Mar 26, 2017 LOS ANGELES -- With a playoff spot in hand, the Los Angeles Clippers will continue their chase for homecourt advantage when they meet the Sacramento Kings on Sunday at Staples Center.Los Angeles (44-30) clinched its franchise-record sixth consecutive postseason berth Saturday with a 108-95 victory over the Utah Jazz at Staples behind Jamal Crawford's 28 points, 17 of those coming in the fourth quarter. The win allowed the Clippers to close within a half-game of the Jazz for the fourth seed in the Western Conference."It was important," Clippers forward Blake Griffin said of beating the Jazz, two days after the Dallas Mavericks ended a three-game winning streak by Los Angeles. "Even in Dallas, I thought the spirit of our defense, and even our offense at times, was better than it had been in previous (games), Milwaukee, Minnesota, whichever game you want to pick. Our talk, our trust defensively was good in Dallas and tonight it was even better." The Clippers haven't been the most consistent team in the past 18 games, compiling a 9-9 record. But they are making strides, winning four of their last five. Clippers coach Doc Rivers isn't overly concerned with the up-and-down play. Rivers is intent on keeping his players' confidence high and believes they will play better during the final games of the regular season."Of course we haven't played great since the All-Star break, but for me it still is the big picture, like getting them right, being ready for the playoffs," Rivers said. "A lot of times you got to have more belief in them so they can have that belief, and I think that's important." The Clippers have captured both of this season's meetings with the Kings. They earned a 106-98 win on Jan. 6 in their last contest at Sacramento.Although the Kings (27-45) struggled before trading All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins during the All-Star weekend, they have fallen on hard times since then. Sacramento, which has lost four straight, is 3-12 since the All-Star break.The Kings dropped a 114-100 decision to the Golden State Warriors on Friday. Rookie guard Buddy Hield, who was acquired in the trade for Cousins, reached double figures for the fourth straight game, scoring a career-high 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting and hitting 4 of 9 from 3-point range against the Warriors. Hield also had eight rebounds and seven assists.Kings point guard Ty Lawson added 20 points by converting 8 of 9 shots."I think we're playing well; we're still playing hard," Lawson told the Sacramento Bee. "We're just trying to get used to each other. The rookies, they're just getting game-time experience, you've got to go with the ups and downs. We're still just competing and that speaks volumes. So next year when we have a training camp, a whole summer to jell with everybody, we'll be a lot better." However, the Kings haven't been better in the turnover department. The Warriors took advantage of 21 Sacramento miscues by scoring 36 points off them. Turnovers have been a problem for the Kings all season. They rank 21st in the NBA, averaging 14.1 per game. The Clippers average 12.7 miscues (tied for eighth) per contest.The Kings are scoring 102.8 points (22th) per game compared to 108 (seventh) for the Clippers.
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