Did Kings end Warriors’ dynasty? Can they beat the Pelicans to vanquish another demon?

The Kings might have brought down one of the NBA’s great dynasties Tuesday when they obliterated the Golden State Warriors in the opening round of the NBA play-in tournament.

They will have to vanquish another demon when they face the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday with a chance to advance to the playoffs as the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.

Sacramento rejoiced as the Kings took an insurmountable 26-point fourth-quarter lead in a 118-94 win over the Warriors before a capacity crowd of 18,304 at Golden 1 Center. The Kings kept their playoff hopes alive while avenging last year’s season-ending loss to the Warriors in Game 7 of a memorable first-round series that planted the seeds for this budding Northern California rivalry.

As Kings center Domantas Sabonis lit the beam to illuminate the night sky with Sacramento’s victory signal, people were already wondering if this was the end for a Golden State squad that won four championships in a span of eight years. Immediately after the game, Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox was asked if the outcome would bring about transformational changes for the aging Warriors.

“That’s the question,” Fox said. “I don’t know. I think their dynasty started in (2014-15). I was a sophomore in high school. I was a sophomore in high school watching them win championships, and then they won the championship my first year in the league, and they won a championship my fifth year in the league.

“We’ve been watching this team a long time and I think they’ve been great for this sport. They’ve been great for the basketball world. Obviously, you’ve seen the value of the Warriors skyrocket in the 2010s. I can’t answer your question. I don’t know, but, man, we’ve all been watching this team for a long time, so if it is the end, it is what it is. I’m glad we were able to beat this team at this moment, but they’ve definitely had a hell of a run.”

The Kings will now turn their attention to the Pelicans, a team that went 5-0 against them in the season series. The Kings will be focused on winning another elimination game to set up a first-round matchup against the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder, but the future of the Warriors will be a big talking point in the day, weeks and months to come.

Golden State has 10-time All-Star and two-time MVP Stephen Curry under contract for two more years at a cost of $115.4 million, but Klay Thompson is entering unrestricted free agency after 13 seasons with the Warriors. Thompson went scoreless on 0-of-10 shooting in Tuesday’s loss to the Kings, but coach Steve Kerr said he is still an integral part of the team’s plans

“We need Klay back,” Kerr said. “I know he had a tough night tonight, but what he represents for us, the spacing, we’re not a deep shooting team. We’re a little top heavy and Klay’s presence means so much to the spacing in the flow of the offense, and he still has good years left. I know I speak for everybody in the organization. We want him back. Obviously, there’s business at hand and that has to be addressed with Klay’s representatives and (general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. and owner Joe Lacob), but what Klay has meant to this franchise, as good as he still is, we desperately want him back.”

Kings coach Mike Brown spent six seasons with the Warriors as Kerr’s lead assistant before the Kings hired him to change the culture in Sacramento after 16 consecutive losing seasons. Brown was proud of his team’s improved defense, physicality and fight after the Kings held Golden State to 41.2% shooting from the field and 31.2% shooting from 3-point range, but he said he took no particular joy in taking out the Warriors.

“I didn’t care who we played,” Brown said. “It was about getting a win. Steve Kerr is the most competitive guy. Blonde hair, blue-eyed, good-looking dude who looks like the All-American guy, but he’s about winning, whoever’s in front of him. He wanted to kick my ass. And trust me, I wanted to kick his team’s ass because they were in front of us, but in terms of it being Golden State or whoever was in front of us, I didn’t care. We just want to win.”

The Warriors now have to figure out how to move forward in a way that will allow them to win in the future after finishing sixth in the West last season and 10^th this season. Golden State has eight players under contract for next season: Curry ($55.8 million), Chris Paul ($30 million), Andrew Wiggins ($26.3 million), Draymond Green ($24.1 million), Kevon Looney ($8 million), Jonathan Kuminga ($7.6 million), Moses Moody ($5.8 million) and Brandon Podziemski ($3.5 million). Gary Payton II has a player option for $9.3 million.

Some of those contracts are partially or non-guaranteed, but those players are scheduled to earn $174 million. The salary cap is set at $141 million with luxury tax lines of $172 million for the first tax apron and $179 million for the second apron.

Thompson and Green are 34 years old. Curry is 36. Paul is 38.

Brown couldn’t speculate when asked about the possibility of Golden State keeping Curry, Thompson and Green together for another year, but he respects what that group has done over the past decade.

“You’ve got three Hall of Famers,” Brown said. “I don’t know. Those guys can still play, in my opinion, but the reality is that’s not my problem. It’s not my concern. We’re getting ready for New Orleans, but those three guys together are special.”