Kings at Warriors
The Golden State Warriors got a strong offensive performance from Klay Thompson and another from Stephen Curry in the first two games of the season. The Warriors will attempt to get both of the “Splash Brothers” hot at the same time when they host the Sacramento Kings on Saturday. Curry buried some of his trademark deep 3-pointers on Thursday but also had some ball-handling issues haunt him in a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Curry nearly pulled off a dubious triple-double with 38 points, 11 turnovers and nine assists in the 126-115 setback and recognized his mistakes after the game. “It’s disappointing for me to let my shooting performance be overshadowed by 11 turnovers,” Curry said, “but it’s not going to keep me down.” A confident Curry is not exactly what the Kings need to see on the second night of a back-to-back after letting the Clippers go 12-for-24 from 3-point range in a 110-101 setback.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, CSN California (Sacramento), CSN Bay Area (Golden State), NBATV
ABOUT THE KINGS (1-1): Sacramento won its opener and hung around with Los Angeles into the final minutes on Friday until Chris Paul pulled his team away. The Kings hurt themselves by committing 27 personal fouls, and mercurial center DeMarcus Cousins once again let his emotions get the better of him when he was whistled for a technical late in the fourth quarter for taunting after a blocked shot. “They got going and instead of us stopping the bleeding we let them continue to do that,” Cousins told reporters. “They didn’t beat us. We beat ourselves.”
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (1-1): Thompson went for a career-high 38 points in the opening win over the Los Angeles Lakers but slipped to 10 points while Curry went off in the loss to the Clippers. One of the early differences between this season’s team and the squad that made a deep playoff run last spring is on the bench, where Carl Landry and Jarrett Jack no longer sit. Jack’s steady hand took the pressure off Curry, and Andre Iguodala is attempting to fill that role on the first unit. Iguodala handed out a team-high 11 assists on Thursday and is making an immediate impact as both a passer and a finisher on the fastbreak.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Kings took three of the four meetings last season, including a 105-98 triumph at Golden State on Mar. 27.
2. Warriors F Harrison Barnes (foot) missed the first two games and is questionable for Saturday.
3. Curry, who set an NBA record with 272 3-pointers last season, is 11-for-19 from beyond the arc so far in 2013-14.