In the latest rematch between the Golden State Warriors and the Sacramento Kings, they met at the Golden 1 Center in their second clash of the season. With a rocking crowd in Sacramento, the Kings were able to come back from a double-digit deficit down the stretch but it wasn’t enough to win the game.
After a fair start for both teams, the Warriors blew the game open in the second quarter, scoring 41 points in the frame to take a 17-point lead into halftime (65-48). The Kings spent the rest of the night trying to claw back into the game and after some success in the fourth quarter, they managed to complete the comeback win at home (123-117).
Domantas Sabonis was the hero for the winning team with 26 points, 18 rebounds, and 3 assists on 8-12 shooting. DeMar DeRozan was the leading scorer with 32 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists in 39 minutes. Meanwhile, De’Aaron Fox dropped 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists on 2-11 shooting.
For the Warriors, Andrew Wiggins finished with 25 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists on 8-20 shooting. Shooting guard Buddy Hield tallied 17 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 assist on 6-12 shooting. Finally, Stephen Curry totaled 14 points, 3 rebounds, and 12 assists on 6-11 shooting.
When these teams met in the playoffs back in 2023, it was the Warriors who came out on top thanks to elite defense and the greatness of Stephen Curry. Even then, it took 7 games for the Warriors to advance and that was back when they still had Klay Thompson. In this game, we saw more flaws in the Warriors that kept them from winning and could come back to bite them later in the season.
19 Turnovers For The Warriors
A recurring theme for the Warriors this season has been their frequency of turning the ball over and we see it in full force tonight. Despite taking a huge lead in the first half of the game, the Warriors allowed the Kings to come storming back thanks to carless basketball that gave them free possessions.
In total, the Warriors finished with 19 turnovers in the game, compared to the Kings who had just 8. The turnover issue is just a symptom of the Warriors’ lack of backcourt depth and how much they rely on Curry to not only score but make plays for them as the primary point guard
Tonight, with 12 assists, Curry more than delivered on his responsibility to get his teammates involved but nobody else stepped up to help him. Poor decision-making and careless play in general cost the Warriors this game and if they can just clean up some of these mistakes it will put them in a much better situation going forward.
Major Free-Throw Discrepancy
The final score was just a six-point difference, not even half of what the Kings scored at the line tonight. In total, the Kings shot 30-32 from the charity stripe as they were getting constantly hit by the Warriors’ unstable defense.
Recently, Draymond has criticized his team’s lack of defensive identity and has called on them to play with more pride on that end of the floor. It betrayed that mission to commit 27 team fouls, effectively proving they had no answer to the Kings’ high-scoring offense.
On their end, the Warriors only shot 9-13 from the line and appeared timid with the ball at times. The lack of aggression can only be linked to a lack of confidence and it checks out given that the Warriors are so low in the standings.
Effective Double Team On Steph Curry
While Cury was still able to make plays and run the offense, he was neutralized as a shooter tonight thanks to constant double teams that had the Warriors scrambling. In 34 minutes, Curry had just 14 points on 6-11 shooting including 1-4 shooting from three.
The Kings managed to keep Curry in check with the pressure and the Warriors somehow had no response. Without Curry’s shooting or Draymond’s calming presence, the Warriors had to look to their youth for leadership and it didn’t work out in their favor.
With their prior experience facing the Warriors, the Kings knew just where to strike and they knew how to contain Curry as a shooter to limit his team’s scoring. It took a massive comeback effort, but the Kings were eventually able to outpace the Warriors down the stretch to complete the comeback and win the game.
By all accounts, this was a game the Warriors should have won. Between the well-balanced scoring and their massive double-digit lead early on, the Dubs had full control until it all started going wrong. Now, they are 21-22 on the season down to 11th in the West. Fortunately, they still have time to pull it together.
Their next opportunity for victory is tonight, January 23rd, at 10:00 PM EST against the Chicago Bulls at the Chase Center. They also play the Los Angeles Lakers on January 25th at home before a matchup against the Utah Jazz on January 28th at 10:00 PM EST.
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