At 44-14, champion Warriors come out of break in a slump
The Golden State Warriors have never lost more than 15 games in a season under Steve Kerr.
They could reach that total in the first night after the All-Star break.
The Warriors who returned late Thursday night aren’t the same ones who dominated the NBA for the past three seasons. The defending champions sputtered into their week off with four losses in their final eight games, falling into second place in the Western Conference behind Houston — ending a three-year run of taking the league’s best record into the break.
At 44-14 and loaded with four All-Stars, the Warriors still are very good, but not as good they’ve been.
“This year we’ve had a pretty solid season, but feel that we can play a lot better,” Stephen Curry said. “So that’s what we’re trying to do this next 20 games before another championship run.”
Their performances against their first two opponents out of the break show how different things have been for these Warriors. The Los Angeles Clippers, who visit Golden State late Thursday night, won in Oakland a month ago after losing the previous 12 meetings in the series.
And the Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State’s opponent Saturday in a nationally televised game, have defeated the Warriors by 17 and 20 points already this season. They can become the first team to beat Golden State three times in a season since San Antonio went 4-0 against the Warriors in 201314 — the season before Kerr’s arrival.
Their spotty play thus far makes Curry appreciate their time at the top even more.
“We’ve kind of set a standard of excellence in the league,” he said. “That’s pretty cool to think about sustaining that high level of play for so long.”
Stars for Kings
Sacramento is looking to bring the NBA All-Star Game to California’s capital for the first time.
Kings owner Vivek Ranadive, mayor Darrell Steinberg and tourism officials were set to detail plans for the bid for the game in 2022 or 2023 Thursday and submit an application to the league Friday.
Getting the game would cap a remarkable comeback for Sacramento, which nearly lost its franchise to Seattle in 2013 before Ranadive bought the team and put together a deal to build a state-of-the-art downtown arena.
Winning the bid won’t be easy. The Warriors want the game for their new arena in downtown San Francisco that is set to open for the 2019-20 season. The Milwaukee Bucks also are bidding, with its new arena set to open next season.