Kings' Rudy Gay will play Tuesday
In a game in which nobody has a real incentive to win, the Sacramento Kings are getting a reinforcement.
The team's second-leading scorer, Rudy Gay, has been cleared to play in Tuesday's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Gay missed games on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday after suffering a concussion on March 30. He's appeared in 67 of the team's 76 games, averaging 20.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists in a quietly productive bounce-back year.
His player efficiency rating (19.5) and true shooting percentage (55.3 percent) are both at career-high levels, and the Kings' offense has been 7.5 points per-100 possessions better when he's on the floor.
Both the Kings and Wolves are decidedly battling for lottery pingpong balls rather than wins. The Kings will lose their first-round pick if it falls outside the top 10, a near impossibility, but would surely rather finish 25th than 24th with the Denver Nuggets just a game-and-a-half ahead in the standings.
The Wolves, meanwhile, are a game-and-a-half ahead of the New York Knicks, who are 30th in the standings and own the best odds at the No. 1 pick in the draft.