Now that the dust has settled and the NBA’s final standings are locked, the Sacramento Kings will host the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs.
Game 1 will happen at Golden 1 Center, on Saturday, April 15th, at 5:30 PM PT.
This series will be rife with storylines. Not only have the Kings and Warriors never played each other in the playoffs, but the two teams have never been in the playoffs in the same season. For two teams so geographically close, their success has always been diametrically opposed.
There’s also the fact that Mike Brown, the presumptive and deserving NBA Coach of the Year, spent the last six seasons as an assistant coach with the Warriors.
Donte DiVincenzo, a key reserve for the Warriors, was acquired by the Kings at last season’s trade deadline, only to be sent walking in free agency.
Harrison Barnes, on the verge of free agency and a key veteran presence on the Kings, won a championship with the Warriors. Barnes played all 82 games for the Kings this season. The last time he played all 82 games was for a Warriors title team.
Leandro Barbosa previously worked for the Warriors as a player development coach, and also won championship as a player for the Warriors.
Luke Loucks also worked for the Warriors, where he worked alongside Recee Caldwell, De’Aaron’s Fox’s wife. Their experience working together in Golden State led to Loucks being instrumental in working with De’Aaron Fox this past offseason.
Last season the Kings were coached by Luke Walton, a former Warriors assistant coach, and Alvin Gentry, a former Warriors assistant coach. Gentry remains with the Kings in an advisory role.
And, of course, the Kings chairman is Vivek Ranadivé, a former minority owner of the Warriors who sold his share in order lead the ownership group that bought the Kings and kept them in Sacramento.
In short, the Kings are quite familiar with the Golden State Warriors.
In a bit of wonderful news, the first game will called by someone intimately familiar with the Kings:
https://twitter.com/richarddeitsch/status/1645217375082381312?s=20
Having Mark Jones on the call is a wonderful bit of news. It will be wonderful to kick off the Kings playoff era with a play-by-play announcer who knows the Kings, appreciates the Kings, and respects both the Kings organization and Kings fans.
This is going to be a very slow yet very busy week as we prepare for the Kings return to the NBA playoffs. One thing is for sure, there’s no lack of storylines in this matchup.
Being ‘em on.
At the beginning of the season (especially after the 0-4 start), had you offered me the Kings hosting the Dubs in the 1st rd. of the playoffs, I would have grabbed it no questions asked.
Hell yes to that!
It would be great to be the team that knocks the defending champs out of the running.
Let’s do it!
well that’s it, isn’t it.
At the season’s start I had hoped to make it to playing this Tuesday or Wednesday (and Friday) and dreamed of making it a Saturday or Sunday Game 1.
Here we all are – the home court advantage bringing it down to Golden1 Center. A sunny Saturday and The Purple Reign.
It’s been a Fantasy Regular Season. And it is officially over. Playoffs, baby!
And do you know what is even sweeter than Lighting the Beam this season after every win, all 48 of them?
Playoff Beam.
Gonna be sweet! Go Kings!
I love it!
I had a friend ask me last week who I hoped the kings went up against in the first round. I said that the clippers would be the easiest to beat (still think that), the Wolves would have been the most obnoxious, the Lakers the most satisfying and the Warriors the biggest statement. No one thinks Sacramento has a chance. This week is going to be full of Warriors in X games predictions, or Kings in 7. GSW have been awful on the road this year (19 games under .500). They don’t have an answer for Domas, and really don’t have one for Fox. I think that this is a huge test of the team’s mettle, but my instinct is that we pass it. Then in the second round we play either a depleted Grizz team (still incredibly tough), or a team that had to win the play-in tournament. Nothing is given, but it’s hardly a buzz saw for Sac to get through the west this year. Which is an insane thing to say.
Also, with all due respect, I hate that Malika Andrews is going to be calling this series in anyway. She’s been doing the ESPN powerrankings for the Kings all year and has had nothing to contribute. It’s good that she’s countered with Mark Jones who will bring understanding of the team to the series.
Kings in 5. Bring it on.
I think NO would’ve been the easiest team to beat. Beating GS would definitely make a statement. I’m guessing that this series will go at least 6 games.
So what I want to know is where the first official TKH watch party is going to be? We had a few STR meetups years ago, but I think now is the perfect time for TKH to to have one.
considering we didn’t have this online community the last time the Kings made the playoffs, it’s time for us to come out of the woodwork and celebrate.
