SAN FRANCISCO – The stir of momentum the Warriors built by winning their last two games at home came to a quick and emphatic halt Sunday night.
With a chance to achieve their first three-game win streak in seven weeks or donate aid to their Northern California neighbors in Sacramento, the Warriors chose the latter option. There was no sign of deliberation and only faint indication of protest.
The Kings were accepting gifts shortly after tipoff at Chase Center, taking donations and running with them, scoring 11 points off eight Golden State turnovers in the first quarter. They continued to thrive off charity, sticking the Warriors with a 129-99 loss that left Stephen Curry feeling a measure of shame.
“Nobody likes to get embarrassed like that,” Curry said, “especially the way we started the first quarter.”
Golden State’s performance, given the circumstances, indicates it continues to search for the level required to be certified as worthy of being in the NBA playoffs. This was an opportunity to make substantive gains, a small but significant statement, yet the Kings brought more intensity – and were greatly subsidized by the Warriors.
“That was the game to me,” Kerr said of the 22 turnovers that gave Sacramento 34 points. “Right from the start, we were turning it over. The turnovers didn’t feel forced, either. They felt more decision based. That’s what was disappointing. Knowing that Sacramento likes to play fast and get up and down the floor, you’ve got to come in with a purpose. That purpose has to be based on connecting the game. Offensive execution, taking care of the ball and that leads to transition defense and then you can play a game.”
The Warriors missed shots at the rim – a season-long issue, to be fair. They threw errant passes, wayward lobs and, in the end, the whole game. They often looked like a squad that sort of wanted to play but was indifferent about pursuing victory.
The Warriors handed out their first gift when Trayce Jackson-Davis committed a turnover 21 seconds into the game. They ended the half with 14, donating 20 points to the Kings, who took a 75-51 lead into the locker room at halftime.
“We’re not really built – especially with the situation – to have that crazy comeback,” said Curry, who scored 26 points but had four turnovers. “I don’t want to overreact to it, but you also have to address the execution. That we didn’t do, obviously.”
The Warriors never got closer than 23 in the second half. The crowd began filing out after the third quarter, when the Warriors were trailing by 30 (105-75). That also happens to be when Kerr raised the white flag, summoning Pat Spencer and Gui Santos from the end of the bench.
In the final minutes, there were scattered pro-Kings chants – “Light the beam” – that would be blasphemous under normal conditions at Chase.
Golden State was without three rotation players – Jonathan Kuminga (sprained right ankle), Gary Payton II (left calf strain) and Brandin Podziemski (right abdomen) – but only Payton’s point-of-attack defense might have made an impact. Might, that is.
“Point of attack, they were getting downhill on us,” Kerr said of Sacramento’s offense, with Malik Monk the driving force. “We’re having to help, and then they’re spreading the floor.”
Monk, sliding in at point guard with the absence of De’Aaron Fox, punished the Warriors inside with penetration and outside with five 3-pointers, finishing with 26 points, 12 assists, four steals and three rebounds. Kings center Domantas Sabonis had his way with Jackson-Davis, outscoring him 22-0, outrebounding him 13-2 and adding seven assists to three for TJD.
Golden State’s offense wasn’t crisp enough to give its defense any fair chance, and its gentle defense wasn’t effective enough to overcome the sloppy offense.
This was reminiscent of the NBA Play-In Tournament game between the teams last April in Sacramento, where the Kings rolled to a 118-94 rout. Nearly nine months later, after a Golden State roster makeover and a Sacramento coaching change, the result was even more stunning.
Asked if he was alarmed or surprised by the team’s poor performance, Kerr brushed it off, saying such nights happen in the NBA and crediting the Kings.
“We’ve played more close games than any team in the league,” he said, referring to the team’s league-high-tying 22 “clutch games,” as defined by the NBA. “We’ve been very competitive. Tonight, we weren’t.
“But we’ll bounce back.”
Perhaps they will. Maybe this was no more than an early January blip on the Warriors’ way to a top-six seed in the treacherous Western Conference.
Turnovers are symptomatic of lack of focus, poor decisions and inattention to details. With these Warriors, it remains stubborn issue – this being their 10th game giving an opponent at least 20 points off turnovers, including four that donated at least 30.
This is something that should be alarming. Surprising. Maybe even stunning.
And it’s a problem the league’s better teams tend to solve as the season goes on.
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