Last season, the Golden State Warriors defeated the Sacramento Kings in a seven-game first-round playoff series, clinching the decisive game in Sacramento.
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Last season, the Golden State Warriors defeated the Sacramento Kings in a seven-game first-round playoff series, clinching the decisive game in Sacramento. Now, the Warriors aim to repeat history by knocking the Kings out of the Western Conference play-in game on Tuesday night.
The team that wins the game between the 10th seed Warriors (46-36) and the 9th seed Kings (46-36) will move on to face either the 8th seed Los Angeles Lakers or the 7th seed New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night. The winner of Friday’s game will then go up against the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the playoffs’ first round. Draymond Green from the Golden State team is sure that his squad will continue playing next week.
Green anticipates facing another chorus of boos when he returns to Sacramento’s court. His memorable playoff actions from last season, during which the Kings initially won two games before the Warriors rallied to claim victory in four of the last five, are still fresh in fans’ memories.
For the Kings, Huerter and Monk will not be playing the game. As for the Warriors, Payton will be sitting this one out.
Even though Stephen Curry’s remarkable 50-point display in Game 7 propelled the Warriors forward, Green’s controversial act of stomping on the midsection of the Kings’ Domantas Sabonis during the fourth quarter of Game 2 remains the enduring image that defined the series.
Sabonis is having an exceptional season with 77 double-doubles, working alongside star point guard De’Aaron Fox to lead the Kings into the playoffs for the second consecutive season, breaking a streak of 16 unsuccessful campaigns. The weight of past losses made last season’s playoff exit even more difficult for Sacramento to endure.
Sacramento struggled in the final stretch, losing five out of six games before dominating the Portland Trail Blazers 121-82 in Sunday’s last regular-season game. The Kings were aiming for a potential top-six playoff position when they were 13 games above .500 with only 11 games remaining. However, a 4-7 finish relegated Sacramento to the high-pressure 9 vs. 10 playoff game.
The Warriors ended strong with 10 victories in 12 games, including a 123-116 home triumph against the Utah Jazz on Sunday. It wasn’t until February 15th that Steve Kerr’s team finally climbed above .500 for good. Despite being five games under .500 on January 27th, the Warriors managed to go 27-12 for the remainder of the regular season.
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