Californian atmosphere on the floor of the Nets. As the Kings prepare to celebrate their victory in Brooklyn, a handful of fans in the Barclays Center start chanting “Light The Beam”, the Kings’ rallying chant since they fired a laser of purple light into the sky, above the Golden 1 Center, with every victory.
This kind of scene is rare outside but reflects the level of enthusiasm around this team now guaranteed to finish its season with a positive balance sheet. Because this success against the Nets, which bears the mark of the mammoth performance of Domantas Sabonis (24 points and 21 rebounds), is the 42nd of their season.
A Sacramento team hadn’t finished with 50% wins, or even reached a total of 40 wins, since the 2005-06 season, which ended with 44 wins and 38 losses. That year, which marked the end of the glorious reign of Rick Adelman, the Kings had qualified for the last time in the playoffs, before experiencing this long crossing of the desert.
Heads up
“ Being here for over four years now, and having seen the bottom – the very bottom – and the frustration of fans and franchise members, it’s good to be on the other side. A lot of people aren’t lucky enough to stay in an organization long enough to see the good times and the bad, they only see the bad side. So I consider myself lucky to be able to live this moment “, can testify Harrison Barnes, one of the oldest” of the club, arrived in 2019.
” It means a lot to the fans and the franchise. Sacramento has a proud, hard-working fan base that doesn’t get much recognition citywide or even from the state of California. So it’s great to be able to punch your chest, to be able to walk with your head held high and to talk with your friends to brag about it “Postes Mike Brown.
These 16 years in a row ended with a negative balance sheet – and by logical consequence, without qualification in the playoffs (a qualification with a negative balance sheet is very rare) – constituted a record in the big league. The second longest series in this area? Owned… by the Kings as well, between 1983 and 1998.
This shows how the almost decade of domination of the Kings in the early 2000s, with Chris Webber, Peja Stojakovic, Vlade Divac or Mike Bibby at the wand, could mark the spirits locally. The Rick Adelman era ended after eight straight playoff qualifiers, including that memorable conference final against the Lakers in 2002, and at least 53% regular season wins each time.
See bigger
Since Adelman, no less than 11 coaches have succeeded him in this position, without managing to guide the Kings on the path to success. Until Mike Brown then. ” It was quite easy, because the guys understood my message from the beginning. I have the feeling that this group believes in him. Not just because I tell them they’re good, but because they’ve proven it time and time again, whether individually in certain situations or collectively. When a team believes in it, it can be dangerous. When a united team believes in it, it can be very dangerous. This is our group today. »
A danger to others in the weeks to come. Because this celebrated positive assessment remains an accomplishment which must soon result in a qualification for the playoffs. ” It’s a bit complicated for me, because I don’t equate March 16 with 42 wins. We try to get as much as possible while trying to play well, especially at this time of year “wishes Brown whose team, 2nd in the West, is the fittest in the league since the All-Star Game (10 wins in 12 games).
” I don’t think anyone in the team said to themselves at the start of the season: ‘We want a positive balance sheet.’ But I think it’s a good thing. It’s good for the franchise, for the city, good for the supporters to have finally addressed the issue. But we know we wanna do something bigger “, ends De’Aaron Fox, about to take his first steps in the playoffs.
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| De’aaron Fox | 62 | 34.1 | 51.4 | 33.3 | 77.5 | 0.5 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 6.1 | 2.6 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 25.5 |
| Domantas Sabonis | 67 | 34.7 | 60.9 | 36.0 | 76.6 | 3.2 | 9.4 | 12.6 | 7.1 | 3.0 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 3.7 | 19.0 |
| Harrison Barnes | 69 | 32.9 | 47.2 | 36.8 | 84.7 | 1.0 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 15.0 |
| Kevin Hurter | 66 | 29.6 | 48.7 | 40.8 | 71.2 | 0.6 | 2.7 | 3.2 | 2.9 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 2.4 | 15.0 |
| Malik Monk | 66 | 22.6 | 45.3 | 35.5 | 88.6 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 3.9 | 2.0 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 13.7 |
| Keegan Murray | 67 | 29.5 | 44.3 | 40.4 | 79.7 | 1.1 | 3.5 | 4.6 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 11.6 |
| Trey Lyles | 62 | 16.7 | 48.5 | 38.1 | 80.0 | 0.9 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 8.0 |
| Terence Davis | 54 | 13.0 | 43.1 | 36.3 | 88.6 | 0.3 | 1.9 | 2.2 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 6.5 |
| Davion Mitchell | 68 | 17.9 | 45.5 | 32.5 | 78.6 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 2.2 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 5.6 |
| Chimezie Metu | 56 | 10.9 | 60.5 | 25.7 | 75.9 | 0.7 | 2.3 | 3.0 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 5.0 |
| Kessler Edwards | 9 | 12.6 | 38.5 | 35.3 | 75.0 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.4 | 3.2 |
| Richaun Holmes | 35 | 8.7 | 68.1 | 75.0 | 82.4 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 3.2 |
| Neemias Queta | 4 | 6.1 | 75.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 3.0 |
| Keon Ellis | 10 | 3.6 | 60.0 | 62.5 | 66.7 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 1.9 |
| Matt Dellavedova | 27 | 6.6 | 31.7 | 31.8 | 57.1 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 1.4 |
| Kz Okpala | 35 | 7.1 | 42.1 | 33.3 | 87.5 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 1.3 |
| Chima Moneke | 2 | 4.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Alex Len | 17 | 3.1 | 45.5 | 0.0 | 75.0 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.8 |
| Pj Dozier | 8 | 1.8 | 33.3 | 25.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.6 |
| Deonte Burton | 2 | 3.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
