Kings v. Spurs

Who will WIN this matchup?

Sacramento Kings (28-36)

San Antonio Spurs (27-36)

Current odds:

Sacramento Kings: (-155)

San Antonio Spurs: (+135)

• The line for this game is Kings by 3 points.

• The San Antonio Spurs and Sacramento Kings are facing long odds of reaching the playoffs as they meet Friday in the restart of the NBA season near Orlando. The Kings are 3 1/2 games behind the Memphis Grizzlies for the final Western Conference spot while the Spurs are four out with just eight games to play. San Antonio’s task is even harder without power forward LaMarcus Aldridge (season-ending shoulder surgery), the team’s second-leading scorer at 18.9 points per game. The Spurs have made the playoffs in 22 consecutive seasons but will need a strong finishing kick to keep the streak alive.

• The Kings are looking to avoid missing the playoffs for the 14th straight season and they are tied with the Portland Trail Blazers and New Orleans Pelicans for ninth place in the West. Point guard De’Aaron Fox is ready to play after tweaking his left ankle earlier this month while small forward Harrison Barnes recently rejoined the club after testing positive for COVID-19.

• Sacramento has fared better this season when Bogdan Bogdanovic starts at shooting guard and Buddy Hield comes off the bench, and coach Luke Walton indicated that will again be the pecking order against San Antonio. “If we’re going to have success out here, he’s going to have to be a big part of that,” Walton said of Bogdanovic. “We’re going to need him to play well and play consistently well when these eight games start up.” The minutes of the speedy Fox will be watched closely in the opening games of the restart as he has been prone to leg injuries during his NBA career.

• San Antonio has been flirting with small lineup possibilities with Aldridge out and one of them has veteran guard DeMar DeRozan seeing time at power forward. DeRozan would join center Jakob Poeltl and the lineup arrangement would include point guards Dejounte Murray and Derrick White as starters along with shooting guard Bryn Forbes. “We wanted to take a look at Derrick and Dejounte playing together,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told reporters. “We wanted them to be more aggressive, wanted them to be shooting more quickly, shooting from three, knowing where they are at. DeMar has bought into that and has done a really good job of letting people develop more than anything.”

• The Kings won four of the past five meetings, including a split of two matchups earlier this season

• Sacramento PF Marvin Bagley III (foot) will miss the rest of the season.

• San Antonio C Trey Lyles (appendectomy) won’t play again this season.