NBA Week 22: Sacramento Kings cruising while Los Angeles Lakers climb the Conference | NBA News

As week 22 of the NBA approaches, we look at the players worth keeping an eye on and the teams which may be in a spot of bother ahead of the playoffs and play-in.

Sacramento Kings cruising

Back in the summer, if you had projected the Sacramento Kings to be challenging at the summit of the Western Conference, en route to their first playoff berth in 16 years, you may well have been ridiculed.

Well, no one is laughing now. Indeed, Mike Brown’s team have already wiped the collective smiles off a few fanbases, and they are in no mood to stop now.

Leading the charge is De’Aaron Fox, averaging a career-high 25.4 points per game, with over 30 points racked up in his last five clashes on court.

With Domantas Sabonis and his playmaking panache thrown into the mix, the Kings present a frontcourt duo that possesses technicality and physicality.

The Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls, and Brooklyn Nets will attempt to snuff out the beam in week 22 of the schedule.

Los Angeles Lakers on the rise

You know things are on the up for the Los Angeles Lakers when LeBron James posts one of his famous rallying tweets:

The fact his team are climbing the Conference without him is even more telling. Four wins out of their last five games certainly proves that.

Part of their recent success has to be attributed to the returning Anthony Davis, back to his MVP-contending form from earlier in the season. The big man is averaging 28.6 points in his last five games and has been a crucial figure on defence too.

A little bit of luck also goes a long way, and the Lakers have received that in both the Utah Jazz and the New Orleans Pelicans sliding down the standings.

They now hold the ninth seed in the West, in play-in contention, and will look to defend it on Sunday evening when they face the New York Knicks.

Suns look to reshuffle without Durant

The Phoenix Suns were starting to resemble a juggernaut with Kevin Durant headlining their offence before the unthinkable happened: a grade two ankle sprain sustained in a pre-game slip last Thursday.

Although the 34-year-old will be re-evaluated in two weeks, the playoffs are just around the corner. Whether he features or not, head coach Monty Williams will have no choice but to brace for the worst.

Fortunately, ‘the worst’ is still a fairly formidable frontcourt duo of Devin Booker and Chris Paul.

Combined with the fact that the Memphis Grizzlies, who are three games ahead in the loss column, are in freefall, the Suns should be able to hold the No 4 seed and give Durant the necessary time to recover.

They will be playing without him when they face the Golden State Warriors, the Bucks, Orlando Magic and Oklahoma City Thunder.

Trouble in Dallas?

Here is a baffling statistic: the Dallas Mavericks are 3-5 when Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving are on the court.

This perhaps points to the fact that although they may be the most dangerous duo in the NBA, they are far from consistent. Injury niggles have not made it any easier either.

Sure, neither All-Star player has had trouble regularly notching over 30 points per game. But while the points might be flowing, the cracks in defence are certainly showing.

The Mavs are fronting a defence that sits in the bottom 10 in the league, and routinely concedes over 100 points per 100 possessions.

It is unlikely their current form will unseat any playoff rivals further up the standings.

Making up those wins is a tall order, especially with 11 of their next 14 games on the road. Fortunately, the first of that run comes against a struggling Grizzlies side. Latch onto victory here and they could turn a corner.