Exactly ten years ago, the Sacramento Kings had just put the finishing touches on win No. 17 of the 2005-06 season - defeating the Los Angeles Lakers in overtime at ARCO Arena.

As of Tuesday, the current squad also stands at 17 wins.

Through the first 40 games, both the ’15-‘16 Kings and the ’05-’06 team posted records of 17-23. What propelled the ‘05-‘06 Kings, however, was their remarkable hot streak to close the season, in which the team won 20 of their final 29 games. Ultimately, finishing with a 44-38 record and earning the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoffs.

Reddit user Such_Good_Insight proposed a question in the Kings subreddit, asking how the last Kings playoff team compared to today’s unit as Sacramento is once again in the playoff hunt.

It was an intriguing question, because the similarities between the squads don’t stop at just their records.

The ‘05-‘06 team was anchored on offense by a point guard-center duo of Mike Bibby and Brad Miller, who averaged a combined 36.1 points per game. This season, the guard-center combo of Rajon Rondo and DeMarcus Cousins is also serving an important role in the team’s success, averaging a similar 37.6 points per contest.

Additionally, both squads benefitted from the scoring contributions made at the small forward position. The current team with Rudy Gay (18 points per game) and the ‘05-‘06 team with a combination of Peja Stojakovic (16.5 PPG) – who was traded midseason - and Metta World Peace (formerly Ron Artest) (16.9 PPG).

Both team’s also featured future Hall of Fame coaches.

Rick Adelman, who was at the helm for the ‘05-‘06 Kings, is the winningest coach in Franchise history. While current Kings coach George Karl is the fifth-winningest coach in NBA history.

Rick utilized the depth of his roster, which featured Bonzi Wells, Kevin Martin, Francisco Garcia and Corliss Williamson, using nine different starters for at least 10 games that season.

As for current Kings head coach George Karl, he’s also experimented with the starting five and has had 12 different players start at least once so far this season.

Statistically the team’s are similar as well, with the past team ranking 11th in offensive rating and this season’s squad ranking 10th. The difference, however, comes in a noted area of improvement for Karl’s unit - the ’05-’06 team ranked 12th in defensive rating, while this season’s team ranks 23rd.

Sacramento currently sits just a half game outside of the eighth seed in the Western Conference as the midpoint of the NBA season nears. A hot streak similar to the one to end the season in 2006 would be key to help propel the current outfit into a playoff spot.

Guards:



Mike Bibby | Rajon Rondo

Kevin Martin | Ben McLemore

Bonzi Wells | Darren Collison

Ronnie Price | Marco Belinelli

Jason Hart | Seth Curry/James Anderson



Centers:



Brad Miller | DeMarcus Cousins

Vitaly Potapenko | Willie Cauley-Stein



Forwards:



Ron Artest/Peja Stojakovic | Rudy Gay

Francisco Garcia | Omri Casspi

Shareef Abdur-Rahim | Kosta Koufos

Kenny Thomas | Quincy Acy

Corliss Williamson | Caron Butler

Brian Skinner | Duje Dukan/Eric Moreland





