Kings 2020-21 Schedule: Top Games, Championship Odds and Record Predictions

Maybe this will be the season the Sacramento Kings make the playoffs again.

Sacramento has missed the playoffs for 14 consecutive seasons after finishing the 2019-20 campaign with a 31-41 record. While it was good enough to earn an invite to the Walt Disney World Resort bubble in Orlando, Florida, to play in the seeding games, it still finished too far outside the playoff picture to qualify for a play-in opportunity.

However, there is still plenty to like in Sacramento with a mix of young talent and veteran options.

And the core of De'Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, Marvin Bagley III, Harrison Barnes and Tyrese Haliburton now knows the first-half schedule it will have to navigate to begin a quest to qualify for the postseason. 

With that in mind, here is a look at all the key information for the Kings' 2020-21 slate.

2020-21 Kings Schedule Details

Season Opener: Wednesday, Dec. 23 at 9 p.m. ET vs. the Denver Nuggets (away)

Championship Odds: 130-1, per FanDuel

First-Half Schedule: NBA.com

Top Matchups

Portland Trail Blazers (First Game: Saturday, Jan. 9 at 10 p.m. ET)

The Kings are not realistic championship contenders, so they would be best served focusing on the teams near the bottom of the Western Conference playoff race.

Enter the Portland Trail Blazers, who defeated the Memphis Grizzlies in the play-in game at Walt Disney World Resort for the No. 8 seed and figure to once again be playoff contenders with Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum leading the way.

Not only will games against Portland give backcourt players such as Fox and Hield opportunities to test their skills against some of the league's best guards, but it will also give the entire team a chance to earn key head-to-head wins against the reigning No. 8 seed in the West. 

One of the teams that made the playoffs last season will have to fall out for the Kings to reach their goals, and these games could be a key determining factor in their postseason push.

Los Angeles Lakers (Wednesday, March 3 at 10 p.m. ET)

While the matchups with the Trail Blazers could be about battling for the lower seeds in the Western Conference playoff race, the games against the Los Angeles Lakers are more about the rivalry between the two franchises.

Sacramento and Los Angeles have had a number of memorable playoff battles against each other, and the Lakers will surely get opponents' best shots this season as the defending champions.

These games can be used as a measuring stick for the Kings to see how they match up against the league's best but also serve as a potential first-round playoff preview if they improve on last season's efforts. 

Between the history of the rivalry, the added layer of intrigue in playing the champions with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and the chance to learn some tendencies for a possible playoff preview, the games against the Lakers stand out for the Kings this season.

Season Forecast

Sacramento finished just three games behind the eighth-seeded Trail Blazers in 2019-20 but still didn't have the opportunity to feature in a play-in game because it was also behind the Grizzlies, Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs.

It is not unreasonable to expect the Kings to make a jump and snag one of the eight playoff spots in the West with a season of experience under head coach Luke Walton and continuity with the lineup for 2020-21.

Fox is an explosive playmaker, and there is enough shooting around him to take advantage of the space created by his drives. If the Kings can improve on a defense that ranked 19th in the league in the regular season, per NBA.com, they could make the postseason.

Still, the thought here is the Western Conference is just too loaded with playoff contenders.

The Lakers, L.A. Clippers, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks and even the Trail Blazers seem locks to make the playoffs if they remain healthy. The return of a healthy Stephen Curry to the Golden State Warriors adds another wild card that wasn't there in 2019-20.

That leaves just one spot for the Kings, Grizzlies, Utah Jazz, Suns, Oklahoma City Thunder, New Orleans Pelicans and Spurs, who could all be realistic contenders this season.

There are simply too many talented teams that will weigh down Sacramento's record, even if it is better in 2020-21.

Record Prediction: 33-39 

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