Is the Lakers-Kings rivalry back? We hope so

The NBA is better when the Kings and Lakers are rivals.

With LeBron James sidelined by a groin injury, the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings played a thriller with legitimate Western Conference playoff implications on Thursday night.

The upstart Kings won at the buzzer on a dagger by Bogdan Bogdanovic, temporarily moving them to the No. 8 seed in the West. After the game, emerging Kings star De’Aaron Fox had this to say about what it’s like to play the Lakers in Sacramento:

On the crowd at the Golden 1 Center, Fox said:

“They help us a lot. There’s too many f——— Lakers in here, but we definitely feed off the energy.”

The Kings are finally giving their fans something to be excited about this season after 12 straight years of missing the playoffs. Sacramento is the best story in the NBA this season, and they proved it again on Thursday vs. LA.

The Kings pulled off another amazing comeback vs. the Lakers

Bogdanovic was the hero vs. the Lakers, draining this nasty step-back three as the buzzer went off to give Sacramento the W.

Bogdanovic came off the bench to score a team-high 23 points on a night when Fox and co-star Buddy Hield were struggling. Fox only finished with 15 points on 5-of-20 shooting, while Hield scored just six points in 29 minutes. Bogdanovic’s play is a testament to the Kings’ depth.

Sacramento trailed 104-89 with 6:44 remaining in this game and still won. The Kings are making a habit out of becoming comeback kids after erasing an 11-point fourth quarter deficit against the Pelicans on Sunday and coming back from 19 points down against the Grizzlies on Dec. 21.

Per ESPN, Sacramento is the first team to win three consecutive home games when trailing by 15 points or more since San Antonio did it during the 2016-17 season.

More importantly: Is the Lakers-Kings rivalry back?

The Lakers and Kings had one of the NBA’s great rivalries at the turn of the millennium, playing three consecutive years in the playoffs from 2000-2002. The Lakers won every series and went on to win the NBA championship in each of those years behind Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.

But for a while, the Kings were giving the Lakers’ dynasty its biggest test.

The Lakers-Kings rivalry was filled with so many memorable moments. Who could ever forget Robert Horry’s buzzer-beater in Game 4 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals with the Kings holding a 2-1 lead?

That 2002 series exists as one the biggest black marks in recent NBA history after allegations that the series was fixed by referee Tim Donaghy. The Lakers famously shot 27 free-throws in the fourth quarter of Game 6 with the Kings leading 3-2. LA ultimately won the series with an overtime victory in Game 7.

The Lakers also beat the Kings in a five-game first round series in 2000, and swept Sacramento in the second round in 2001.

Kings fans haven’t had much to cheer for since those glory days led by Chris Webber, Peja Stojaković, Mike Bibby and Jason Williams ended. Finally, after more than a decade of mismanagement and blunders at the top of the draft, the Kings have put together a playoff contender behind Fox, Hield, and a strong supporting cast.

The Lakers and Kings would both be in the playoffs today

Right now, the Lakers are 20-15 and the Kings are 19-16. If the playoffs started today, the Lakers would be the No. 5 seed in the West and the Kings would be the No. 8 seed.

There’s certainly a lot of basketball left to be play before the calendar flips to 2019, and the Phoenix Suns are the only team in the West without playoff aspirations.

But here’s hoping the Kings and Lakers both find a way to get in. The NBA is better when this rivalry is back on.