Kings dream season comes to an end. Sacramento fans are thankful, hopeful for the future.

The Sacramento Kings’ dream season has ended, and fans are understandably appreciative of the team’s bounce-back year.

Following Sunday’s disappointing Game 7 loss against the Golden State Warriors, the fans will look toward next season and hope their team will build on its first postseason appearance since 2006. The first-round match-up mirrored a slugfest, with the Warriors’ championship experience and Stephen Curry’s 50 points proving to be too much in the final game.

This was the third Game 7 in the team’s history and only the second the city has hosted since the Kings moved to Sacramento in 1985. They’ve now lost all three.

On Sunday, the sellout crowd of 18,253 chanted “SAC-RA-MENTO” during the final second of the game, showing their respect for their beloved team.

At the Public House in downtown, fans clapped before closing out their tabs.

“I promise we’ll be back next year” some fans said as they left Section 916, a viewing area outside Golden 1 Center.

“They are so appreciative of what this team gave their loyal fanbase all season,” said Mike Breen, the play-by-play sports commentator for ABC.

“Sounds crazy, but if I was the Kings, I would light the beam after the game today,” added Mark Jackson, the game analyst for ABC. “Appreciation of the incredible year they had. Turning things around in Sacramento.”

The loss marks the end of a miracle season for the Kings, where it finished as the Western Conference’s No. 3 seed and began the fan-led mantra “Light The Beam.

Silas Fritz, a lifelong Kings fan, proudly stood in section 916, saying “disappointment is the least of my worries.” He looked forward to this summer, when the Kings could improve their bench players, change its positioning in the NBA draft and attract big-time free agents.

“Maybe Damian Lillard might want to come out here,” said Fritz. “It just depends on what we do. Having people like (head coach) Mike Brown and our management with their head in the right direction, hopefully things change with the results of this game.

A few fans could be seen leaving the game early as the game got away from the Kings late in the fourth quarter.

Dwight, 31, and Martina Monroe, 32, a married couple from Vallejo, left to beat the traffic. Dwight Monroe said the current team couldn’t get it done but he was hopeful for future years.

“(The Kings) have a solid team,” he said. “We need a real shooting guard. It’s really what it comes down to, someone who’s really going to get buckets.”

Alex Trujillo, 23, and Maximiliano Valencia, 22, drove from Modesto to Sacramento to watch Game 7. Trujillo donned a purple Keegan Murray jersey and Valencia wore a yellow Curry one.

After the game, Valencia said he was receiving some flak from his friend group, particularly Valencia, but the pair said their friendship holds strong.

“I definitely have the upper hand, and I’m definitely going to brag about it for the rest of the day,” Valencia said.

Trujillo said he was upset with Sunday’s loss, but looked forward to next season.

“For their first playoff run in a long time, it was good,” Trujillo said.