Warriors' season on the line against the Kings in play-in
The Warriors are back in the play-in tournament, and any single loss will end their season.
Despite winning their season finale over Utah, the Warriors couldn't climb out of the No. 10 seed as the Kings and Lakers both won on Sunday, too.
It's not the fate the Warriors — winners of four championships in the past decade and with a recordbreaking luxury tax bill — wanted, but it's the fate they earned in a loaded Western Conference. Too many blown leads, a 21-20 home record and Draymond Green's suspensions prevented them from reaching their potential.
Golden State finished with more wins than last year, when it claimed the sixth seed, but its record this season was only good enough for 10th. Under the format before the play-in tournament, the Warriors (46-36) wouldn't be in the postseason at all.
There is a strong belief within the Warriors organization that they can beat any team on any given night. They have four Hall of Famers, a group of ascending young talent contributing, a defense that has rounded into shape around Draymond Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis, and finished the regular season winners of 10 of their last 12 games.
“I've got a good feeling about what's ahead,” Steve Kerr said after the regular season finale. “I think we still have a chance to do something special.”
Their belief will be tested, first on Tuesday (7 p.m., TNT) at Golden 1 Center against the Kings in a Northern California single-elimination game. If they win, they'll advance to a second road elimination game Friday against the loser of the 7/8 matchup between the Pelicans and Lakers.
Two wins would earn them a series against the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.
SEASON SERIES >> The Warriors and Kings split four games but have not played since the Kings won 134-133 at Chase Center on Jan. 25.
The Kings will host because they won the tiebreaker by virtue of conference record.
Both Warriors wins came early in the season, before their rotation fell into place. In those games, Domantas Sabonis, who has historically struggled against Golden State, shot a combined 15-for-31.
The Kings later eliminated the Warriors from the in-season tournament and won a late-January bout in San Francisco. Three of the four games between the Kings and Warriors were decided by one point, including one in which the Warriors choked away a 24-point lead.
“It's going to be one of those games where you have to leave it all on the floor,” Andrew Wiggins said. “Every game we've had with them has been a battle to the end, a physical, competitive game.” POSTSEASON HISTORY >> Don't call it a rivalry… right? The Warriors eliminated the Kings last year in the first round, winning in seven games. Curry dropped 50 points in Game 7 of a testy series. Draymond Green got suspended for a game for stomping on Domantas Sabonis' chest, which intensified the bad blood between the two Northern California teams.
But is it a rivalry? The jury's still out.
“I'm gonna have to check with the committee that defines what rivalry actually means,” Curry said this past November. “I love the narrative around the back-andforth, we've played them so many times over the last couple of years. Whatever you call it, it's fun basketball.”
That seven-game series is the only time the Warriors and Kings have matched up in the postseason. Sabonis and De'Aaron Fox are AllStars, but the Kings are still vying to become more than second fiddle in the region. And regardless of the imaginary rivalry committee's ruling, the Golden 1 Center is always electric when the Warriors come to town.
“It's always a playofftype game,” Green said of the Warriors-Kings rivalry. “You feel that. You go into their arena, their fans want to light the beam and see us lose, beat the crap out of us. And when they come in here, we want to beat the crap out of them.” STORYLINES TO TRACK >> Sacramento stumbled to the finish line, losing both Kevin Huerter and Malik Monk to injuries. The Kings crushed Portland in the regular season finale, but lost five of six before that.
If Monk, one of the game's best bench scorers, can return for the play-in, that would be a major boost for the Kings.
Even without Monk, Sacramento is still a handful. The Fox-Sabonis two-man game is dangerous, especially if Fox is feeling his 3-point shot. Jackson-Davis' presence inside — a new wrinkle to the matchup — could help stymie Sabonis at the rim.
“They're very much so a pattern team, like they've got their thing they want to get to,” the defensiveminded Green said. “Going into the game and understanding that, what the things are we're going to try to take away to (prevent) them from getting into those patterns.”
Kings head coach Mike Brown, a former Warriors assistant, knows the Warriors' system inside and out. No action or set the Warriors run will surprise Sacramento.
“We know them well, they know us well,” Kerr said.
And while the Warriors have much more postseason experience than the Kings, some of Golden State's young contributors are still getting their playoff feet wet. Jonathan Kuminga hasn't been much of a factor in prior playoff series, and rookies Brandin Podziemski and JacksonDavis will get tested.
Defensive stalwart Gary Payton II won't play against the Kings. Payton, who has been dealing with a strained left calf, also won't be available if the Warriors beat the Kings and advance to the second play-in game later in the week, against either the Lakers or Pelicans.