Warriors at Kings
The Golden State Warriors blew a 24-point lead and lost in overtime at home on Friday, but it might have been a blessing in disguise. The Warriors will make some tweaks in practice and try to bounce back when they visit the Sacramento Kings on Sunday.
Golden State, which leads the league in scoring (117.5) and field-goal percentage (49.8), managed 21 points on 5-of-22 shooting in the fourth quarter and overtime while suffering a 128-119 overtime loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. "Our fourth-quarter offense has been atrocious," Warriors forward Draymond Green told reporters. "I can really care less. I'm actually happy we lost today, because there are some things that we need to correct in order to win a championship." The Kings are a long way from contending for a championship and dropped four of their last five after beginning to make a run toward the .500 mark. Sacramento suffered a 106-98 home loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday but at least got forward Rudy Gay (hip) back in the lineup after he sat out 10 of the previous 11 contests.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, CSN Bay Area (Golden State), CSN California (Sacramento)
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (31-6): Golden State seamlessly worked Kevin Durant into its offense but looked lost while trying to figure out who would take over at the end of regulation on Friday, leading to empty possessions. "It was kind of a, just lollygagging into it," guard Steph Curry told reporters. "Obviously KD takes that shot, he makes it, things are a little different. Same with me and the couple shots I made, but if we executed with force, knowing what we wanted to get out of the possession, everybody's on the same page, it might look a little different. The timing wasn't great at all and I think there was a little bit of uncertainty as to what we were trying to get out of the possession." Durant missed a potential game-winning 3-point attempt at the end of regulation and was 0-of-5 from beyond the arc in the loss.
ABOUT THE KINGS (15-21): Sacramento's veterans believe the team can make the playoffs and are starting to take the details seriously. The Kings failed to make the necessary plays in the final minutes on Friday and know exactly what it will take to get better next time. “We’ve got to get better in practice,” point guard Darren Collison told the Sacramento Bee. “Coach (Dave Joerger) is definitely putting us in position to succeed. So we’ve got to focus in practice and have the willingness to execute that play over and over, even if we’ve got to do it 100 times. Sometimes we lose focus or don’t see the importance that practice can carry over into the games.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Kings PG Ty Lawson averaged 16 points on 13-of-23 shooting in the last two games.
2. Warriors G Klay Thompson is 3-of-13 from 3-point range in the last two games.
3. The Warriors took the last 12 meetings.