For the first time in 17 years, the Sacramento Kings are playing the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs. In game 1 on Saturday, April 15, 2023, the Kings beat the Warriors in a close game with a score of 126-123. After the game, De’aaron Fox the King’s star player lit the beam, a new tradition that started this season. Light the Beam is a new chant that the Kings started on December 3, 2022, against the Los Angeles Clippers in the final minutes of the King’s win and now the chant has stuck with them. When Fox pressed a button a 300-watt purple laser lit the sky over the Kings stadium. The laser lights the sky every time the Kings win.                                                                                                                                                                                                 

The Kings in the regular season were dominant averaging 120 points per game and their field goal percentage was 2nd in the league with shooting 49.4%. With 27 assists and 42 rebounds per game. With these stats, the Kings on offense play well together, which could be the key to winning and losing. And let’s talk about De’aaron Fox averaging 25 points per game which is the King’s best player. Fox got the NBA’s most clutch player award in the 2022-23 season. But on the other hand, the King’s defense was not as good averaging the 6th worst points per game allowed with 118 points per game. The Two best Kings players made the 2022-23 all-star game which was De’aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis.

One key person the Kings added is their coach Mike Brown. Already in the first year of coaching the Kings, Brown won the 2022-23 Coach of the Year award. Before coaching the Kings Mike was the head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers then after those stints, he would be an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors. Brown is a defensive-minded coach even if the Kings are the best offensive team. Mike Brown is setting the Kings up for success and so far is a great fit for the Kings.

The first-round series against the Warriors was a close series that went to Game 7 in Sacramento. The end score was 120-100 the Warriors beat the Kings and Stephen Curry scored 50 points in the elimination game. Even though the Kings lost in the first round and didn’t go as far as they would like to in their finals run. This season was a success with nobody thinking that they could make the playoffs through the 17-year drought. The Kings will be looking forward to next season hoping to go farther in the playoffs with this season being such a step forward in success.