Sacramento ends the season with 60 losses after falling to Portland to close the year.
Sunday started with the Sacramento Kings opting to retain Doug Christie for next season.
It ended by taking their 60th loss of 2025-26.
This time a depleted Kings team fell 122-110 to the Portland Trail Blazers in closing out the regular season.
Sacramento shot 48.2% from field goal range including 33.3% via 3-point land. The Kings slightly out-rebounded the Blazers 47-46. Sacramento even manhandled Portland by tacking on 60 points in the paint (the Blazers got 52).
Nique Clifford earned one more chance to shine on an NBA stage before closing out his rookie season. And he delivered a stout scoring night.
"Nique Clifford went to work. He got to his spots on the floor and used his athleticism to shoot over his defender. Clifford was efficient, hitting 8-for-11 from the field on his way to 24 points, seven rebounds and five assists. His confidence is at an all-time high," ESPN Sacramento 1320 AM Kings reporter James Ham posted on the social media website X, formerly known as Twitter.
Clifford wasn't the leading scorer, though.
Precious Achiuwa took that title in dropping 27 points in 35 minutes. Achiuwa collected 11 rebounds as well to lead Sacramento.
Rookie center Maxime Raynaud delivered one more 20-point outing: Scoring 21 points on the night off making 7-of-10 field goals. Raynaud came within one rebound of another double-double. Raynaud swatted two blocks on the evening as well.
Killian Hayes scored nine points and grabbed two rebounds with three assists. Devin Carter chipped in eight points and dished out eight assists. He also pulled down six rebounds. Daeqwon Plowden delivered eight points with two blocks.
Again, the Kings gave Christie full confidence in allowing him to coach the team moving forward. NBA insider Sam Amick dove into what persuaded Sacramento to keep him.
"While Christie’s Kings were bad from the start — a league-worst 12-46 on Feb. 21 before going 10-13 since — there were roster realities outside of his control that had everything to do with the struggles," Amick stated. "The Kings, who have been buried by the De’Aaron Fox trade with San Antonio in February of 2025, hired longtime NBA executive Scott Perry as general manager to rebuild the roster two months after that disastrous deal and still have much work left to do on that front."
Now the Kings can turn the page to the NBA Draft, including finding out where they land in the May 10 lottery.
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