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Western Conference Standings Update: 9 games to go

As the calendar turns to April, much is yet to be determined in the Western Conference standings.

The top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder stand alone at the top of the conference, having already clinched the top seed in the West with weeks remaining in the regular season.

Outside of OKC, there could be plenty of movement before the postseason begins, starting with the second through fifth seeds, which are separated by just 3.5 games.

Of course, many eyes are currently on the race for the Play-In, with three teams fighting it out for the West’s two final postseason spots: the Sacramento Kings, Dallas Mavericks, and Phoenix Suns.

Sacramento snapped a four-game skid on Thursday by beating Portland, a win that helped them retain a slim one-game lead over Phoenix and an even thinner half-game margin over the Mavericks.

Here’s an updated look at the Western Conference standings with just over two weeks remaining in the regular season:

Western Conference Standings

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For the Kings, it’s simple: Out-run at least one of the Suns and Mavs, and you get to play at least one postseason game.

No team in the NBA will have a more challenging path to the postseason than Phoenix, who holds the most difficult remaining strength of schedule (.607) in the league with nine games remaining.

Sacramento (14th) and Dallas (17th) have a few tough matchups they will have to weather down the final stretch, but it’s nothing compared to what the Suns will have to overcome.

Notable upcoming matchups

Phoenix: OKC, BOS, HOU, NYK, GSW, MIN

Sacramento: CLE, DEN, IND, LAC, DET

Dallas: CLE, HOU, GSW

The Kings have one head-to-head matchup with Phoenix remaining–the final game of the regular season on April 13th.

We’ll see if that game matters down the line, but right now, these three teams need every win they can get their hands on if they want to avoid missing the postseason entirely.

More on Kings content from Sactown Sports

Entering play on Thursday night, the Sacramento Kings were inching closer to must-win territory as they began to lose their footing in the Western Conference Play-In race.

Having lost four-straight games, the task was simple as Sacramento entered the final matchup of a season-long seven-game homestand: Stop the bleeding.

Thanks to an impressive bounce-back performance from Zach LaVine and a complete effort from the Kings offense, Sacramento snapped its skid with a 128-107 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Kings (36-37) retained their ninth-seed spot in the Western Conference standings while pushing their lead over the 11th-seed Phoenix Suns to one game with nine contests remaining on the regular season schedule.

Heads were turned around Golden 1 Center on Thursday night before the game tipped off.

While it was Malik Monk who was announced as Sacramento’s starting point guard during pregame introductions, Keon Ellis took the floor alongside the rest of the Kings’ first five–Domantas Sabonis, Keegan Murray, DeMar DeRozan, and Zach LaVine.

Monk, who returned following a three-game absence due to an illness, entered the game at the 4:13 mark of the first quarter as a reserve, breaking a 45-game streak of starting for Sacramento.