Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. I write about what’s happening in the NBA daily, even when COVID has ravaged the league.
The Kings have won three straight.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Sue Ogrocki/AP.)
It’s gotta be frustrating to see the Sacramento Kings like this. The Kings, without DeAaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton (who will be out for the rest of the season), have won their third straight. The thing is, there have been years where the Kings showed promise but ultimately fall short of the postseason.
And this year has been a perfect example. Even though it was rough early at 5-10, they recovered to win 7 of 8, with big wins over New Orleans, Boston, Denver, and the Clippers. Fox was looking like a star, averaging 27.0 points and 7.8 assists in that stretch.
But maybe the world came down on them right after because it was followed by a 9-game losing streak. And just when things were looking like they could recover a bit with a 5-game win streak in March, another 9-game losing streak happened and it may very well doom them from a play-in spot.
Now they have won 4 of their last 5 games but it just might be too late. And it’s frustrating to see the team do well when the season doesn’t matter, per se. They’re still 3.5 games behind the 10th seed Spurs but they only have 7 games left to play. It just becomes so tiresome to see the team have a “bright future” going into next season year after year after year. Yes, they have talented players. Yes, they seem to be capable of going into the playoffs. Then they stumble out of the gates or have a backbreaking losing streak that takes them out of the running. THEN they have a winning streak that they were always capable of but it’s always too late by then. It has to wear on the team and especially wears on the fans to the point they might become numb from all the losing.
And it’s especially tough because they’re not in a big market. No one is yearning to go to Sacramento. They usually have to build their teams through draft or trade. Only players that have nowhere to go or are desperate to stay in the league do they pick the Kings.
This could be 15 years of no playoffs. At this point, “they have a bright future” are just merely words for the Sacramento Kings.
Bullet Passes
The Bucks beat the Nets for the second time in a few days. But with the Nets, it just doesn’t seem meaningful without James Harden. While I worry about chemistry issues a bit, the Nets are too talented up top. They are definitely the team to beat in the East.
But the Bucks are no slouches, either. Like I said before, they were the talk of the league in the past two years and this year, nobody is talking about them because of those Nets and the Sixers. So they’re kind of going through the backdoor with a silently better core and that could be a bit dangerous.
The Suns are back on top after finally vanquishing the Cleveland Cavaliers by scoring the first 15 points in overtime. I don’t remember seeing a wide margin like this in an overtime game.
The Clippers are shooting .417 from three and are on pace to have the best 3-point percentage in history outside of the shortened line seasons in the mid-90s.
The Pelicans had an important win over the Warriors to stay within two games of the Spurs. But the Pels only have 6 games left while the Spurs have 8.
There is talk about Nate Bjorkgren being out of the Pacers coaching job by season’s end. And it’s because the players don’t really like his style. It’s a player’s league, man. I don’t like his chances.
NBA Scoreboard
May 4, 2021
Watch This Play
Cameron Johnson goes reverse on Jarrett Allen.
Cameron Johnson with the poster and stare-down on Jarrett Allen 😱 pic.twitter.com/tOcSXjg2vf
— ESPN (@espn) May 5, 2021
Wait for the second level of my site called The No-Look Dunk.
Everyone, please take care of yourselves during this pandemic. And that goes for everyone involved with the NBA as well.
You can find Rey-Rey on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
You can also check out Rey-Rey’s podcast, Rey-Rey Is Fundamental, for more basketball content and, really, whatever else.
R.I.P. Nala.