National Basketball Association
Preview
Sacramento at Orlando
When: 5:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 29, 2025
Where: Kia Center, Orlando, Florida

The Sacramento Kings and host Orlando Magic find themselves in similar positions heading into Saturday's matchup, with both jockeying for positioning in the late-season play-in race.

Orlando (35-39) was unable to gain ground on Atlanta for seventh place in the Eastern Conference when the Magic's three-game winning streak ended on Thursday in a 101-92 loss to Dallas.

The Hawks maintained a half-game lead over Orlando for the most favorable of the four play-in seeds in the East as a result, despite Atlanta losing at slumping Miami, 122-112. The Hawks are off until Sunday when they visit Milwaukee.

The Magic lead the NBA in scoring defense at 106 points allowed per game, and outperformed that number on Thursday. But as the season's lowest-scoring offensive team at 104.9 points per game, Orlando's most consistent problem returned against the Mavericks.

The Magic scored at least 108 points in their seven previous games, going 5-2 over that stretch. They are 3-23 on the campaign when scoring fewer than 100 points.

"We turned it over, (gave up) some easy shots, then you (pile) that one with not making baskets, it builds," Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley said.

When the Magic turn the ball over 16 or more times this season, they are 9-14 including Thursday, when they coughed up possession 17 times.

"We continue to grow from that, and learn from it," Mosley added. "There's not many left, so you've got to understand exactly what you need to do in these moments."

Another potentially pivotal moment looms with Sacramento (36-37) coming in, playing the first date in a critical, six-game road swing.

The Kings snapped a four-game losing skid on Thursday with a 128-107 rout of Portland. Sacramento shot a season-best 64.9 percent from the field.

Zach LaVine scored 29 points on 13-of-18 shooting, DeMar DeRozan recorded a 21-point, 10-assist double-double, and Domantas Sabonis recorded his 53rd double-double of the season with 22 points and 19 rebounds.

Sacramento interim coach Doug Christie introduced a lineup change to mix things up on Thursday, as well, starting Keon Ellis on the perimeter and bringing Malik Monk off the bench.

"It seemed like we wanted this one more. That's the way we have to go about it over these next two weeks," LaVine said. "We didn't perform well (over the prior stretch) so it's good to go out on the road feeling better about ourselves."

Sacramento holds a half-game lead over Dallas for ninth place in the West and a one-game lead over Phoenix through Thursday. The Kings' tour through the East pits them against four teams currently in position to qualify for the postseason, including Orlando.

These teams last met on Feb. 5, which was LaVine's Kings debut after being traded from Chicago. He shot just 4-of-13 from the floor and scored 13 points.

LaVine has since settled in reuniting with his former Bulls backcourt mate DeRozan, who joined Sacramento in the offseason. DeRozan's 22 points per game lead the Kings, with LaVine averaging 21.5 points in his 23 contests with Sacramento.

The 130 Orlando scored in a 19-point win over the Kings marked the Magic's second-highest scoring performance of the season. Franz Wagner scored 31 points and Paolo Banchero added 23. Banchero leads the team with an average of 25.9 points per game and Wagner is second at 24.3.

--Field Level Media

Stats and Records
Team Comparison
  W/L Strk Home Away Day Night Div Conf
Sacramento 36-37 W1 19-19 17-18 2-2 34-35 4-10 25-24
Orlando 35-39 L1 19-18 16-21 3-1 32-38 10-3 27-20
Last Meeting
Sacramento Orlando
Date Away Home Pts Reb FG% Pts Reb FG%
2/5/25 ORL 130 SAC 111 111 37 50.0 130 35 56.8
Player Stats
Previous Matchup
Points Player Total FG% FTM
Sacramento D. Sabonis 21 80.0 4
Orlando F. Wagner 31 54.5 2
Rebounds Player Total Off Def
Sacramento D. Sabonis 13 6 7
Orlando W. Carter Jr. 8 2 6
Assists Player  
Sacramento D. Carter 4
Orlando P. Banchero 9
Season
Points Player Total FG% FTM
Sacramento D. DeRozan 1561 48.0 340
Orlando F. Wagner 1333 45.6 256
Rebounds Player Total Off Def
Sacramento D. Sabonis 907 248 659
Orlando W. Carter Jr. 470 141 329
Assists Player  
Sacramento D. Sabonis 403
Orlando F. Wagner 259
Quickchart Matchup
Sacramento Sacramento Off vs  Orlando Orlando Defense
Sacramento Off vs Orlando - Points For 116.2 Points For
Sacramento Off vs Orlando - Points Against 106.0 Points Against
Sacramento - FG% 47.8 FG%
Orlando - FG% 46.9 FG%
Sacramento - Reb 44.3 Reb
Orlando - Reb 42.1 Reb
Orlando Orlando Off vs  Sacramento Sacramento Defense
Orlando Off vs Sacramento - Points For 104.9 Points For
Orlando Off vs Sacramento - Points Against 115.7 Points Against
Orlando - FG% 44.2 FG%
Sacramento - FG% 47.3 FG%
Orlando - Reb 41.8 Reb
Sacramento - Reb 42.5 Reb