Keegan Murray still out

Keegan Murray never made it back before Sacramento’s season ended, finishing the year sidelined again with a left ankle sprain. (si.com) Sacramento ruled Murray out for the April 12 finale in Portland along with DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Domantas Sabonis, Malik Monk, Russell Westbrook, Drew Eubanks and De’Andre Hunter. The Kings also listed Isaiah Stevens as out on a G League two-way designation. (nba.com) Portland won 122-110 at Moda Center, and the result locked the Trail Blazers into the Western Conference’s No. 8 play-in spot at 42-40. Sacramento finished 22-60 after entering the night at 22-59. (nba.com) The game carried postseason stakes for Portland, not Sacramento. The National Basketball Association’s playoff scenarios for April 12 showed Portland would secure No. 8 with a win or a Los Angeles Clippers loss. (nba.com) For the Kings, the finale looked more like an audit of what was left on the roster than a push for standings. Sacramento had already been eliminated and sat 14th in the West before tipoff, tied on record with Utah at 22-59. (foxsports.com) Murray’s absence fit the pattern of Sacramento’s last week. Sports Illustrated’s Kings report said DeRozan, after playing 77 of the team’s first 79 games, was set to miss each of the final three games. (si.com) Portland approached the night the opposite way. The Trail Blazers listed only Damian Lillard and Jerami Grant as out, with Matisse Thybulle probable and Vit Krejci questionable, because a win moved them into the upper half of the play-in bracket. (nba.com) That left Murray’s final status unchanged when the regular season closed: out with the ankle, and out of the lineup for a Kings team that ended the year with more questions than available starters. (sports.yahoo.com)