Warriors at Kings
The Golden State Warriors lay an egg every once in a while on the road, and Tuesday was one of those times when the defending champs fell flat on their faces. The Warriors will try to move past a 30-point loss to a sub-.500 team when they visit the Sacramento Kings on Friday.
Golden State allowed the Utah Jazz to shoot 58.2 percent from the floor and went 5-of-25 from 3-point range on the other end in a 129-99 loss. "I think our guys will tell you that was a pathetic effort out there," Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters. "That was disgusting basketball. We just didn't start out the game with any force defensively. We weren't staying into bodies, they were just stopping behind screens, we were lazy on our switches. We played with no sense of urgency, no sense of purpose, and they're obviously fighting for the playoffs." Golden State has yet to drop consecutive games this season but will be going up a Kings squad that won three of its last four to close out a solid road trip. The Kings finished up the six-game trip with a 114-103 win at New Orleans on Tuesday and are getting strong play from a pair of veterans who were being pushed to the side.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, NBCS Bay Area (Golden State), NBCS California (Sacramento)
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (40-11): All-Star Stephen Curry was named the Western Conference Player of the Month for January and then went out in the final game of the month at Utah and slumped to 4-of-13 from the floor, including 1-of-7 from beyond the arc. "I asked Draymond (Green) on the bench in the fourth quarter if he could remember that bad of a performance that we've had in recent memory, and we really can't," Curry told reporters. "You can't just show up, especially on the road, and expect to win. That's kind of cheating the game." Curry was coming off a performance against Boston on Saturday in which he exploded for 49 points and went 8-of-13 from beyond the arc.
ABOUT THE KINGS (16-34): Sacramento made the decision last month to give its veterans days off in order to open more playing time for younger players, but injuries to some of those young players in the frontcourt are keeping Zach Randolph and Kosta Koufos on the floor. Randolph led the way with 26 points in Tuesday's win at New Orleans while Koufos collected 17 points and a career-high 17 rebounds. "We've all shown we can play in this league for a long time," Koufos told the Sacramento Bee. "For us though, right now when we get an opportunity, we're playing hard and I give credit to all the vets. They're being very professional with the situation. And the young guys, they're getting healthy and working hard so it's our responsibility, whenever we get time, help the team win."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Warriors SF Kevon Looney (illness) sat out Tuesday and is day-to-day.
2. Kings F Skal Labissiere (shoulder) will miss the next two weeks while C Willie Cauley-Stein (knee) could return from a two-game absence on Friday.
3. Sacramento earned a 110-106 win at Golden State on Nov. 27.