NBA Finals appearance, the Mavericks suddenly found themselves one loss away from elimination.
The reigning Western Conference champions stunned the whole basketball world when Dallas shipped franchise cornerstone Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for champion big man Anthony Davis.
[ALSO READ: Luka to Lakers, AD to Mavericks. Who won?]
Since that move, the Mavericks (39-43) posted a 13-20 record and sneaked into the play-in tournament as the no. 10 seed.
It also didn’t help that star guard Kyrie Irving went down with a season-ending ACL tear in early March that dealt a major blow to Dallas’ championship aspirations.
[ALSO READ: Mavericks star Kyrie Irving vows to be 'back and better' after season-ending ACL injury]
But the Mavericks are expected to lean on Davis, who normed 20.0 points, 10.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists in just nine games this season for the squad, to bring the fight alongside Klay Thompson, P.J. Washington Jr., Daniel Gafford, and Spencer Dinwiddie to name a few.
Meanwhile, Sacramento enters the play-in territory once again but hopes to qualify for the playoffs for the second time in three years.
Last season, the Kings beat the Golden State Warriors before getting eliminated by the New Orleans Pelicans.
And just like the Mavs, Sacramento (40-42) traded their own long-time franchise player De’Aaron Fox to the Spurs while acquiring two-time All-Star Zach LaVine midway through the season.
[ALSO READ: Fox to Spurs, Lavine to Kings in latest big NBA trade - reports]
The Kings also sacked Mike Brown — the man who guided the team to their first postseason appearance in 2022 after 17 years — in late December last year in a stunning move.
[ALSO READ: Mike Brown, Kings part ways after two years — reports]
Reunited with DeMar DeRozan, LaVine also sought to aid three-time All-NBA third team member and double-double machine Domantas Sabonis with Sacramento taking a 3-0 regular season series edge over the Mavs in their pivotal clash.
