Sacramento Kings: 3 factors behind missing 2019 NBA Playoffs

3. Conference and divisional struggles

If a team is looking to succeed, it needs to play well when against its conference rivals. Each team plays the four other teams in the division four times in a season. It also plays 52 of its 82 games against teams from its own conference. The Kings were abysmal in both of these areas.

The Kings posted a divisional record of 4-12 — tied for fourth-worst in the NBA with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Dallas Mavericks, and only better than the Chicago Bulls (3-13), Phoenix Suns (3-13) and New York KnicksKnicks (2-14). None of those teams had a chance at the postseason, making it an embarrassment that the Kings had similar performances to them.

Sacramento’s conference record is slightly better than their divisional. Against other Western teams, the Kings went 21-31 — the third-worst in their conference, ahead of only the Mavs (18-34) and the Suns (11-41).

This low of a record is unacceptable for a team that was trying to make the playoffs. Again, the majority of a team’s games are against its conference rivals, and if it wishes to succeed, it must win these games. This is a big area of improvement for the Kings next season. They likely won’t advance to the postseason until they fix this issue.