It’s unfortunate that the Sacramento Kings have been so close to beating the Golden State Warriors for every single game between them this season. It’s also incredibly frustrating and painful for the players and the fans. There’s no denying that. Before the season started, did anyone believe the Kings would be in a position to beat the champs four times in a row? I didn’t. You didn’t either and we’re fortunate to be watching this young team play much better than anyone expected.

Quarter-by-Quarter Recap

The starting lineup was changed by Dave Joerger entering the game. Nemanja Bjelica went to the bench as Harrison Barnes moved to the four. Bogdan Bogdanovic started at small forward. The Warriors held the lead for most of the quarter as Stephen Curry was already 3-5 from three for a total of 11 points and Kevin Durant continued to be a mismatch for the Kings. He had 13 points on 5-7 shooting, missing his two three point attempts. Buddy Hield led the Kings with eight points on 4-5 shooting but had to go to the bench early with two fouls. De’Aaron Fox and Marvin Bagley each scored five points while Corey Brewer made his debut. Kings trailed 35-30.

The Kings started the second quarter shooting 6-7 from the field and it resulted in them taking an 11-point lead. Marvin Bagley was putting on an absolute show in the paint, taking his point total to 16 on 6-14 shooting. However, the team went cold to close the quarter and the Warriors fought their way back into the lead to make the game 62-60 at the end of the first half. Hield and Bogdanovic scored 10 points each. Curry and Kevin Durant each had 17 to lead Golden State. Durant was shooting a nice 6-9 from the floor and was also credited with six blocks. Three of those were from slapping the ball away from Bagley’s hands, which is also three misses for Bagley. He’s 6-11 without those “blocks.” The Kings were an awful 3-17 from three and still held a lead.

The Kings had a 91-84 lead with about a minute remaining in the third and then Durant hammered a dunk followed by a deep three over Bogdanovic with .2 seconds remaining. Sacramento still held onto the lead 91-89. Both teams scored 29 points, each going on runs one after the other. Durant led the Warriors with 26 while Curry was 7-12 from deep for a total of 25 points. The Kings were led by Bagley’s 21 points while Fox scored 10 in the quarter to go up to 15 points. The team was still a terrible 4-24 from three.

The Warriors finally and inevitably regained the lead and at one moment held a 119-114 lead. The Kings cut back into the deficit and Hield started to finally see threes drop. He got the Kings within two and could’ve given the Kings a chance to win had he taken the three given to him. Instead he tried to create a two and it didn’t work out. Kings drop to 30-28.

Best Players

Marvin Bagley is 19 years old. He just dropped 28 points, 14 rebounds, and a steal on the Warriors despite a loss. He shot 8-19 from the floor and also was 11-14 from the free throw line. Simply incredible.

De’Aaron Fox scored 18 points on 6-14 shooting and added eight assists, three rebounds, three steals and a block. Some of his shots fell short.

Buddy Hield started shooting the ball well at 4-5 but then cooled off until the late fourth quarter when he drilled two tough threes. Unfortunately, he didn’t attempt the third one. Hield was also 8-19 from the floor for 19 points and 2-8 from three and added seven rebounds, two assists and a block.

Notable Stats

Corey Brewer made his debut today and gave this team some huge minutes. He finished with 11 points on 4-7 shooting overall and 3-5 from three but his poise and defending were also impressive. I’m all for keeping him for the rest of the season and he should’ve gotten minutes on his last contract.

Sacramento was 10-33 from three. Curry made 10 threes himself. That’s pretty much regular for him but shows how abysmal Sacramento was from three.

Sacramento won the rebound battle 52-49 but were out-assisted 32-23.

The Kings also dominated the paint 56-38 but they couldn’t hit threes and Golden State is known for it.

Next Game

Sacramento travels to Oklahoma City to take on another really talented team in the Thunder this Saturday at 5:00 PM PST. Paul George is having a MVP caliber season but OKC will be on a SEGABABA. They host the Utah Jazz on Friday at 6:30 PM PST.