It was a night to remember, that’s for sure.

If not for the final score – which was 116-108 in overtime – then for the potentially last moments the fans shared with their beloved Kings at Power Balance Pavilion Wednesday night after a spirited game against the L.A. Lakers.

It was Fan Appreciation Night at the Pavilion but, as fans arrived, there was an undercurrent of sadness mixed into the excitement for what was expected to be an action-packed game between two longtime rival teams.

Not only was this the last game of the regular season, but with the threat of a team move to Anaheim, it was quite possibly going to be the last game the Kings ever play in Sacramento..

“I’m a season ticket holder,” said Alvin McGowan, 52, a security guard for the arena on duty for the game night. “Usually (the corporate office) opens up sales for next season’s tickets by now, but they haven’t done that. That scares me.”

McGowan wasn’t alone in his concerns for the future of the team. Many fans expressed their opposition to the possible team move with the waving of homemade signs and their chants of “Here we stay! Not L.A.!” throughout the game Wednesday night.

The arena was completely packed for the sold-out game. With more than 17,600 people in attendance, you could count the number of empty seats in the arena and still not come up with enough to fill your average-size school bus.

Despite the behind-the-scenes drama about leaving Sacramento, the Kings weren’t going to let the season end quietly. From the first tip-off, it was clear both teams came to put on a show.

Lakers forward Lamar Odom put up the first score of the night, followed almost immediately by a game-tying fadeaway jump shot by Kings center Samuel Dalembert.

Image by: Steven Chea

The teams continued from there, scoring off each other and moving the numbers on the scoreboard slowly upward, alternately tying it up then taking the lead, then tying it up again.

Guard Marcus Thornton led the scoring for the Kings in the first period with 15 points after making 6 of 10 field goal attempts. Dalembert and DeMarcus Cousins each put up four points, and by the end of the first period, the Lakers had established only a five-point lead.

In the second period, the Kings put up 22 more points, led by a a 25-foot jump shot for three points by Tyreke Evans. One more from Evans went unanswered at the end of the period, leaving the Lakers with an eight-point lead as the game moved to halftime.

The third period started off with the Lakers holding their lead, and putting up four more unanswered points before Kings forward Jason Thompson hit his mark with a smooth layup assisted by Thornton.

A foul on the Kings’ Francisco Garcia with three minutes left in the third period brought deafening boos from the intense and excited crowd.

With another two jump shots late in the period, Kobe Bryant put up a total of 10 points in the third quarter, and the Lakers ended the period with an 18-point lead.

The fourth quarter was where the teams seemed to really come alive.

Early in the game, the crowds started out on a high, but by the start of the fourth quarter, they seemed fairly low-key. That is, until Cousins got hit with his second technical foul and was ejected from the game just two and a half minutes into the fourth quarter.

The crowd went absolutely nuts when Artest threw a bad pass and Thornton stole the ball, driving all the way to the hole for a slam dunk, and taking the Lakers’ lead down to two with just three minutes left in the final game of the season.

Image by: Steven Chea

Or so we thought.

Bryant attempted an 11-foot jump shot and missed, Thompson rebounded, passed to Thornton who took advantage of the moment with a quick layup, tying up the game 95-95.

Two minutes later, Udrih is was sent to the freethrow line on a personal foul by Pau Gasol. Udrih makes made both shots, tying the game at 99-99 with less than 10 seconds left in regulation play.

Nine seconds later, Thornton missed a jump shot at the buzzer, and the clock was set to continue with five minutes of more game time in overtime.

The mass of Lakers and Kings fans in the arena lit the place up with wall-rumbling cheers and deafening roars. And yet, to some, this was fairly subdued for a Kings game.

Image by: Steven Chea

“This was nothing like it was in the heyday,” said Kings fan Mike Galli, 36. “Back then, when (the crowds) got going, your head would just buzz.”

Even with the crowd lighting up the arena with positive energy, the Kings couldn’t hold off their rivals.

With barely 13 seconds left in overtime, the Kings were staring down nine points needed to make this game theirs. When Thompson missed a big three-point jump shot, the crowd realized it was over.

Final score, 116-108, Lakers.

The Kings’ big point-scorer of the night was Thornton with 33 points. Thornton made 14 field goals on 26 attempts, and three of those were three-pointers.

Kobe Bryant put up big numbers in the game for the Lakers, scoring 18 points in the second half and a total of 36 points for the night.

Image by: Steven Chea

Although Cousins didn’t come anywhere near his season game-high for points Wednesday night, he did set a new Sacramento-era rookie single-season record for total rebounds with 6.

The Kings were without playoff hopes coming into the game, but the Lakers needed this last win to clinch a spot in the Pacific Division playoffs.

Despite the healthy final score, the loss was a disappointment to the Kings players and their fans alike.

“It was a tough way to end the season,” said Kings forward Omri Casspi in the locker room after the game. “We wanted to win, but ... it is what it is.”

Image by: Steven Chea

“We know (Kings) fans are upset,” said Lamar Odom after his team’s win. “It’s got to be tough for them. Home is home.”

This was Paul Harrison’s first Kings game, and the 22-year-old came from Modesto to be in the stands for this final showdown of the season.

“It’s not the end of the world if they go,” Harrison said, “but it’s not what anyone wants.

“Home is where the heart is,” Harrison added, “And the fans are the heart of this team.”

Mayor Kevin Johnson said he agreed “100 percent.”

“I want the fans to know that they are the best fans in the NBA,” Johnson said. “I want (the fans) to know that it’s not their fault. They should not be heartbroken. They should not give up on the game.”

Image by: Steven Chea

George Miller, 46, said he’s been a season ticket holder for 10 years, and his son, George Henry, 10, was one of the ball boys at Wednesday’s game.

If the Kings do end up heading to Anaheim, Miller said he’ll be disappointed to see them go.

“We have a good nucleus to the team now, just as they’re about to leave,” Miller said.

Despite an overall sense of resignation among the fans about the team’s potential move to Anaheim, some in the stands were more pragmatic about it.

“You can’t blame the Maloofs for wanting to make things better for themselves,” said Al Armstrong, a 75-year-old fan (and season-ticket holder since 1989) from Sacramento. “That’s just business.”

After the final buzzer, most game-goers started heading out to their cars, and the arena began to empty. But many folks weren’t ready to walk out so fast.

Close to 1,000 die-hard Sacramento Kings fans who couldn’t bear to have a quick good-bye lingered for nearly an hour, waving signs and chanting, “Here we stay! Here we stay!” as arena personnel looked on.

Image by: Steven Chea

Kings players returned to the court one last time to thank their fans and remind them that, even though this may be the end of the road, it’s been a great ride, and they have appreciated all that Sacramento has given the team.

“We have the best fans in the NBA,” Evans said as the night finally came to a close. “Remember that.” 

Image by: Steven Chea