The Portland Trail Blazers lost a half-game on the 10th-place Sacramento Kings in the race for the final Western Conference play-in berth on Saturday night. The Kings (31-28) won 113-103 at the Houston Rockets (37-12) and are now 3½ games ahead of 11th-place Phoenix (28-32) and 4½ ahead of the 12th-place Blazers.

Watching your favorite professional sports teams compete on TV is one thing, but cheering them on in the raucous arena brings on another level of fandom.

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The Kings are bringing back a familiar face for depth at the center position with Domantas Sabonis out due to injury.

Shaedon Sharpe gave Trail Blazers fans a highlight to remember with a monster dunk that could go down as one of the best of the year.

The Kings have been an elite mid-range shooting team, ranking third in the league at 47 percent. In the three matchups against the Jazz this season, Sacramento has upped that conversion rate to 55.4 percent, making it imperative that Utah’s defense is ready to make life difficult for the Kings in the mid-range.

Fresh off a near miss against the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday, the Utah Jazz will be back in action against the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night in their sixth straight appearance in their home Delta Center of a ludicrous nine-game home stand.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Shaedon Sharpe has been one of the NBA’s most gifted young dunk artists since he was selected seventh overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2022 NBA Draft. But he reached a new level on Wednesday night — possibly literally.

A low-scoring game is on tap, per our Trail Blazers vs Wizards predictions and NBA picks on Wednesday, February 26.