Kings at Warriors
The Golden State Warriors had an up-and-down two-game road trip that did little to clear up their position in the Western Conference playoff picture. The Warriors will attempt to gain some clarity in that regard with they return home to host the Sacramento Kings on Friday. Stephen Curry buried a game-winner in overtime to beat the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday but the loss of three starters caught up to the team in a 111-90 setback at San Antonio the following night.
The Warriors expect to have at least Andre Iguodala (knee) back in the lineup Friday while David Lee (hamstring) and Andrew Bogut (pelvic contusion) are questionable to return. Golden State could use that experienced front line to deal with Kings center DeMarcus Cousins, who put up back-to-back double-doubles in leading Sacramento to two straight wins. Cousins has not had a lot of success against the Warriors this season, averaging 16 points and 6.5 rebounds in two games.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, CSN California (Sacramento), CSN Bay Area (Golden State)
ABOUT THE KINGS (27-48): Cousins played only 21 minutes on Monday but still managed to rack up 20 points and 10 rebounds in a 107-102 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. Cousins is getting plenty of help of late from Rudy Gay, who is averaging 27.7 points in the last three games, and rookie guard Ray McCallum. The 22-year-old stepped into the starting lineup when Isaiah Thomas went down with a quad injury and recorded his third straight career-high scoring total with 27 points against the Lakers.
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (46-29): Golden State is 2 1/2 games behind the Portland Trail Blazers in the race for the No. 5 spot in the West and may be more concerned with holding off the three teams fighting for the final two playoffs. The Warriors barely challenged the streaking Spurs on Wednesday but will play their next four games against sub-.500 teams and have only one playoff contender — Portland — left on the regular-season schedule. Golden State prepared for that finishing kick by not overextending anyone in San Antonio, leaving Stephen Curry on the bench the entire fourth quarter while giving plenty of rest to Klay Thompson and Jermaine O’Neal with the game out of hand.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Thomas (quad) has missed the last five games and is questionable for Friday.
2. Golden State has taken each of the first three meetings this season.
3. Sacramento rookie G Ben McLemore has scored in double figures in six straight games — his longest such stretch of the season.