The Kings had their best home record in years. A look at some good (and some bad)

A sellout crowd was on hand Sunday night to see the Kings play at Golden 1 Center one last time before this season ends.

Unfortunately for the majority of an announced 17,583 fans, the home team didn’t go out with a victory.

“I wish we could have come out with a win, but it’s definitely great playing in front of these fans,” Kings guard De’Aaron Fox said. “We have a good fan base on the road, but coming to Golden 1 and every chance we get to step out there, it’s a great feeling.”

Sacramento led by 14, trailed by 16 in the next quarter, rallied to take a fourth-quarter lead, but ultimately fell to the New Orleans Pelicans 133-129.

The loss clinched a 13th consecutive losing season for the Kings, but they accomplished something they hadn’t done in 11 years: Finish with a winning home record.

“You never want to end on a loss,” said Kings rookie forward Marvin Bagley III, adding he enjoyed playing in front of the Sacramento fans this season. “It was fun, especially the games we won here when we had to fight back. The fans were behind us the whole time. It kind of reminds me of Cameron (Duke’s home arena) a little bit, how loud everyone can be. We just have to come back and give everyone more than we gave them this year.”

In the third season at the downtown arena, Sacramento went 24-17 for its first winning record at home since 2007-08 (26-15 at Arco Arena). It’s only the second season with a plus-.500 record since their eight-year playoff run, when they averaged 32.1 victories over seven full seasons (they went 16-9 in the shortened 1999 campaign), including a franchise-record 36-5 in 2001-02.

The Kings had some memorable victories on their floor this season but also had several games they’ll look back at and wonder how they let slip away. Here are three of each:

Three memorable victories

3. Kings 102, Heat 96, Feb. 8 – In what was Dwyane Wade’s last game in Sacramento, the hosts were in no mood to be gracious on the scoreboard.

The Kings rallied from a 17-point second-half deficit and used a 9-0 run in the final two minutes to earn their fourth consecutive victory over Miami.

2. Kings 122, Pelicans 117, Dec. 23 – For the second game in a row, the Kings found themselves down 19 points at home. For the second game in a row, the Kings found a way to rally to a victory, becoming the first team to erase consecutive deficits of this size since 2010.

Buddy Hield scored 28 points for the second game in a row to help Sacramento stun New Orleans in a rare afternoon start.

The win also ensured the Kings would have a winning record at Christmas for the first time in 14 years.

1. Kings 117, Lakers 116, Dec. 27 – The second night of back-to-backs were problematic all season. At this early stage of the season, the Kings were on the verge of suffering a Los Angeles sweep after falling to the Clippers the previous night at Staples Center.

However, they refused to lie down against a team many Sacramento fans love to hate.

Trailing by 15 with 6:44 left, the Kings worked their way back and with 4.7 seconds left, they could try for overtime or win it.

Bogdan Bogdanovic took the inbound pass, took a few dribbles and his step-back 3-pointer over the outstretched arm of Lakers center Tyson Chandler splashed in at the buzzer, sending the Golden 1 Center crowd into a frenzy as Bogdanovic yelled, “I told you!” more than once.

Three forgettable losses

3. Nuggets 117, Kings 113, Jan. 3 – Denver came into Golden 1 Center with the best record in the Western Conference, but the Kings weren’t fazed early.

They ran up leads of 15 points in the second and third quarters, but they didn’t have an answer for Jamal Murray.

The guard put up consecutive 17-point quarters in the second half to help the Nuggets rally and escape with a win.

2. Warriors 130, Kings 125, Dec. 14 – The Kings had a chance to win each of the four games against the champs. Even Kevin Durant was surprised after sweeping Sacramento on Feb. 21.

“It’s the fourth game that we deserved to lose against this team,” he said.

In the second game of this season series, the Kings lost Bagley to a knee injury, then allowed Golden State to stage a 17-2 run over the final three minutes.

1. Nets 123, Kings 121, March 19 – The Kings were cruising toward a season split with Brooklyn, then D’Angelo Russell took over.

The fourth-year point guard and first-time All-Star scored 27 of his career-high 44 points in a fourth quarter in which the Kings led by 28.

It was just the second time they’ve squandered a lead that large and was 11 points more than the final-period leads they let get away in 1978 and 2015.

This story was originally published April 8, 2019 at 8:54 AM.