Kings-Warriors turned into an epic first round series
Sacramento made the playoffs for the first time in 16 years, while Golden State eyes its fifth championship in less than a decade
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — In a playoffs year that has featured all California NBA teams in action for the first time ever, the real fun turned out to be in NorCal. The Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors played an all-time first round series this past week that was short on travel distance but long on excitement.
Golden State dug itself an 0-2 hole with back-to-back losses on the road before winning three straight games. And when many thought the Warriors of old were finally back and well on their way to another series victory, the Kings stole a game at Chase Center to force a fittingly deciding game back up the interstate in Sacramento.
Golden State eventually pulled away in the second half of Game 7 to win the game 120-100 — and the series — in what many pundits and fans alike called the best first round in NBA playoff history.
Game 4 in San Francisco alone recorded the largest TV audience for a first-round NBA playoff game in 21 years at the time, according to ESPN. It featured 19 lead changes, and came down to the final possession — Harrison Barnes missed a potential buzzer beating 3-pointer for Sacramento. Then Game 7 this past Sunday broke those records by averaging 9.8 million viewers, the largest for a first round game in 24 years and ABC’s biggest viewership ever for a non-Finals postseason game.
The series featured two of the most potent offenses in the NBA this season. On the stat sheet the two teams were pretty even, but the defending champion Warriors shot at a slightly better clip from the field which proved to be the difference1 in the series.
It had been a long time since the Kings were in the playoffs entering the series. They went from no Western Conference finishes higher than ninth in the past 16 years to posting the best offense in league history and a No. 3 seed in the playoffs this season.
In fact, it’s been so long since Sac sniffed playoff hoops the fabric of the NBA has literally changed. What was once a bruising big man’s league the likes of Shaquille O’Neal dominated is now one of long-range sharpshooters like Stephen Curry. Teams are built to thrive beyond the arc, evidenced by these shot density charts comparing the 2002-03 Kings — the last team to go to a Game 7 in franchise history — vs this year’s version.
The Moneyballing of basketball has effectively removed the midrange jumpshot and replaced it with efficient 3-pointers or shots from right around the basket — with nothing in between.
This is what every single one of Sacramento’s made and missed shot locations from the 2002-03 and 2022-23 eras look like2:
The Warriors advanced to face the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round to vie for the Champion of California title; the Lakers won their series last Friday night against Memphis while the other LA team — the Clippers — lost in five games to the Phoenix Suns.
*Chase Center photo from Game 4 of the 2023 Western Conference First Round courtesy of Jessica Harrison.
Oh, and Stephen Curry’s 50 points, the most ever in a Game 7.
Code to recreate the above plots can be found on my Github. H/T to Tanya Shapiro for her recent tutorials on how to create NBA shot charts.