The Sacramento Kings are in Boston Thursday evening to see if they can find themselves a little redemption after their last outing against the Celts saw Gordon Hayward hoist the Kings season up in the air and drop it down on his knee at the buzzer, beating the Kings and shattering their playoff hopes like a pasty, nerdy version of Bane. But the show must go on, and now the Kings have the privilege of being one of the most feared season spoilers in the league. With teams vying for playoff positions and lottery gods alike, every game is a chance for the Kings to extract a little revenge. Or, you know, collapse in on themselves forever, leaving a hollow, lifeless and grumpy team next year without a shred of hope or fire. Let’s talk Kings basketball!

When: Thursday, March 14th, 4:30pm PST

Where: TD Garden, Boston MA.

TV: NBCSCA

Radio: KHTK Sports 1140 AM

For Your Consideration

Even Steven: After 66 games this season, the Kings can still call themselves a .500 team. If you’d have read that prediction during summer league, or the preseason or if a player on the Kings had made the prediction during media day, the only measured, appropriate response would have been to exhale from your nose, widen your eyes and shake your head violently “no” as you stared at the media making such a claim. This wasn’t supposed to work, the Kings weren’t supposed to be good at all, let alone 33 wins good, let alone 33 wins with 16 games left to play. Expectations have shifted for the team this season like a drunk college linebacker on a mechanical bull; the fanbase going from skeptical of their start to this season, to thinking thirty or so wins being nice, to a playoffs or bust attitude, and now as that flickering hope finally fades, fans find themselves having to relocate their hopes and final season expectations somewhere else. Where are you? Is it 40 wins by seasons end? Is it finishing with a better record than the Lakers? Are you still clinging to ‘we’ve got a chance at the playoffs if these 18 things happen in sequence’? Wherever it is, recall back to the beginning of all this. While you’re settling in on this being a successful season, remember your own personal feelings on what this team was supposed to accomplish. These last sixteen games are going to be a ton of fun, even if the prospect of the Western Conference 8th seed is out of the equation.

Tonight’s game against the Celtics is a chance at vengeance against the team that arguable put the nail in the coffin on those playoff hopes. The Celtics are relatively healthy, save for Marcus Smart being ill and Jason Tatum being probable to play due to a shoulder tweak, they’re within two games of the 4th seed Indiana Pacers, and they’re still trying to shake the reputation of being absolutely dysfunctional as a unit this season. For as much quipping in the media that factions of this team has done, they’re still playing cohesive, winning basketball. I don’t want to throw stats at you today, I’m still triggered by the last time we saw them face off against the Kings. So at the watercooler when your coworker asks for info on the Celts say: “Kings gud. Celtics gudder. Kings kill Celtics be gudder too now”.

Prediction

Kings kill Celtics, be gudder too now.

Kings 113, Celts 109