Kings Making Late Playoff Push?

By: Rolando Desantiago

Are the Sacramento Kings making a late playoff run? With the win in Indiana on Friday, the Kings have won 3 out of their last 4 games now. The Kings are only 23 games behind 8th place Memphis with 11 games left in the season. If I do the math correctly then there is a chance, right?

Let's be real here, if anything the Kings are making a case for the NIT tournament. The NIT tournament in other words is the "We aren't good enough to make the NCAA Tournament" for college basketball. How awesome would that be for NBA fans; a end of season tournament for the losers. I would watch. For now, ending the season strong is all that Sacramento is playing for.

Tyreke Evans made his return from injury (Plantar Fasciitis) on Friday and boy was he missed. Although he only played 17 minutes, Tyreke dished out eight assists and scored six points.

The Kings bigs dominated all game as both DeMarcus Cousins and Samuel Dalembert grabbed double-doubles. Cousins had 18 points and 14 rebounds while Sammy had 16 points and 10 rebounds. Donte Greene had another strong outing off the bench for Sacramento tallying 15 points in 18 minutes.

When it looked like Indiana was going to make a run, Sacramento answered back several times and maintained control of the game for four quarters. Kings had a surprising 13 TURNOVERS and a high of 27 assists. Danny Granger for the Pacers was held in check all game as he only managed 20 points, 11 of those from the free throw line.

Now that Tyreke seems to be back what will Westphal do with the rotation? Well if i ran the team here is what my starting five and rotation would be:

Tyreke Evans
Marcus Thornton
Francisco Garcia
DeMarcus Cousins
Samuel Dalembert

I would then have Beno Udrih or Jason Thompson be the first ones of off my bench followed by Pooh, Donte, or Taylor depending on the situation.

The Kings end their 5-game road trip on Sunday in Philadelphia and are looking to avenge their terrible 22 point home loss that occurred almost a week ago. The Sixers are currently in 6th place in the Eastern Conference standing and are looking to build on that.

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