After no less than 16 years, Sacramento will finally end a regular season with a positive record. The Kings ensured it tonight (between Thursday and Friday), when they beat Brooklyn 96:101 – their eighth win in the last ten games – to open a half-game lead over Memphis in second place in the West – an almost imaginary scenario at the start of the season.
???? 15 GAMES OVER .500
LIGHT THE BEAM ???????? pic.twitter.com/0sfa05ASn8
— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) March 17, 2023
In doing so, Sacramento broke the longest streak in the league, which began after the 2005/06 season. The second longest streak in the league also belongs to the Kings, who held a negative balance between 1983 and 1998. Mike Brown, who became the first coach besides Rick Edelman to record a positive balance with the Kings, said at the end: “I talked to these guys from the first day of the season, they understand the messages Ours. There is a group here that believes in itself. When you have a group that believes, it can be dangerous. When you have a cohesive group that believes, it can be very dangerous. This is the group we have right now.”
“None of us came into this season saying, ‘I want a positive record,'” said the team’s star Dearon Fox. “But in my opinion, it’s good. It’s good for the club and this city, that the streak has finally stopped. As far as we’re concerned, we want to do much bigger things.” One of those things will be to reach the playoffs, thereby ending a streak of 16 seasons outside the postseason – the longest streak in the four leading sports in the United States.
“I’ve been here for over four years, I’ve seen the biggest downturn, the frustration of the fans and people in this club,” added Harrison Barnes. “It’s nice to be on the other side now. I’m lucky to be a part of this moment.”
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The one who is not a partner for the loser again is Ben Simmons, who did not dress in any of the 12 games after the All-Star break, while suffering from knee and back pain. Jack Vaughan claimed that he hopes to see the Australian until the end of the season: “We want him to return to play, he wants to play, and that is definitely the goal.”