Clinch-mas: Kings celebrate end of drought with 40-point win over Blazers

Mar 30, 2023, 12:03 AM

PORTLAND, OREGON - MARCH 29: De'Aaron Fox #5 of the Sacramento Kings dunks over Drew Eubanks #24 of...

(Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)

(Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)

Back in June when the Sacramento Kings were introducing Mike Brown as the team’s new head coach, a quote from the press conference went viral:

“I didn’t come here to coach regular season games.”

For a team that had just wrapped up its 16th-straight season without a postseason berth, it was hard to take any incoming coach’s comments about a potential trip to the NBA Playoffs, a place that the Kings had not gone since 2006.

Yet, here we are in the final days of the 2022-23 regular season, and the Sacramento Kings have clinched a playoff spot and home court through the first round.

Thanks to a 120-80 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night, the beam was lit for the 46th time this season while fans in attendance at Moda Center and countless fans in front of Golden 1 Center rejoiced at the end of a 16-season, 17-year stretch of ‘Basketball Hell.’

Playoff basketball is returning to Sacramento.

A Rough Start

As was the case during Monday’s loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Kings needed help finding the bottom of the net on its attempts from beyond the three-point arc during the first quarter of Wednesday’s action.

Sacramento only converted two of its 13 attempts (15%) from deep during the first quarter as the Kings struggled to score against Portland’s two-three zone defense.

A severely short-handed Blazers team that was without eight players–including its entire starting five–would not go away early, as Portland kept Sacramento within arms reach at the break thanks to some ice-cold shooting from the Kings.

The Kings’ offensive struggles–especially from three-point range–continued to put themselves in a tough spot, as players like De’Aaron Fox (0/5) and Keegan Murray (1/4) couldn’t get into a rhythm during the first 24 minutes of play.

With the Los Angeles Clippers having beaten the Memphis Grizzlies while the Kings-Blazers game was in the second period, the clinch scenario became clear:

Beat Portland, and the 16-season playoff drought is over. If Sacramento wanted to clinch a playoff spot for the first time in 17 years, they would need to find a way to ignite a sleep-walking offense during the second half.

The Return of the Offense

Keegan Murray helped inject some life into Sacramento’s offense in the third quarter, as the first-year forward set an NBA Rookie record with his 188th made triple of the season, breaking Donovan Mitchell’s previous mark of 187 (2017-18).

Murray and the Kings outscored Portland 33-18 while shooting 52 percent from the field during the third quarter, giving themselves a 19-point cushion heading into the fourth as the reality of the situation began to sink in:

Sacramento was finally going to end the dreaded postseason drought.

If you looked away for one minute during the fourth quarter, the odds are that you came back to a game that was entirely out of hand. The Kings opened up the final period on a 16-1 run to push its lead over 30, leading by as many as 40 points during an explosive second-half performance that included 53 percent shooting from the field and 13-of-24 (54%) shooting from deep.

Sacramento outscored the Trail Blazers 70-34 during the second half, putting an exclamation point on the end of a 16-year drought as fans in attendance at Moda Center started belting out “Light the beam” chants with two minutes remaining.

Head coach Mike Brown, the leader of this historic Kings team, has previously warned fans not to break out the chants with too much time left on the clock, but said that he was fine with the chants on Wednesday night.

“I was okay when it started tonight,” Brown said with a smile following the game.

YouTube video

Brown highlighted his team’s impressive defense during the second half, as Sacramento held Portland to just 34 points on 26 percent shooting from the field and 25 percent from beyond the arc.

Once the dust settled at the end of the night, the Kings allowed a season-low 80 points to the short-handed Blazers, beating their previous season-low of 95 points (vs. Cleveland on December 9th).

Largest margin of victory of the season.

Lowest opponent points allowed this season.

A 16-season drought brought to a close.

I would say that it was a pretty good night for the Sacramento Kings.

Takeaways

Keegan Murray set NBA history on Wednesday by breaking Donovan Mitchell’s rookie three-point record, and did so with a faint smile after drilling his 188th triple of the season.

“To see Keegan to that tonight, with how hard he has worked this year, is an amazing feat,” Brown said of the rookie’s record-breaking performance. “He should be applauded for many years. Hopefully he’s not done with it yet. I’m just so proud of him. Hopefully he’s in the record books for the next hundred years or more.”

Murray is rising the Kings franchise all-time single-season three-point list as well, as the Iowa product is now ninth of the list with 188 made three-point field goals.

Alex Len, who has logged minutes at the backup center spot in back-to-back games, was named as tonight’s Defensive Player of the Game.

The veteran center pulled down eight rebounds, swiped two steals and scored a season-high five points over 16 minutes, as it’s looking like Brown will go to the lengthy Len in more situations down the final stretch as Sacramento searches for ways to combat opposing team’s extensive forward-center depth.

Next Game

Sacramento will face Portland for the final time this season when the two teams run things back on Friday night at Moda Center.

Be sure to get all of your Kings vs. Trail Blazers coverage right here on Sactown Sports 1140 beginning at 5:30 PM PST on Game Night with Scott Marsh and Henry ‘The High Flyer’ Turner before a 7:00 PM PST tip-off from downtown Portland.

Upcoming Sacramento Kings Schedule

Friday, March 31st – Sacramento Kings @ Portland Trail Blazers – 7:00 PM PST

Sunday, April 2nd – Sacramento Kings vs. San Antonio Spurs – 3:00 PM PST

Tuesday, April 4th – Sacramento Kings @ New Orleans Pelicans – 5:00 PM PST

Wednesday, April 5th – Sacramento Kings @ Dallas Mavericks – 5:30 PM PST

Friday, April 7th – Sacramento Kings vs. Golden State Warriors – 7:00 PM PST

Sunday, April 9th – Sacramento Kings @ Denver Nuggets – 12:30 PM PST

*End of the regular season*

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