Sacramento gets the Easter spotlight. Here's how to watch plus the betting line.
The Sacramento Kings have given fans a closet Easter weekend treat: A two-game winning streak.
Which also decreases their chances at landing the top pick in the June NBA Draft lottery.
Still, Sacramento has some momentum on its side and clearly wants to finish a torrid season on a more positive note.
Now they get a Los Angeles Clippers team dealing with key injuries and battling for a final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. PT inside the Golden 1 Center.
Sacramento enters 21-57 overall with four games left in the regular season. And the Kings have won their last two games without Russell Westbrook in the lineup as he's likely to be shut down for the rest of the season.
But the franchise still has DeMar DeRozan to lean into, especially on this night. Yet the veteran hasn't necessarily needed to carry the team on any given night.
That's because rookie Maxime Raynaud has ensured there'll be a bright future in the state capitol of California. The second rounder is fresh off delivering 28 points in the 117-113 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. It marked the 11th time this season Raynaud surpassed the 20-point threshold.
Even the first-year King isn't shy about being confident in himself.
"I do think I'm the best big in the rookie class," Raynaud said to reporters after beating the Pelicans. "When that comes to this, I think I've proven it against other pretty good bigs who got drafted ahead of me. Definitely, that's something I want to show off. I think at some point, the stats don't lie. ... I think it's pretty clear now."
Now it comes down to building around Raynaud moving forward along with fellow rookie Nique Clifford.
There's the feeling Sacramento won't land the No. 1 even if it loses out. Now there's the projection that North Carolina star freshman Caleb Wilson is heading to the Kings, but only if he chooses to enter the draft class.
As for the Clippers, they're currently the opposite of the Kings: Losers of their last two games. Except LAC is 39-38 and still in position to land in the NBA play-in postseason tournament.
Sacramento is still a massive underdog here, with FanDuel Sportsbook naming the Clippers a 13-point favorite for this contest.
NBC Sports California will air the game for Kings fans. Los Angeles affiliate KTLA also will air the contest.
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