SAN FRANCISCO – The guessing game is over. After weeks of wondering where the Warriors would end up in the Western Conference standings, who they would face after the regular season and in which building, they will now pack a seven-game series into one suitcase for an NBA Play-In at simple elimination. Tournament game against the Sacramento Kings Tuesday night at Golden 1 Center.
Two Northern California rivals face off to extend their season or watch the rest from home. On one side, you have the No. 10 seed Warriors, trying to prove they’re still the older brother capable of making the playoffs despite the daunting road ahead of them. On the other side, the No. 9 seed Kings will look to put the past aside, stand up to their bullies and continue to write their own history.
How do these two teams compare and what can we learn from their last four regular season games?
They ended up having the exact same regular season records, 46-36, for a reason. The Warriors and Kings split their four-game series, with Golden State winning the first two games and Sacramento emerging victorious in the last two.
The Warriors’ two victories came by a total of nine points. The Kings’ two victories both came by one point each.
“We know them well, they know us well, so it won’t be a surprise,” Draymond Green said Sunday after the Warriors’ 123-116 victory over the Utah Jazz.
Despite the Warriors’ first loss to the Kings following a 24-point lead, it can’t be overstated how close these games were. The Warriors averaged 120 points over four games and the Kings averaged 118.3. A major factor could very well be the 3-point line.
Steph Curry isn’t the only Warrior to have had a lot of success shooting threes against the Kings this season.
Curry averaged 31.0 points against the Kings in the regular season on 52.5 percent shooting (42 of 80) and 45.7 percent (21 of 46) from long range. The Warriors as a team made 43.3 percent of their threes against the Kings, compared to Sacramento who made just 35.9 percent of their threes against the Warriors defense.
The Kings were the second-worst team in the NBA guarding the 3-point line this season, with their opponents making three-pointers at a rate of 39.1 percent, and the Warriors being the seventh-best 3-point shooting team this season with 38.0 percent.
Additionally, the Kings don’t have two players capable of getting hot from beyond the arc. Malik Monk has been out since March 29 with a sprained MCL, and Kevin Huerter underwent season-ending shoulder surgery in late March. Both players saw their 3-point percentage drop this season, but Monk was a top candidate for Sixth Man of the Year before getting injured and averaged 19.0 points per game against the Warriors last season. last year in the playoffs.
Very differently from Curry, Warriors high-flyer Jonathan Kuminga, 21, can also be a factor in depth. Although he has made 40 percent (4 of 10) of his 3-point attempts against the Kings this season, it is his ability to attack the rim that can open up the 3-point line for Curry, Klay Thompson and others. ‘others. The Kings don’t have a rim protector to neutralize Kuminga’s explosiveness.
But can the Warriors neutralize Kings stars De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis in Sacramento?
“I just know you always have to put two bodies in front of him to stop him,” Warriors rookie Brandin Podziemski said Sunday when asked on Fox. “If we want to win, this is something we have to do for 48 minutes.”
Podziemski might be one of the few players who could take on the task of guarding Fox at times. Kuminga will be part of that mix, as will Green and Andrew Wiggins. The health of Gary Payton II, after missing the last three games with left calf tightness, is also imperative.
Green and Kevon Looney were extremely troublesome for Sabonis throughout last year’s first round. Rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis provides a whole new element as a vertical floor spacer and shot-blocking threat. Whether it’s a four-time champion like Curry, Green or Thompson, or a rookie like Podziemski and Jackson-Davis, the message two days before what should be a fascinating fight should surprise no one.
Leave it all on the hardwood, don’t walk away from the final buzzer with any regrets.
“It’s going to be one of those games where we have to leave everything behind,” Wiggins said. “Every game we played against them was a battle to the end – a physical, competitive game. So it will definitely be a hard-fought match and we have to leave everything on the floor.
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