Last season, Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan finished in ninth place with the Chicago Bulls. After a comeback win Monday night, they’ve almost clinched ninth again for the Sacramento Kings.
LaVine and DeRozan combined to score 80 points in the Kings’ 127-117 win over the Detroit Pistons. In the fourth quarter, LaVine had 17 points and made five three-pointers, while Domantas Sabonis had a triple-double, with 17 of his 19 points in the second half.
It’s the Sacramento trio’s second consecutive big performance, following Sunday’s 120-113 upset win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. LaVine scored 37 in that one, shooting 15-for-21 with seven threes. DeRozan scored 28 against Cleveland, while Sabonis was just shy of a triple-double with 27 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
With three games remaining, the Kings lead the 10th-place Dallas Mavericks by one game and hold the tiebreaker against them. That could be a huge advantage, as No. 9 seeds, playing at home, are 6-2 historically facing No. 10 seeds. One of the No. 10 seeds to triumph was the 2023 Bulls, who beat the No. 9 Toronto Raptors in 2023 in a comeback win led by DeRozan and a 39-point performance from LaVine.
The Bulls weren’t able to make the playoffs in the final play-in game either season, but even making to to face the 7-8 game’s winner would be a success after a year where the Kings remade their team following a trade request from De’Aaron Fox.
But beyond the heroics of their Big Three, the Kings defense showed up Monday. They held the Pistons to 45 second-half points. The Kings would be underdogs against whoever they faced in a 7-8 game, but with LaVine shooting like this, the Kings have the personnel to pull an upset.
For now, they just need to lock down ninth place with two more wins. And let LaVine ice his shooting arm.
