Don’t look now, but the Sacramento Kings might actually be a good basketball team now.
There were eyebrow-raising concerns when the franchise traded a rising star, Tyrese Haliburton, to the Pacers last season. But big Domantas Sabonis has played extremely well since joining the Kings.
Sacramento, meanwhile, drafted a promising rookie in Keegan Murray. They made solid moves to land Kevin Huerter and Malik Monk. De’Aaron Fox is playing like an All-Star guard. They have embraced the meme of becoming the beam team.
Most importantly, after hiring Mike Brown, it seems the franchise finally has found the right coach for their organization. All of this has the fans incredibly excited in Sacramento, and it shows during their home games.
KEVIN HUERTER PUTS THE KINGS UP 1 WITH 10 SEC REMAINING 😱
📲 https://t.co/1pomQZN8Pi pic.twitter.com/QApRpOeEkW
— NBA (@NBA) December 31, 2022
Listen to Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center when Huerter hit a go-ahead basket against the Jazz on Friday. It legitimately feels like a wall of sound rolls over the broadcast.
Watch the crowd seemingly help the Kings’ defense late in the game:
For the second straight game, Golden 1 Center was treated to an exciting one possession game down the stretch.
And, once again, the Kings succeeded in getting a stop when they needed to. 🟣🔦 pic.twitter.com/93GZDiWrS1
— Brenden Nunes (@BrendenNunesNBA) December 31, 2022
This is the type of crowd you want on your side during a playoff run.
Sacramento’s fanbase has clearly embraced Sabonis, too, as they’ve showered him with MVP chants:
MVP chants for Sabonis at @Golden1Center pic.twitter.com/TCRRpZH555
— Morgan Ragan (@momoragan) December 31, 2022
At this point, it has become clear that Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center has become one of the best home-court advantages in the NBA. Maybe everyone just wants to see them light the beam?
Sacramento has the second-best offensive rating in the league during games played at home, and the Kings are scoring an additional 8.4 points per 100 possessions at Golden 1 Center compared to games on the road.
This franchise has the longest playoff drought among all teams who play major professional sports in the United States, and their fans are hungry to see them finally make a run in the postseason.
