SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The defending champion Warriors are taking on a Kings franchise that finally made it back to the playoffs in a battle for Northern California supremacy.
The Sacramento Kings had a stellar season, even claiming their first division title since 2003. It's been a long road for the Kings, and Kings fans, who withstood a 16-season playoff drought in the leadup to the game.
However, the drought-busting performance from the Kings isn't the only fascinating fact surrounding this matchup. Here's what to know about the first round playoff series between the Kings and Warriors.
1. The Sacramento Kings have a historic offensive rating and are leading the league on that front at 118.6.
2. The Kings are the season leaders in points per game at 120.7, but the Golden State Warriors are right behind them at 118.9. That being said, both teams have been criticized for their defense at times through the season.
3. The Sacramento Kings are historic underdogs in their first round clash with the Warriors. Earlier this week, the Kings were seen as underdogs on sports betting sites. According to one sports betting analyst, the last time a three-seed was an underdog to a six-seed to the degree seen with the Kings v. Warriors was 1990.
4. Kings Coach Mike Brown is a former assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors in their last championship season. He'll be going up against his former team in the playoffs.
5. The Kings fanbase has been waiting for this day for 16 seasons. Fans endured the longest NBA playoff drought in history to get to the playoffs this year. The drought has left these Kings fans hungry and excited for the playoffs.
6. Kings have homecourt advantage, but the Chase Center and Warriors fanbase are only two hours away. In the last matchup between the Kings and Warriors at Golden 1 Center, there were fans willing to make the journey to support their teams. Vivid Seats projects Kings fans will make up 70% of the Golden 1 Center with Warriors fans making up the remaining 30%.
7. The Warriors are a championship team, but the Kings have their own accolades this season as well: two All-Stars in De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis and current recordholder for rookie 3-pointers Keegan Murray.
8. On this stage, this matchup has never happened before. It's the first time the Warriors and the Kings have been in the playoffs at the same time since the Sacramento era began.
It's expected to be an exciting game. It'll also highlight Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox. Everybody knows what Curry is capable of on this stage, and Fox now gets his moment after a strong regular season.
The game begins at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, airing exclusively on ABC10.
Who do you have taking Game 1 or even the whole series? Let ABC10 know in the Facebook post below.
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