If the Sacramento Kings show up to Friday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers, who are playing at home, with a bad case of clinching hangover, please excuse them.
With a 120-80 victory over the Trail Blazers on Wednesday, the Kings ended the NBA’s longest postseason drought, which lasted 16 seasons. This was the first of two games.
De’Aaron Fox, Sacramento’s sixth-year All-Star point guard, was just 8 years old when the Kings last made the playoffs in 2006.
In the race for the No. 1 seed, Sacramento (46-30) is just two games behind Memphis Grizzlies. Western Conference’s second-ranked seed.
Mike Brown, the Kings’ head coach, has been warning his players that everything will get more intense once the postseason starts. However, before that, he wants the team to be happy that the longest current drought in major professional sports is over.
The Kings were led by 19 points from Malik Monk, who came off the bench. Fox had 18 points, and Kevin Huerter had 17.
During a 13-point performance, Keegan Murray made three 3-pointers to set a NBA rookie record of 188. He surpassed Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz, who held the record of 187 from 2017-18.
The weakened Trail Blazers (34-24) have lost 10 of their last 11 games and four in a row.
On Wednesday, Portland was only five points down in the third quarter when the Kings went on a 37-8 run to turn the game into a joke.
During the defeat, the Trail Blazers only used seven players. Jerami Grant (quadriceps), Jusuf Nurkic (knee), and Anfernee Simons (foot) are also out for the season, as is star Damian Lillard (calf).
Keon Johnson (fractured finger), Cam Reddish (back), and Trendon Watford (ankle) were also out for Portland.
Shaedon Sharpe, a rookie, led the team with 30 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists. Sharpe has averaged 23.8 points and 6.6 rebounds over the past five games as a result of more playing time with Lillard and Simons out.
Sharpe has made four or more three-pointers in a row, including a career-high six against the Kings. As he took on more of the ball-handling responsibilities, his total of assists was also his highest.
The Trail Blazers play their final five home games on Friday. They suffered losses of 28, 34, and 40 points in the first four games, an average of 27 points.
