SAN FRANCISCO -- The Kings packed their bags and headed 90 miles southwest to San Francisco with a two-games-to-none series lead over the defending champion Golden State Warriors in their Western Conference first-round NBA playoff series.
Four days later, that lead was completely wiped out.
Sacramento had a chance in Game 3 on Thursday to put the Warriors on the wrong side of history and take a three-games-to-none best-of-seven series lead -- something no team has ever overcome in the NBA playoffs. Those efforts failed miserably in a 17-point loss. OK, on to the next.
The Kings had an opportunity to win Sunday's Game 4 and be one win away from sending the Warriors home. As history writes, 95 percent of teams that go up 3-1 end up winning the series. That effort, though, also failed.
It all points back to the biggest pre-series storyline of this Northern California matchup: NBA champions vs. playoff rookies.
Despite their early series lead, Sunday’s down-to-the-wire 126-125 loss at Chase Center exposed what the world already knew about the Kings.
“I thought our guys came out with a purpose tonight, and gave ourselves a chance to win and that’s all you can ask for come playoff time,” Kings coach Mike Brown said after the game. “But we made some timely mistakes, especially in the fourth quarter.
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“We gapped -- and this is where our playoff inexperience comes into play because you can’t rest out there, or you can’t think that you can play something a certain way and the champions are not going to make you pay the price.”
After the Kings outscored the Warriors in the opening two quarters on Sunday, the Warriors responded with a 37-point third quarter, outscoring the Kings by 14. But the fourth quarter had fans on the edge of their seat for the entirety of the final 12 minutes.
Sacramento scored 15 points in the first three minutes of the quarter and its 15-4 run allowed the Kings to regain the one-point lead. Briefly. The game saw 19 different lead changes and it came down to the final shot -- a Harrison Barnes missed 3-pointer as time expired.
But Barnes’ 3-point attempt wasn’t the only missed opportunity for Sacramento. The Kings had three different possessions in the fourth quarter to tie or take the lead and, instead, turned the ball over each time.
“The turnovers or shot selection at the rim in transition had a huge impact on the outcome of the game as well as the defensive breakdowns in the fourth quarter,” Brown said. “But we go from it and learn from it which we will do and we’ll be ready for the next game.”
The Kings now have no other option than to focus on Game 5, which is back on their home court at Golden 1 Center where they’ve been undefeated this playoff series.
Kings All-Star center Domantas Sabonis weighed in on the vibes around the team as the series heads back to Sacramento.
“I think it’s good,” Sabonis said. “Locker room is good. Confidence isn’t down. If anything, if we would have knocked that shot down or not made mistakes at the end of the game it would have been a different outcome.
“But we made these mistakes and they are champions and they are going to make you pay. We just have to learn from them and not let them occur again.”
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De’Aaron Fox dropped a game-high 38 points. Keegan Murray found his playoff rhythm and sank five 3s. Sabonis continued to fight through a physical battle. But when you’re the rookies and you’re playing the vets, sometimes that’s just not enough.
Sacramento's two-games-to-none series lead over the defending champions surprised the world. But after Sunday’s loss, that didn’t matter anymore. It's now up to the Kings, and only the Kings, to rewrite the narrative that this series portrayed prior to Game 1.
And they'll get to do so with a clean slate.