The bars in downtown/midtown Sac are going to be PACKED (great for the businesses!). Especially since it’ll be a 5:30 primetime start. People may have to gtab a table super early.
I’d like to suggest the rooftop pool on the Sawyer, but perhaps TKH folks would feel more comfortable at the Pancake Circus.
I passed by Pancake Circus so many times when my folks would drive through downtown, but never ate there. Wonder if it’s any good?
I have nostalgia for the place because it’s a local institution, but it’s not much better than Denny’s if you want the truth.
No. It’s so bad even Starvin’ George Karl doesn’t like it.
Any TKH fans in New York?
I’m down for a watch party. Just i will be out of town for game 1. Malt & Mash is a great spot near DOCO. Get there early.
I’d offer O’mally’s; however, my family sold last August after 25 years. Enjoyed meeting many of you when we did a STR night. I’m so excited for these playoffs! Probably won’t be in sac during them but will be watching up north for sure! Go Kings!
I wouldn’t bother. They’re going to be packed like everywhere else that’s open. I’ve seen what happens on Monday and Wednesday’s on cold, wet nights. The few places that open are pretty busy. The Monday on that Minnesota game, every place that was open was packed.
It’l be worse this weekend.
Other GS / Sac. connections:
I-80.
Important to note that many from the Bay Area have relocated to Sac., but far fewer from Sac. have relocated to the Bay Area. Coincidence?
We don’t charge tolls for our bridges.
Heh, if the Kings somehow miraculously make it to the NBA Finals, they could potentially do it without ever having to leave the state of California.
Golden State > LA Lakers > LA Clippers.
The I-80 and the double I-5 series.
What is I-5?
(Asking for a friend in LA)
Tell your friend in LA “it’s the 5”.
For all of the beautiful Victorian homes in San Francisco, NOT ONE WAS FEATURED IN THE OSCAR NOMINATED FILM “LADYBIRD”.
I don’t hate the matchup – the TWolves would have been my nightmare pairing – but don’t particularly love it either. Would have preferred any of the 3 LA teams.
Anyways, LFG! This is *very* winnable.
It’s play-off time baby!
I am fearing this matchup.
I think we’re going to see a lot of zone defense.
I think Domas will be dared to be selfish to disrupt our offensive flow and I wonder how he’ll react to that.
I’m not confident about our ability to stay out of foul trouble. I know it’s all the rage to blame refs, but we make a lot of unnecessary ticky-tacky fouls.
I am worried about bench contributions, even with shortened rotations. Nobody has been truly consistent, and I think that Monk has gone from underrated to overrated over the course of the season.
The good thing is that this team has proven me wrong all season, so I hope they’ll do that again.
Happy for everyone on TKH who managed to get tickets to a game. Enjoy the ride!
Finally……………..we are here…
Hope that the refs be fair and not baised in Dub’s side (the whole league love Warriors, as they generate lots of views and income)….and hopefully, Curry and othes are not getting the stars foul calls……
Hueter need to be in Playoff mode……..
and Monk need to be aggreesive
Fox not just settle for 3 pts shots
Connections from the past:
What about Garry St Jean
and Rick Adelman.
and Michael Malone.
Very much looking forward to observing the reactions of Burke & Andrews when Jones uses “hotter than fish grease” for the second time, and if they deign to respond when asked if they know what “NBA stands for.” The sad part is that when he goes off of his own script, he’s adept at ad-libbing, but he’s too busy explaining that “improvising” means the exact same thing, and loading “put him on a cheap flight” into the chamber to be used as soon as possible.
Jones isn’t the worst, but you can set your watch by him, and it’s a terrible quality in someone discussing a live event. Let the hacky recitation of synonyms begin!
Yup. Couldn’t agree more.
In fact, I’d like to fix a line from the article..
“It will be wonderful to kick off the Kings playoff era with a play-by-play announcer who is paid by the Kings, shills for the Kings, and condescends to speak to both English speakers and Kings fans.”
Well I disagree he is the worse… can’t stand him and his pseudo intellect and telegraphed one liners… put him in the weight room? Blend cycle … he has been the only black mark on a glorious return to the playoffs.. you are much kinder than me!
Because “Put it in the book and send him to the line!” was always such a fresh take.
Find one single complimentary remark from me about Peaches’ work.
did Peaches’ alt-right show get any traction? I haven’t thought of that POS in years now.
For me, the last 16 years of Kings basketball have been like the ending of The Last American Virgin movie.
