NBA Releases Schedule For 2019-20 Season Restart
Jun 26, 2020, 4:33 PM | Updated: 4:35 pm
(Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
(Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
Sacramento will be back in action on July 31st in Orlando against the San Antonio Spurs
After more than three months of uncertainty, the Sacramento Kings know when their next game will take place.
The NBA released the remainder of the 2019-20 regular season on Friday afternoon on a live telecast on ESPN. Starting on Thursday, July 30th, each of the 22 participating teams will play in eight more regular season games for seeding purposes before the Playoffs begin on August 17th.
Sacramento will be playing its first game back against DeMar DeRozan and the San Antonio Spurs on Friday, July 31st at 5:00pm PST.
San Antonio will be without the services of seven-time All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge, who will miss the remainder of the season due to a shoulder injury. The Spurs currently sit 0.5 games behind the Kings in the Western Conference Standings.
The Kings will face the New Orleans Pelicans twice over the final eight games.
The Pelicans are currently tied in the standings with the Kings, as both are sitting at 28-36 in the Western Conference standings. In order to jump New Orleans in a possible tie-breaker, Sacramento will need to win both games against the Pelicans in order to get the upper hand.
J.J. Reddick’s last-second shot on January 4th gave the Pelicans a slim 97-95 win in the only matchup between the teams this season.
On Tuesday, August 11, Sacramento will face the Pelicans on TNT in what could be a make-or-break seventh-game of the season.
There will be some early games on the docket for the Kings, with some games beginning before 12:00pm on their schedule. On what the game-day layout will look like in Orlando, Shams Charania of The Athletic shared some key details on the ‘bubble’ site scheduling:
In order to qualify for the play in, Sacramento must:
- Finish within four games of the eighth-seed spot
- Be in the eighth or ninth-seed spot (teams below ninth will be eliminated)
- If Sacramento finishes the season in the eighth-seed spot and has to play in the play-in scenario: they need to beat the ninth-seed team once and the ninth-seed team needs to beat them twice.
- If Sacramento finishes the season in the ninth-seed spot and is within four games of the eighth-seed team, they will need to beat the eighth-seed team twice–and not lose once, or else they are eliminated.
If Sacramento is to finish the season in reach of the play-in game, they will play on August 15-16 to determine their playoff fate.
All of the games will take place at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex located within Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. Each teams will need to comply with strict health and safety rules, which you can read here.
The remaining Kings games will be broadcasted right here on Sports 1140 KHTK with Jason Ross on the call. On TV, Gary Gerould will be calling the games on NBC Sports California along with Doug Christie.
