The Sacramento Kings failed to reach the postseason again this season, and a game in Minnesota pushed the Kings to hold a dubious distinction.
The Sacramento Kings finished their season with a victory on Wednesday, April 11 over the Houston Rockets. It was a relatively meaningless game for both teams, and the Rockets rested much of their playoff rotation. The Kings picked up 96-83 victory to finish the season on a high note (They won three of their last five games). It was the game in Minnesota that left the Kings organization holding another streak that no team wants, though.
NBA fans everywhere watched as the Timberwolves and Nuggets battled it out for a spot in the playoffs. It was essentially a play-in game with the winner advancing and the loser’s season ending. It turned into a wild game featuring a Nuggets comeback to force overtime. The Wolves prevailed 112-106 earning Karl-Anthony Towns his first playoff berth. The following Tweet from Marc J. Spears details that games impact on the Kings.
The playoff ice has finally thawed in Minnesota as the NBA’s longest postseason draught ends at 14 seasons. T-Wolves earn do-or-die OT win over Nuggets. The NBA’s longest playoff draught is now owned by the Sacramento Kings at 12 seasons.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) April 12, 2018
The longest drought
The Kings now hold the distinction of the longest playoff drought as it reached a dozen seasons this year. The Seattle Mariners (16 seasons), Miami Marlins (14 seasons), and Cleveland Browns (15 seasons) are the only three franchises who have longer playoff droughts in the four major North American sports than the Kings. The franchise is building, though. Hopefully, the young core plus an added top ten draft pick propel the Kings to the postseason shortly.
Final thoughts
The Kings are now the NBA franchise who has not been part of the playoffs the longest. All this talk of the playoff drought has me down in the dumps. Hopefully, next year is the one that breaks the streak.
Next: 10 greatest individual seasons in Kings history
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