The Sacramento Kings defeated the Miami Heat 105-97 on Friday, after hitting 19 three- pointers, a total of 57 points, to break down the notorious Miami Heat zone defense.

The powerful Heat is in 4th place in the Eastern Conference behind the defending champions, Toronto Raptors, the rampaging Milwaukee Bucks, and the Boston Celtics. The Kings meanwhile, are currently in 13th place in the Western Conference. As one of the four California-based teams, the Kings are considered the weakest of the four in recent years.

Coach Luke Walton is happy with his team's performance. Last week, the Kings set a franchise record of 21 3-pointers. According to Fox Sports, Bogdan Bogdanovic had six 3s while Buddy Hield and Nemanja Bjelica had five a piece.

It reminded Sacramento fans of a time over a decade ago when the team was a 3-point powerhouse led by Serbian Peja Stojakovic. Supported by Bobby Jackson, Mike Bibby, and Hedo Turkoglu, the Kings can match and win against a Dirk Nowitzki, Mike Finley, and Steve Nash led Dallas Mavericks in long-range shooting. Two of those Dallas players mentioned are former MVPs of that era.

With two-Serbians in their starting lineup (Bjelica and Bogdanovic) just like the early 2000s (Stojakovic and Vlade Divac), Kings fans can't help but compare. They are expecting a revival of their team in the next few years.

Bogdan Bogdanovic
Bogdan Bogdanovic: Photo by:Sakhalinio [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

In the early 2000s, the Kings had a deep bench led by Canadian Chris Webber. Their multi-national team was one of the only four teams in the entire NBA that was considered a championship contender. Unfortunately for the Kings, the other three teams were also in the Western Conference.

As the only powerhouse team in the 2000s that didn't win the championships, Kings fans are looking for revenge now that the NBA is no longer lopsided in the Western Conference.

Bogdanovic is currently averaging 15 points a game and shoots over 38% at the three point line this season. There's a lot of room for improvement that Coach Walton can work on. Bjelica only scores 12.2 points a game, but shoots an impressive 44.4% beyond the arc. Hield scores 20.3 points, but only shoots at 37.6% in the three point line.

If Sacramento plans to field a competitive team in the next few years, their players need to shape up. Bogdanovic and Hield are 27 years old while Bjelica is already 31. If they want to become NBA All-Stars and lift the Kings to its former glory, it's now or never.