Gary has fallen for Karen, but she always seems to break his heart. The 80’s soundtrack even fits with my Kings fandom…
♫
I’m gonna keep on lovin’ you
’cause it’s the only thing I want to do
♫
Towards the end of the movie his buddy Rick sleeps with Karen and then dumps her after finding out he got her pregnant, Gary comes to her rescue and takes her to get an abortion and pays for it with his own money, and takes care of her while she recovers. She then shows affection to Gary and you can’t help but think his love and commitment will have reciprocation.
But then this happens, and that’s the end. Really.
Again, fitting lyrics for a Kings fan with unrequited playoff love.
♫
♫
Anyway, for those of you who weren’t watching Kings games until the drought started, prepare your cherries!
Thanks for the spoiler alert.
Lets not forget that weird part where he brings her a bushel of oranges when she gets the abortion, which I guess is an Israeli tradition that was in the original version of the film and totally made sense.
I’m also totally not ashamed that I own a copy of this on Blu-ray.
Ohhhhh!
I knew there was the Israeli original, but I didn’t know the oranges was related to that culture.
Yeah, there are some weird things in that movie.
And I am jealous you own it on Blu-ray.
If you’re unfamiliar with it, I highly recommend a doc called Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story Of Cannon Films. Cannon was a distributor and video store-staple throughout the eighties that was mostly known for producing b-action films and sequels to dead franchises (Superman, in particular), but they also flirted with teen sex comedies, amongst other genres.
They were run by two Israeli cousins named Golan and Globus, whom had both found minor success in their home country belting out cheap movies for film-starved Israelis, and when they eventually came to America, one of their first projects was The Last American Virgin, which was an, ahem, “Americanized” remake of their earlier film called Lemon Popsicle.
For what it’s worth, I can’t remember last week’s news, but hold onto stuff like this. Also, I’ve been away for a year or two, so it’s great chatting with you again, Kosta! Hope all is well in your life!
Buddy, I’ve been preparing my cherry for twenty years.
Me, too!
“It’s the nights I show up, and we’re playing against the sorry motherf—kers,” said Green in the clip, prompting someone else to offer up the Kings as an example. “The Kings stink,” Draymond agreed. “… How am I supposed to get myself up…”
Somehow I don’t doubt that Draymond has trouble getting it up.
If anything, this is such a good test for the Kings to see where they stand.
They’ve got home-court, everyone’s healthy, now show what you can do against the defending champs.
All those years this is exactly what *we* wished for.
Can’t wait.
In spite of a phenomenal season, the elephant in the room is interior defense. Did not see much improvement over the course of the season, and most of the wins were won by outscoring the opponent in volume. In the playoffs, it’s defense that wins series since each team gets to know the other’s offense. Mike Brown & Co.’s test is to somehow engineer this change over the course of one week.
Gotta say, though, since he got back into the rotation, Len has done a nice job bringing rim protection.
In the last few games, I kinda wanted to see both he and Sabonis on the floor, just to see what that kind of size might do in real time. It’d be for extremely rare matchups, but that’s a lot of former Soviet republic meat to go through to get a rebound.
It all depends if our shots drop. If we are off, the warriors will win. If our shots are falling, we will win. Lets hope we get hot starting with game one. I’m a little worried since we didn’t look so hot ending the season.
FTW. LTB!
Taking off so I can’t quite read all the comments until I get in air. The worse thing about this season has been listening to Mark Jones… and now he will ruin playoff bliss by being an announcer. He is absolutely horrible…
I say bring on the mad titans from the Bay!
The Warriors looked terrific Sunday. The Kings have lost the past 4 of 6 games, the last three and they haven’t won a game in 2 weeks. I still think the Kings are going to give the Dubs some problems in the paint. Sabonis should have a field day every game of this series and it’s up to Fox and Huerter to push the tempo faster than the Dubs. No easy task against their current roster. Go Kings.
I don’t have any problem with Mark Jones. Many announcers have their canned cliches. He seems like a decent guy. Better him than Reggie Miller, Stan Van Gundy, or (the always excited) Kevin Harlan. It’s neat that we can go to a Kings game when it’s still light outside. I think the series will be determined more by whether Curry, Thompson, or Poole go crazy from deep. No one else on that team can score much more than 15 a game consistently.
We get Mark Jones AND DORIS BURKE!!!!!! on the call!
GO KINGS!!!
So I finally caved to buy NBA League Pass this year… am I not able to watch the playoffs?!? Anyone know? I don’t have cable.
Badge Legend