Sacramento fans ‘Light the Beam’ as the Kings knock off the Warriors in first playoff game
Outside the Golden 1 Center in Section 916, as Malik Monk prepared to shoot the first of two free throws, Sacramento Kings fans were already demanding their victory beam.
Fans craned their necks up at the three jumbo screens. The Kings were only 2.9 seconds away from securing their first playoff win in 17 years. But those were the longest 2.9 seconds that Kings fans ever felt.
Until suddenly, they weren’t. Stephen Curry’s last-second shot didn’t fall, the arena cheers rose and the Kings won, 126-123.
And what once read “2.9” now read “FINAL.”
The street erupted. Hands flew up. Eyes and mouths opened wide as the mass of Kings supporters let out a collective, “WHOOO!”
Then they yelled the three words they’d been longing to chant.
‘We’ve waited so long!’
Joseph Deleon, who was decked out in purple face paint and a black bandit eye mask, let out whoops of joy as he captured the moment on his iPhone.
“I graduated high school in 2006!” he shouted, breathlessly. That was the last time the Kings played a playoffs game. “We’ve waited so long!”
Fans inside Golden 1 Center chanted the same three words as the people in the streets. Staffers rolled out the comically large purple button. De’Aaron Fox, the Kings’ star point guard and the game’s leading scorer with 38 points, stood by, ready to blast the laser.
Outside though, the beam already soared toward the heavens. The crowd roared in approval.
On the broadcast, the countdown began. Fans didn’t care that the beam was already lit. They joined in the count.
“Five, four, three, two, one —”
Fox smashed the button.
“— LIGHT THE BEAM!”
Another round of cheering, hugging, screaming, crying in the streets. Bodies gridlocked as thousands of fans from inside and outside the arena converged on Downtown Commons to bask in the purple glow.
‘It didn’t feel real’
“It’s just a big day for the whole city,” said Zach Pickett, 26, of Folsom.
Pickett met his friends at the Tipsy Putt to watch the game. The lifelong Kings fan had taken in more than 15 home games this season, but he couldn’t score tickets to Saturday’s game.
He was only 9 the last time the Kings won a playoff game.
“It didn’t feel real until halfway through,” he said.
Pickett was extremely nervous as the second half ticked down. Curry could make a shot at any moment, he thought. Can’t celebrate too soon.
After the win though, he had to catch a glimpse of the beam on the way back to his car. In his wheelchair, he carefully navigated the throng of fans pouring out from the Golden 1 Center’s doors.
There it was, in all its glory — the Beam. The purple beacon of hope, illuminating the night sky.
Like so many other fans, Pickett pointed his phone skyward, snapped a few photos, and sat back to take in the moment.
“One down,” he said. “Three more to go.”
