The playoff drought over, Kings fans enjoy last regular season home game against the Warriors
A cloudy haze covered Golden 1 Center ahead of the Warriors-Kings matchup on Friday night.
Beams, which mean a lot to the team, of sunlight occasionally shone through.
The Kings, third in the Western Conference rankings, were to play the sixth-ranked Warriors, and if they maintain those positions heading into the playoffs, the two will likely face off in the first round, to be played here, at G1C, next weekend.
JT Lund, 19, is a Sacramento native and said he was comfortable with where the Kings stand for the playoffs.
“There’s a lot at stake for the Warriors,” said Lund, near the arena.
Lund was going to attend the game with his friend Logan Reilly, 19, a Warriors fan he met through the water polo team at American River College.
The Warriors won the NBA championship last year and a win tonight would move them up to fifth in the West, meaning the Kings would not go against defending champs in the first round of the playoffs. Instead, the Los Angeles Clippers would likely move down a slot.
“There’s a lot of rousing that goes on,” Lund said. “It’s very playful. It feels really nice to be ranked above the Warriors for once, so you like to have that opportunity to get back at them a little bit for those years of torture.”
‘We have something to prove’
Ryan Murray, 18, is a Warriors fan from Long Island, N.Y. For his high school graduation present, his parents flew him to Chase Center in San Francisco for the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, and he then flew to Sacramento on Friday for the game against the Kings.
He and his parents plan to fly to Portland on a 6 a.m. flight on Saturday for the Warriors’ game against the Trail Blazers.
“This team got me into basketball,” Murray said. “I was watching a game, I think it was 2014, but I saw the Warriors playing on ESPN against the Sacramento Kings, and I liked the way Andre Iguodala shot. The swish, it would wrap around the back of the net.”
Other fans outside the Golden 1 Center felt energy around the Kings before Friday’s game and for the upcoming playoffs, which they have not been able to do for 17 years. They hoped for a win and a light-the-beam moment, even though Kings stars De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis and Kevin Huerter would not be playing.
Casanya Ursery, 47, came to Sacramento in 1998 and fell in love with the city and the team and is excited to see the team in the playoffs after so long.
“It’s always a good time, and it’s always a big time for the Kings whenever the Warriors come to town anyway,” Ursery said. “We have something to prove.”
Lakers, maybe?
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, wearing a sport jacket over a Kings jersey, also absorbed the Kings atmosphere in Downtown Commons Friday night.
“I think this could be a preview for next week,” Steinberg said. “I’m happy for the Kings, but I’m even happier for the city. I’ve been to a number of games this season, and I always say I’m happiest before and after the game when I see all the people in the city.”
The scenarios for playoffs were still in flux as of Friday. The Los Angeles Lakers, for example, have an 89% chance of making the playoffs and a 3% chance of winning the NBA Finals, according to FiveThirtyEight, a poll analysis website
Steinberg said there’s a chance the Lakers and the Kings would face off in the playoffs. That, he said, would “bring back some memories.”
This story was originally published April 7, 2023 at 7:33 PM.