Kings at Warriors
The Sacramento Kings came out of the break hot and are not playing like a team destined for another trip to the draft lottery. The Kings will try to make it wins in three straight games when they visit the NBA-worst Golden State Warriors on Tuesday.
Sacramento battled for a 129-125 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in its return from the break on Thursday and began its four-game road trip on Saturday by skipping past the Los Angeles Clippers 112-103. "It's great, especially being in this situation we are right now, trying to get that eighth seed," Kings swingman Kent Bazemore told reporters. "We're playing like a desperate team and it says a lot about this group, starting off with a big win against Memphis at home and carrying that over to (Saturday)." Sacramento earned wins in eight of its last 12 games and goes into play on Monday five games behind the eighth-place Grizzlies in the West. The Warriors are all about next season at this point, though Stephen Curry's long-awaited return from a broken hand next week is keeping some of the excitement going for the five-time defending Western Conference champions.
TIME: 10:30 p.m. ET. TV: NBCS California, NBCS Bay Area, Sportsnet One
ABOUT THE KINGS (23-33): Sacramento got a boost on Saturday from power forward Harry Giles III, who collected 14 points and 12 rebounds for his first career double-double. The 21-year-old has only played 88 games since being drafted in the first round in 2017 due to a series of injuries and is fighting to stay out of foul trouble and be productive on the court. "I think with time and reps I'm going to get better," Giles told the Sacramento Bee. "I'm going to keep getting better. You know how the fouls go. It varies depending on how you're going to play and depending on how the refs are going to let you play, too, so I'm going to keep getting better at that and just playing hard."
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (12-45): Curry participated in his first full-contact scrimmage over the weekend and is eyeing March 1 at home against Washington to return. "It definitely feels different than the right (hand), but you can try to get it to the point where, when you're actually playing basketball, you don't think about it," Curry told reporters of his repaired left hand. "Whether it feels all the way the same or not, it really doesn't matter as long as I'm not worried." Curry will return to a team that saw its latest losing streak reach six in a row with a 115-101 home loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Warriors PFs Draymond Green (pelvis) and Marquese Chriss (calf) both sat out Sunday and are day-to-day.
2. Bazemore scored a season-high 23 points on Saturday and is 18-of-33 from the floor over the past three games.
3. Sacramento took the first two meetings this season, including a 100-79 triumph at Golden State on Dec. 15.