Timberwolves outlast Warriors, set up potential Kings clinch game Monday at Golden 1

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The Kings will need to wait one more day before attempting to exorcize one of the longest running demons in professional sports history.

With the Timberwolves pulling off a 99-96 win over the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night, the stage is set for a wild Monday night in Sacramento. If the Kings can beat the Timberwolves at Golden 1 Center, or the Utah Jazz can knock off the Phoenix Suns, the Kings will punch their ticket to the playoffs for the first time since the 2005-06 season.

The Jazz/Suns game begins at 6:00 PM PST, so there is a chance that the Kings learn their fate sometime in the third quarter of their game on Monday. It could all come down to the ;p[-battle against the T-Wolves in front of a playoff starved Sacramento crowd or perhaps spill over into the coming days.

One win, or a strategic loss and it becomes mathematically impossible for Sacramento to fall lower than six, which means they are guaranteed a seven game series.

At 45-29, they still have a shot to move into one of the top two seeds in the West, but they have also put distance between themselves and the three teams trailing them in the Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers.

Sacramento leads the Suns by six games both overall and in the loss column. With Friday’s win over Phoenix, the season series between the two teams is all tied up at 2-2. The second tiebreaker after head-to-head is divisional record if the two teams play in the same division.

The Suns currently lead the Kings against divisional foes with the Kings sporting a 9-6 record, and Phoenix a half game up at 9-5. The Kings only have one more divisional contest, a home game against the Warriors on the second to last game of the season. Phoenix finishes the season with games against the Clippers and the Lakers.

If these two teams finish with identical divisional records, the third tiebreaker is conference record and the Kings currently hold a huge 29-15 to 24-20 lead in conference play.

With the Warriors’ loss to the T-Wolves, they have dropped to the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference at 39-37. Golden State has a 2-1 advantage over the Kings in the season series with one game remaining, but they are seven games back overall and eight behind the Kings in the loss column.

The Kings would have to finish 0-8 over the final eight games for the Warriors to catch them in the standings and Golden State would have to win their final six games. In this scenario, the Warriors would have the tiebreaker in head-to-head play.

Sacramento won the season series against the Clippers 3-1. At 39-36, Los Angeles would need to win all of their seven remaining games and the Kings would have to lose all eight to move ahead.

The Suns and Clippers play each other in the final game of the season, which adds another element to the discussion.

If the Kings take care of business this week, they have an opportunity to seal up a first round home series and the Pacific Division crown. If the Suns win or the Kings fail to seal the deal against the T-Wolves, they have seven more games to work with, including two in Portland later this week against a struggling Trail Blazers squad.

If somehow the Kings haven’t clinched a top four seed coming out of Portland, the 19-55 Spurs make a visit to Sacramento next Sunday.

One way or another, the Kings are punching their ticket to the playoffs. They’ve earned their spot and there is no question about that. It didn’t happen on Sunday, but the potential for a magical night at Golden 1 Center is now staring the team in the face.

There is no way to make up for the last sixteen years of chaos and dismay, but rewarding a sold out Golden 1 Center crowd could mend at least a few fences.