Kings at Warriors
The Golden State Warriors enter the stretch run with the best record in the Western Conference and are looking to find their highest gear as they get set for another run at an NBA title. The Sacramento Kings, who visit the Warriors on Thursday, are among a group of teams fighting or a spot in the top eight while looking to end a playoff drought that that saw them miss out on the postseason in each of the last 12 seasons.
The Kings have 25 games left on the regular-season schedule and begin the final two months one game behind the eighth-place Los Angeles Clippers and just four games shy of the fourth-place Portland Trail Blazers in a tightly-packed race. Sacramento signaled its intention to compete this season with a pair of moves at the trade deadline, headlined by the arrival of forward Harrison Barnes from the Dallas Mavericks, and will get a chance to prove they can do just that with games at Golden State and Oklahoma City over the next three days. The Warriors went into the break with a dud, dropping a 129-107 decision at Portland, but are winners of 16 of their last 18. Superstar Kevin Durant deftly deflected questions about his impending free agency during All-Star weekend and ended up winning the MVP award in Sunday's contest after scoring 31 points on 10-of-15 shooting in Team LeBron's 178-164 win over Team Giannis.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, NBCS California (Sacramento), NBCS Bay Area (Golden State)
ABOUT THE KINGS (30-27): Barnes, who won a championship as a member of the Warriors in 2015, started off slow in his first two games with Sacramento but contributed 19 points and 11 rebounds in a 120-118 loss at the Denver Nuggets going into the break and is expected to be a big piece of the rotation moving forward. "I think Harrison Barnes fits really well," Kings guard Buddy Hield told the Sacramento Bee. "He's a guy who can play (small forward) and he keeps everybody honest. He can shoot the 3, he can post up and he can drive the ball to the basket. He's a three-dimensional scorer. He's been in (two NBA Finals). He's won a championship. He has experience, so he brings all that to our team." Fellow newcomer Alec Burks, who arrived in a trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers, went scoreless in two of his first three games with Sacramento.
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (41-16): Golden State dealt with injuries and inconsistent play over the first few months but is confident the team is heading in the right direction. "We're locked in on what the goal is," All-Star guard Stephen Curry told reporters. "Regardless of the storylines and headlines that have been on our team since October, at the end of the day you understand who's in that locker room, how much we appreciate each other, the true potential we have as a team. And honestly now, with 25 games left, just going to lock in and focus on working out the kinks and raising the level of play so that when the playoffs comes around we feel like we've really hit our stride." Center DeMarcus Cousins is integrating well with the team through his first 11 games and is averaging 13.9 points on 42.4 percent shooting and 6.8 rebounds while working his way back from Achilles surgery.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Kings PG De'Aaron Fox handed out 16 assists in 23 minutes in the Rising Stars game during All-Star weekend.
2. Curry finished second in the 3-point contest during All-Star weekend.
3. Golden State took the first three meetings this season by a total of 10 points.