Kings clinch first playoff berth since 2006 with win over Blazers

After a 16-year hiatus, it was only right that the Sacramento Kings punched their own ticket back into the NBA playoffs, with a 120-80 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night.

The Kings had been eligible to qualify for the playoffs since Saturday but had been coming up shy of getting the needed wins from themselves and other teams. Entering play Wednesday, Sacramento was set to clinch its first playoff berth since the 2005-06 season with a road win against the Trail Blazers, a Minnesota Timberwolves road loss against the Phoenix Suns or a LA Clippers road loss against the Memphis Grizzlies.

But the Kings did it on their own, beating the Blazers after the Clippers won and before the Wolves game came to a conclusion.

When it comes to the NFL, NHL, MLB and NBA, there was no franchise with a playoff drought longer than the 16-year one that belonged to the Kings. The 2005-06 Kings won 44 games and lost in the first round of the playoffs to the San Antonio Spurs. Since then, Sacramento had been the jester of the NBA, failing to earn a winning record in any season entering 2022-23. The small-market franchise was stymied by numerous bad draft picks since 2006 while passing on the now-NBA superstars likes of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kawhi Leonard, Devin Booker, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Zach LaVine, Bam Adebayo, Luka Doncic and Trae Young. There was also a revolving door of 12 head coaches. A near-move to Seattle was halted by late NBA commissioner David Stern and the NBA Board of Governors relocation committee. The Kings even traded then-NBA All-Star DeMarcus Cousins on the day of the 2017 All-Star Game.

When the Kings acquired Domantas Sabonis for up-and-coming young star Tyrese Haliburton last season, the