NBA Power Rankings midseason reset: Milwaukee Bucks who we thought they’d be

Last week: Lost at Milwaukee 123-111, lost at Dallas 130-111

This week: Thursday vs. Memphis, Saturday at Clippers

The Sacramento Kings were No. 22 in the preseason NBA Power Rankings and are another team that is just about where they were expected to be. The Kings have not been able to sustain the momentum from last season’s surprising 39-win campaign under new coach Luke Walton, with injuries to Marvin Bagley III, De’Aaron Fox and Bogdan Bogdanovic slowing their progress.

With 28 games remaining, Sacramento may still have a chance to get well, with the 21st-ranked remaining strength of schedule at .487, according to Tankathon.

Home (15): Feb. 20 Memphis, March 1 Detroit, March 3 Washington, March 5 Philadelphia, March 8 Toronto, March 11 New Orleans, March 15 Brooklyn, March 17 Dallas, March 26 Atlanta, March 29 Indiana, March 31 San Antonio, April 2 Clippers, April 4 Lakers, April 5 Cleveland, April 15 Golden State
Away (13): Feb. 22 at Clippers, Feb. 25 at Golden State, Feb. 27 at Oklahoma City, Feb. 28 at Memphis, March 7 at Portland, March 19 at Houston, March 21 at Orlando, March 22 at New Orleans, March 24 at Cleveland, April 7 at San Antonio, April 9 at Minnesota, April 11 at Denver, April 14 at Lakers

The Kings trail eighth-place Memphis by seven games in the Western Conference and are another team that has had trouble winning either at home (11-15) or on the road (10-18). With four other teams between Sacramento and the Grizzlies, it’s a daunting task.

Game of the first half: For the first time since April 11, 2018, Buddy Hield wasn’t in the starting lineup for the Sacramento Kings. In was Jan. 27 in a road game at Minnesota and Hield, who had started 126 consecutive games, was benched in favor of Bogdan Bogdanovic. He responded well.

How well? A career-high 42 points in 38 minutes off the bench to lead the Kings to a 133-129 overtime victory over the Timberwolves. Hield was 14-for-24 overall, hit 9-of-14 from 3-point range and added five rebounds and three assists. It was the most points by a Sacramento reserve since Kevin Martin scored 45 at Indiana on Jan. 3, 2009.

Last week: Lost at Toronto 137-126, lost to Charlotte 115-108

This week: Friday vs. Boston

After a 3-0 start to the season, it’s been pretty much a downhill arrow for the Minnesota Timberwolves, who were 18th in the preseason NBA Power Rankings. Injuries devastated the Timberwolves, particularly Karl-Anthony Towns, who missed 15 games with a sprained knee and is expected to be out for awhile after sustaining a wrist injury at Toronto on Monday.

Minnesota’s remaining strength of schedule is a combined winning percentage of .524 over its last 29 games, the seventh-hardest in the NBA according to Tankathon.

Home (14): Feb. 21 Boston, March 1 Dallas, March 4 Chicago, March 6 Orlando, March 8 New Orleans, March 22 Portland, March 24 Philadelphia, March 26 San Antonio, March 30 Lakers, April 1 Dallas, April 5 Detroit, April 7 Phoenix, April 9 Sacramento, April 15 New York
Away (15): Feb. 23 at Denver, Feb. 24 at Dallas, Feb. 26 at Miami, Feb. 28 at Orlando, March 3 at New Orleans, March 10 at Houston, March 13 at Oklahoma City, March 14 at San Antonio, March 17 at Portland, March 18 at Phoenix, March 20 at Utah, March 29 at Boston, April 3 at New York, April 12 at Lakers, April 13 at Clippers

The Timberwolves should be better than they are, but the cold hard truth is they trail the eighth-place Grizzlies by 11½ games and the playoffs are all but mathematically out of reach for what will be the 15th time in the last 16 seasons.

Game of the first half: The season was young and the optimism was high, especially after Karl-Anthony Towns paced the Timberwolves to a 121-99 blowout win at Charlotte on Oct. 25 to run their record to 2-0 .In just 28 minutes, Towns had 37 points on 13-of-18 shooting, hitting 4-of-7 from deep, to go with 15 rebounds, eight assists, four steals and two blocks in the rout.