The Kings defeated the Timberwolves and advanced to the Playoffs as the eighth seed in the West.
With that, the Western Conference Playoffs standings were as follows.
No. 1, Los Angeles Lakers.
No. 2, San Antonio Spurs.
No. 3, Memphis Grizzlies.
No. 4, New Orleans Pelicans.
No. 5, Dallas Mavericks.
No. 6, Los Angeles Clippers.
No. 7, Salt Lake City Jazz.
No. 8, Sacramento Kings.
In the first round, the Kings would face their old rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers.
Without a doubt, this was the most exciting first-round matchup.
The appeal wasn't that the teams were evenly matched. In fact, there was quite a gap between them.
The Lakers especially had their two former No. 1 picks, King Arthur and Brow, as well as last year's rookie, Milan Barton.
Although he was only in his second year, he was already averaging 18.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.
Those three made up the only Big Three in the league this year.
Together, they averaged 78.3 points per game.
That was an astonishing figure.
And their Role Players were all very capable, too.
Compared to the Lakers, the Kings weren't even playing in the same league.
What made this series exciting was the star players on both sides.
The Lakers' King Arthur had been the NBA's best player, bar none, in the two-plus years since Wang Yi retired.
Even Antetokounmpo would only have a four-to-six chance against King Arthur.
Antetokounmpo, four; King Arthur, six.
Especially after Wang Yi returned, King Arthur—who had been about to start resting—went into overdrive.
Over those final seven games, he averaged 45 points, 13 rebounds, and 8.3 assists.
Wang Yi's comeback had clearly lit a fire under him.
Now that he was facing Wang Yi's team, he would naturally give it everything he had.
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