The Kings kept Steph Curry in check, but still couldn’t find a win
For the second consecutive game, the Sacramento Kings were competitive with one of the best teams in the Western Conference for more than 40 minutes of game action. Unfortunately, yet again the Kings late-game offense faltered in their 119-107 loss to the Golden State Warriors.
The Kings looked really solid for those first 40 or so minutes, as they were taking and making threes and doing a really good job as a team defending Stephen Curry.
The Kings’ offense was completely rudderless in the fourth quarter. They took a lot of contested three-pointers and just didn’t seem to have much of a rhythm or plan each time down the court.
A big inflection point in the game was in the early stages of the fourth when the Kings weren’t able to win the minutes when Curry and Draymond Green were on the bench. Once Curry and Green were subbed back in with around five minutes left, the Warriors held a comfortable lead, which they were able to hang onto until the end of regulation.
De’Aaron Fox was more efficient overall on Sunday driving to the rim, but through three games, his jumper has been ice cold. Fox went 1 for 6 from three, a couple of which were wide-open attempts that the Warriors defense were begging him to take.
The best guard on the Kings tonight was undoubtedly rookie Davion Mitchell, who finished with a career-high 22 points on 9 of 16 from the floor. Mitchell’s pull-up three was looking like it did during the preseason, and he was using that gravity and his explosiveness to finish at the rim as well.
Harrison Barnes continued his stellar start to the season against his former team, finishing with 24 points on 7 of 13 shooting against his former team. Through three contests, Barnes is averaging 28.3 points per game.
The Kings will look to get back into the win column when they travel to play against the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday.