The Sacramento Kings snapped a 16-year NBA playoff drought in 2023, which was the longest in sports history. They did it impressively, earning the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference and home court advantage in at least the first round. Unfortunately, they drew the defending champion Golden State Warriors, who landed in the No. 6 seed.
While the Kings were defeated in seven games by the Warriors, there were a lot of positives to take away from this season. In the end, the experience and championship mettle of the Warriors was too much for the Kings to overcome as Stephen Curry’s 50-point explosion in Game 7 paced the 120-100 blowout loss.
In that loss, Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox was uncharacteristically poor on the offensive side of the ball. Maybe the moment got a little too big for him and his teammates as he didn’t get into the same flow he had the first six games of the series.
Heading into Game 7, Fox had actually etched his name in the Kings’ history books. Heading into that game, Fox had scored at least 20 points in each of the first six contests, which were also his first career playoff games.
According to ESPN Stats and Info, Fox scoring 20+ points in his first six playoff games tied a franchise record that was held by Oscar Robertson. He also scored 20+ points in six straight games to start his playoff career.
Like Robertson, Fox’s streak was snapped in the seventh game. Had Fox been able to keep that streak alive, things could have turned out differently for the Kings at Golden 1 Center on Sunday afternoon.
In the elimination game, Fox ended up scoring only 16 points as he shot 5-of-19 from the field, going 3-of-10 from 3-point range and 3-of-4 from the foul line. The All-Star point guard had as many fouls and turnovers as baskets made, which ultimately led to the Kings’ demise.
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