Sting-less Warriors fall to Kings

LOS ANGELES: Defending champion Golden State saw Kevin Durant sidelined for two weeks, Israeli forward Omri Casspi hurt and their bid to overtake Houston for the NBA’s best record falter on Friday with a 98-93 loss to Sacramento.

Buddy Hield came off the Sacramento bench to score 22 points to lead the Kings against a struggling Warriors squad without Durant and star guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.

Before the game, Durant was put onto the injured list with a rib cartilage fracture and set for re-evaluation in two weeks. The reigning NBA Most Valuable Player ranks sixth among all NBA scorers this season with 26.6 points a game.

Golden State was also without Curry, out with a sore right ankle, and Thompson, sidelined by a broken right thumb. Both will be evaluated next week.

Joining the injury list was reserve Casspi, who sprained his right ankle landing on a rival’s foot in the second quarter after playing only six minutes.

Golden State’s Quinn Cook scored a career-best 25 points in 40 minutes on the court and Draymond Green added 14 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

But the Kings (23-47) closed the game on an 11-3 run to capture their first back-toback wins since late January.

That dropped Golden State to 52-17 and 2 1/2 games behind Western Conference leader Houston for the best record in the NBA.