Struggling Kings nearing must-win territory at Hornets

The Sacramento Kings were supposed to boost their playoff stock during this part of their six-game road trip.

But with no dividends to date, they certainly need to get things right when they visit the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night. The Kings (36-40) have lost three games in a row and seven of their last eight games, which puts their Western Conference postseason prospects in peril.

“The intensity has to ratchet up,” Kings interim coach Doug Christie said. “Those are things that you have to bring. … You have to play at a certain intensity level. You have to play at that level against teams that are at the bottom of this league.”

The Hornets (19-57) have dropped six of their last seven games, including a 119-105 decision Wednesday night at Indiana.

In each of Charlotte’s last eight losses, the team hasn’t exceeded 106 points. Miles Bridges has been Charlotte’s top scorer in three straight games, though that came with just 18 points against the Pacers.

Friday’s game begins a three-game homestand for the Hornets, who’ll then play their final three games on the road.

Sacramento fell to a team with a worse record than Charlotte in Wednesday night’s 116-111 loss at Washington, so an upgrade will be necessary in Charlotte.

“It’s where you think you are going to just coast through a game (is when trouble strikes),” Christie said.

The urgency exists for Friday night’s game because the next stops for the Kings are at Cleveland and Detroit.

Veteran forward DeMar DeRozan has been Sacramento’s leading scorer in the past three games and five times in the last seven games. He had 29 points in the Washington game, which pushed his scoring average to a team-best 22.2 points per game.

The Hornets aren’t concerned about playoffs, but they still want to accomplish things during the last couple of weeks of the season.

“It’s always important, every time you step on the floor, to play the right way,” said Charlotte guard Seth Curry. “We don’t want to waste these last few games. We want to go out there and keep playing well as a team, getting better, and keep putting good film out there that we can build on.”

Charlotte could be without a couple of players versus the Kings. At Indiana, Damion Baugh tumbled to the floor and was helped off the court. Josh Green started and played eight minutes before being ruled out for the remainder of the game due to his ailing left shoulder. The Hornets already were without Taj Gibson (ill) and Nick Smith Jr. (ankle).

The Kings blasted Charlotte 130-88 Feb. 24 at home with Zach LaVine pumping in 42 points in just 31 minutes. Since that game, Sacramento hasn’t had a player score more than 36 points in a game.

Bridges had 23 points that night to lead the Hornets. Center Mark Williams, who owns double-doubles in the past three games for Charlotte, didn’t play in the earlier matchup with the Kings. Williams is shooting 61.5 percent from the field.

–Field Level Media