Far below .500, Kings are still in thick of race for playoff spot

SACRAMENTO — As the season’s midpoint nears, the two top contenders for the league title — Golden State and Cleveland — are no surprise.

More unpredictable is the jam-packed race for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Seventhplace Oklahoma City is 6½ games ahead of eighth-place Portland (and Sacramento is mere percentage points behind the Blazers). Only four games separate the teams in spots eight through 15.

Sacramento (15-22) would have little chance in a sevengame series, but the Kings recognize the importance of the postseason: It is a place they haven’t reached in 11 years.

“I really haven’t paid much attention to it,” Golden State head coach Steve Kerr said of the crowded race for the No. 8 seed. “That was my old job (at TNT), analyzing the rest of the league. My new job is analyzing our team, our next opponent.”

Sacramento, like most teams, is flawed. Even with one of the NBA’s best big men in DeMarcus Cousins, the Kings own a bottom-10 offense. Outside of Rudy Gay, who has long been the subject of trade chatter, Sacramento has few reliable complementary players.

Since rattling off four straight wins last month, the Kings have gone 1-5. The coming weeks will be critical in helping the front office decide whether to be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline. If Sacramento falls out of contention for the eighth seed, it might ship Cousins and Gay to kick-start the next stage of a seemingly endless rebuild.

The Kings are a game ahead of 10th-place Denver and 1½ games ahead of 11th-place New Orleans. Recent history, of course, doesn’t bode well for a Sacramento team adept at finding ways to crush positive momentum. “It’s the first time we’ve played Sacramento all year, so I haven’t paid much attention other than the last day or two watching some tape,” said Kerr, whose Warriors extended their winning streak over the Kings to 13 games Sunday. “I hate to give you the cliche, but we’re playing the next game on our schedule.” New arena: Sunday marked the Warriors’ first trip to the Kings’ new arena, the Golden 1 Center. Kerr appreciated the spacious visiting coaches’ office, a major upgrade from what Sacramento’s former home, Sleep Train Arena, offered.

“It didn’t even have a coaching office,” Kerr said. “The players and coaches were all in one big closet, so (Golden 1 Center) made up for it and then some.”