Sacramento Kings vs Golden State Warriors: Almost is not a win

Stephen Curry

By Ryan Rodriguez

Once again, the Sacramento Kings battled hard against a Western Conference contender, and once again the Kings came up just short, this time losing 115-113 to the Golden State Warriors. Forgive me for sounding like a broken record 15 games into the season, but this was another game that points to the Kings moving in the right direction despite the final outcome. The game was a battle throughout, as the Kings saw themselves fall behind by double digits in both the second and third quarters through sloppy play on both offense and defense. In my mind, the Warriors’ 11-0 run in the second, a result of 4 straight turnovers by the Kings, was the reason the Kings doomed themselves as they allowed the Warriors to get some easy buckets and build a real offensive rhythm that continued throughout the rest of the game. This forced the Kings to have to be in catch up mode, exerting a lot of energy to bring the game back to even, and possibly zapping the team of some energy that could have put them over the top in the end. It could also be the fact that Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson absolutely rained shots on the Kings defense for the entire game. Overall, there were several performances of note, both of the positive and negative light that I would like to talk about. Patrick Patterson, for the second game in a row, closed a close game for the Kings and really responded with a high energy and, surprisingly, high scoring 27 minutes off the bench. Patterson has really shown a knack for bringing some energy and boards off the bench for the Kings the last two games with 8 boards last night, several that came on the offensive end to extend possessions and help the Kings comeback. He was also very active moving without the ball on offense, finding openings in the Warriors defense that allowed him to have a perfect night shooting the rock (8-8, 2-2 from three). With the state of the Kings power forwards, the team needs Patterson or Jason Thompson to come up with an above- average performance to give the team a chance win on a nightly basis. And, if PP can begin to knock down 3s as a stretch four like in years past, he will give the Kings some lineup flexibility to spread out the offense and open more room for DeMarcus down low. Marcus Thornton, recently back into the rotation, desperately tried to match Klay and Steph shot for shot in the second half and did a pretty damn good job. He’ll never be a good defender in the league, and honestly, I don’t really care because he is getting 8 million to but the ball in the hoop and Sunday afternoon he did exactly that. He poured in 21 points (5-8 from three), all in the second half as he drilled what seemed to be shot after shot. He has a pretty good rapport with Isaiah Thomas and it showed again last night as IT consistently looked for Thornton in the second half, able to find him off cuts and scramble plays alike. He even brought a little playmaking to the court with 3 assists (a lot for him) to help counter his sweet shooting. It seems that coach Mike Malone figured out Jimmer Fredette isn’t the answer as the Kings backup shooting guard rather quickly. And now to Boogie (did you actually think I wasn’t going to write about my boy), who played only 21 minutes due to that ongoing problem of foul trouble, but what a 21 minutes it was. He notched 24 points (10-13) with a nice array of inside moves and silky smooth midrange jumpers. Even though I hate him shooting from anywhere besides the paint, it was hard to fault Boogie for launching away, as he went 4-4 from 15 feet and beyond yesterday, and then using a pump fake and drive twice to get into the lane for layups. He also tied the game up twice for the Kings in the final minute by taking Andrew Bogut into the post and dropping in two nice, righty hook shots. Despite his great offensive showing, DeMarcus still had a few classic Demarcus sequences, one where he got a technical foul for waving off an officials explanation about 50 times in a 5 second span and the other where he almost got a flagrant foul for an accidental elbow to Bogut’s head while trying to post up (another BS review because it’s Boogie). The tech was especially comical because you could see it coming from a mile away, as Cousins continues to have small lapse in mature behavior on the court.

DeMarcus Cousin slam dunks in the Kings loss to the Warriors Sunday.

Notes

• The Kings have no rim protectors whatsoever. It’s quite comical that a team can have no one to legitimately deter a team from attacking the hoop at will.
• The Splash Bros are great to watch unless they are going against your team. Then it just seems like you are dying a slow, but beautiful 48 minute death. Klay especially abused Ben McLemore in the first half.
• Speaking of Ben, he is still learning how to consistently produce on a nightly basis, but I love watching him compete. I never have to worry about his effort or focus and that is a great change from some players the last couple years.
• IT as well brings it every night. He didn’t shoot well (5-16), but still ended up with 19 points (8-8 free throws), 8 assists, and 5 boards to help lead the Kings charge in the late third and fourth quarter. Once again he outperformed the starting Greivis Vasquez.
• Greivis looks like my barber and I don’t think that is a good thing for his NBA career. He certainly hasn’t been the table setter I expected him to be and has been the defensive turnstile I always knew he was.
• Your daily “John Salmons is a Depressing Basketball Player Line.” 27 minutes, 3 points, 1 board, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 4 fouls.
• Finally, Boogie was rocking Jordan 10s last night. In my quest to find what new pair of Js I should get, the 10s keep popping up and begging me to pick them.