Who will the winner of the Kings vs. Pelicans play in the first round of the playoffs?
The New Orleans Pelicans and the Sacramento Kings will battle for the final spot in the Western Conference playoffs tonight from Smoothie King Center.
There is just one more game to go in the Play-In Tournament. The Western Conference playoff bracket will be complete after tonight follwing the Sacramento Kings vs. New Orleans Pelicans match up from the Smoothing King Center.
Pelicans without Zion
The Pelicans are looking to bounce back from a heartbreaking home loss against the Los Angeles Lakers in the opening game of the Play-In. Not only did they lose the game, which went down to the wire, but they lost Zion Williamson to a hamstring injury late in the game.
They will be without Williamson in their top scorer for their match up with the Sacramento Kings on Friday night from New Orleans. It’s a do-or-die encounter with the eight seed on the line after the Kings held serve at home against the Golden State Warriors.
The Kings lost seven of their last eleven games to end the regular season and had to take on the Warriors to reach tonight’s elimination game. Keegan Murray went wild in the most important game of the season, dropping 32 points and hitting 8/13 threes. Sacramento built up a 20 point lead in the second half and cruised to victory.
Rolling Thunder
The winner of tonight’s game will get the luxury of playing the top seeded Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder wrapped up the top spot in the conference in the West on the final day of the season with their win over the Dallas Mavericks. They held off the defending champion Denver Nuggets and the blossoming Minnesota Timberwolves in a three horse race that lasted most of the season.
The second seed Nuggets will take on the seven seed Los Angles Lakers after their win over the Pelicans on Tuesday night. The Timberwolves will take on the Phoenix Suns who took the six seed away from the Pelicans with their loss to the Lakers on the regular season finale.
Game 1 of the first round series of the Thunder and the winner of tonight’s game will take place from Payom Center in Oklahoma City on Sunday at 9:30 pm E.T.