Kings' Long-Term Plan Questioned by NBA Fans After Play-In Loss to Anthony Davis, Mavs

The Sacramento Kings failed to make it past the first round of the playoffs for the 21st consecutive season.

Sacramento lost to the Dallas Mavericks 120-106 in Wednesday's Western Conference play-in tournament game at Golden 1 Center, ending its hope of making the playoffs. As for Dallas, it will face the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday in a game that will determine the No. 8 seed in the West.

Anthony Davis (27 points, nine rebounds and three blocks) led the way as one of five Mavericks to score in double figures. Klay Thompson added 23 points, five rebounds and five three-pointers, while P.J. Washington (17 points and nine rebounds) and Brandon Williams (17 points and five assists) provided important support.

DeMar DeRozan did what he could to keep Sacramento within striking distance with 33 points and seven rebounds, but it was far from enough to prevent a loss.

Given yet another early exit for the Kings, social media was left questioning the team's overall direction in the aftermath:

Both teams underwent drastic overhauls this season with the Mavericks trading away Luka Dončić to get Davis and the Kings adding Zach LaVine while losing De'Aaron Fox. Yet Wednesday marked an opportunity for one of them to start changing the narrative of their season and move one win away from the playoffs.

Dallas wasted no time doing just that and jumped out to a commanding 23-point halftime lead behind a 44-19 advantage in the second quarter.

Thompson looked like the vintage version of himself and caught fire from three, Davis connected from the outside, Williams provided a spark off the bench and Washington added secondary scoring in the lane.

While the Kings improved on their abysmal second quarter after halftime, it was still a daunting deficit to overcome. Even though DeRozan found his spots while working in the lane and LaVine added some shooting, the home team still trailed by 18 entering the fourth.

When Sacramento's offense built momentum with spurts from DeRozan, its defense let it down. And then when the defense finally started to play well early in the fourth quarter, its offense went missing in action.

It was a frustrating cycle for the Kings, who couldn't capitalize even when the Mavericks left the door open at times in the second half.

Davis sent the fans toward the exits with an individual scoring run in the middle of the fourth, which allowed Dallas to start shifting its attention toward a Friday showdown with the Grizzlies.

It also shifted the Kings' focus to the offseason.