The stretch run couldn’t be tighter for the Sacramento Kings as they try to reach the playoffs for the second time in three years.

The six through 10 spots in the Western Conference after Monday night’s games were separated by a game and a half — and four of those teams are separated by just half a game.

The Kings following their 122-98 blowout win of the Dallas Mavericks on Monday, when Kyrie Irving went down with a knee injury in the first quarter, can look at themselves as one of the hottest teams in the conference.

They’ve won four straight and seven of nine dating back Feb. 8. They came out of Dallas Monday night in the No. 8 seed, half a game behind the Golden State Warriors for No. 6 with the L.A. Clippers between them.

Only the Los Angeles Lakers’ six-game winning streak is longer in the West than Sacramento’s. And with the recent run, Doug Christie’s team could be rounding into form ahead of a daunting stretch run that includes 14 games against teams with winning records over the final 22 on the schedule.

“We in a dog fight,” DeMar DeRozan said after his 20-point performance on Monday.

The Kings will have to dispel a season-long trend should they earn the No. 6 seed or higher to avoid the play-in tournament, which they failed to get out of last year. They are 12-18 against teams above .500, and 20-10 versus teams with losing records.

They’ve gotten wins over Houston (37-24) and the Mavericks (32-20) in their last two games. But it gets more difficult beginning Wednesday when the Kings wrap up their four-game road trip with the Denver Nuggets, who are 20-9 at home and currently third in standings.“Defensively is where we need to continue to improve and hang our hat,” Christie said. “You’re going through this league — you’re going to win some, you’re going to lose some — but the point of what we’re trying to do is continue to work on us.”

Christie went on to reiterate his philosophy about having a “faceless opponent,” which helped Sacramento thump the Mavericks in the third quarter Monday while Dallas was reeling with Irving sidelined. The Kings outscored Dallas 34-16 and led by as many as 30, leading to fans streaming to the exits with more than 12 minutes to play.

But to Christie’s point about defense: The Kings have shown improvement. During their four-game winning streak, they lead the NBA by allowing 100.8 points per 100 possessions. The Detroit Pistons are a distant second at 103.9.

Offensively, Sacramento has been nearly as good. The Kings’ 125.5 points per 100 possessions ranks third, leading to a 24.7 net rating that ranks first, 13.7 points ahead of No. 2 Cleveland. Of course, a four-game sample can be swayed heavily by a 42-point win over the lowly Charlotte Hornets.

Still, the Kings have turned the ball over just 13.5 times per game during the current streak, good for seventh in the league, while they were 26th in turnovers in the first 11 games after adding Zach LaVine in the De’Aaron Fox trade.

They had just seven turnovers on Monday.

“I think we’re just doing a good job of sharing the ball,” LaVine said after scoring a game-high 22 points in Dallas. “... As much as everyone wants it to work on the first game, media or outside, it just doesn’t work that way. I think playing real-life games always helps. You need to go through little ups and downs before you take off and start to understand everybody.”

Keegan Murray since the All-Star break has seen a much-needed uptick in his shooting. The third-year forward has made 16 of 35 of 3-pointers (46%) after making just 32% before the break.

Murray has long been asked by the Kings’ coaching staff to aggressively look for his shot. But with LaVine and DeRozan carrying a bulk of the offensive load, Murray is still figuring out how to find ways to get his looks. Recently he’s been focusing on pushing the ball in transition to complement the veterans who more often slow things down.