I know what you’re think. 2 pm. Sunday. Sun’s out, gun’s out. Do I really want to be watching the Sacramento Kings take on the Denver Nuggets? Do I really want to read a preview about a 2 pm game on a Sunday that features the Sacramento Kings taking on the Denver Nuggets? The answer is a solid N-O on both accounts, but you’re already here dingus, so congrats on that display of self-control and I’m very proud of you.

Coached by former Kings future great Mike Malone, and led by Nikola Jokic, a young Serbian horse racer who decided to use his powers for good after being bitten by a radioactive Vlade Divac, the Nuggets are a high scoring, quick passing delight and are for the moment, a single win out of the eighth seed. For those Sacramento tank enthusiasts still hanging on there for dear life, the Denver Nuggets are as healthy and hungry as can be for their first appearance in the Western Conference playoffs since 2012-2013, or as my elderly father would like to remind me was “70 pounds ago for you, Bucko”. I’m saying there’s a chance we still nab us a top pick. Let’s talk Kings basketball.

When: Sunday, March 11th; 2:00 pm PST

Where: Pepsi Center; Denver, CO

TV: NBCSCA

Radio: KHTK Sports 1140 AM

For Your Consideration

All on Paul: I swear one of these previews when I assume no one is reading, I’m going to drop my re-imagining of Winesburg, Ohio in which every chapter is a different King and the life they lead intertwining with a semi-tragic fate, while sparing you from the boring stats or a pep talk for a team that has won the same amount of games as the Rockets had on December 11th. But until that point: we’re gonna have to talk about that other team.

With 16 games left to play the Nuggets are six games above that .500 mark and only going to get better with the recent re-addition of Paul Milsap, their big free agent coup of this last off-season. Having played in a grand total of 21 games this season due to a dinged left wrist, Milsap’s return to the line-up on February 28th couldn’t have come at a more crucial moment for this Nuggets squad. Averaging 14.6 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.4 steals in his 5 games back in the starting line-up, the ever flexible (though apparently not his left wrist) Milsap is one of the ultimate plug and play guys in the NBA providing everything a team might need and more. As he continues to get his NBA legs underneath him, the Nuggets chances of making the playoffs grow ever brighter, and the Western Conference playoff race grows ever tighter.

Important Kings Update: If you didn’t catch wind of this yet, sit down, I have some bad news for you. Even with their valiant victory over the Orlando Magic on Friday night, the Kings have, in fact, been eliminated from playoff contention. I’m sorry I had to break such news to you in a preview this bad.

Draft Dreams: You think this tank is going up in flames now…

With the eighth pick, in the 2018 NBA Draft… The Sacramento Kings select:

Prediction: The Kings play dead rabid possum, and through three quarters allow the Nuggets to build a 20+ point lead. In the fourth, Dave Joerger throws the supposedly injured De’Aaron Fox, Willie Cauley-Stein and Skal Labissiere into the game and make a furious 4th Quarter comeback to win at the buzzer. Somewhere, a man named Marty hits a new low in his Kings fandom, and Dave Joerger smirks in defiance in knowledge of that fact.

Kings: 114, Nuggets: 113