The Golden State Warriors trounced the Sacramento Kings 137-106 Monday night by simply playing a better brand of basketball. The Warriors played fast, they were physical, they executed on defense and they shared the ball.
Oh, and they have a first-ballot Hall of Famer playing at an elite level.
First Half
The Kings were completely outclassed in the first half. The lead had already ballooned to double digits midway through the first quarter as the stagnant offense from the second half against the Houston Rockets crept into this game. The lack of ball movement and little push-back on defense, mixed with the speed and force the Warriors were playing with, got the Kings all out of sorts.
The only offense came from Fox pushing the pace and getting to the basket. They found themselves down by 17 after the first.
In the second quarter, the Kings tried a zone defense that the Warriors quickly figured out. The Kings got a little offense going through Hassan Whiteside, who had 8 points and three blocks in the first half. They simply dumped it into Whiteside and let him use his size to try to score. The offense continued to stagnate everywhere else (only 9 assists in the half and 31 percent from the field). Buddy Hield went 1-6 from the field and 1-5 from three.
The Kings were, however, able to get to line in the first half, going 18-25. Curry was Curry and had the Kings defense in a tailspin all half. He finished the first half with 23 points.
The Warriors pushed the Kings around and took them completely out of any offense they wanted to run, forcing them into 8 turnovers. The Warriors dropped 32 points in the paint to the Kings 14.
They were down 68-48 at the half.
Second Half
In the third quarter, the Kings came out with more energy on defense and offense. They were moving better and playing more aggressive and Hield's shot began to fall. They got the lead down to 15 with 6:15 left in the third.
Kelly Oubre suddenly learned how to shoot again and started nailing threes. Holmes picked up his fifth foul with three minutes left and the lead jumped back up to 21 shortly after. The Kings defense continued to have little answers for the Warriors speed and physicality.
Steph was up to 30 points by the end of the third with four other Warriors in double-digit scoring. The lead had jumped up to 25. Harrison Barnes did what he could to carry the load on offense in the third, but it just wasn't nearly enough.
This one was pretty much over before a second ticked off the clock in the fourth.
Walton unloaded the bench a little past the midway point of the fourth as the bleeding never stopped. Curry finished with 30 points, 8 assists and 9 rebounds.
Player of the Game
Harrison Barnes, who did what he could to keep the Kings afloat with 18 points and 9 rebounds. His impressive season continues. Fox had a decent game stats wise, but never really was able to put his imprint on the game.
Trivia for the Night
This game sucked. As the game got out of hand, I decided to go back and look at past games the Kings have played on Jan. 4:
- Jan. 4, 2013: DeMarcus Cousins dropped 31 points and 20 rebounds on the Toronto Raptors. He had some help from Mr. John Salmons who had 20 points on 7-14 from the field! (He was a +23 on the night!) The Kings won 105-96.
- Jan. 4, 2000: Chris Webber went for 37 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. Jason Williams dropped 18 DIMES to go along with 18 points, and the Kings beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 111-107.
Other Notes
- Marvin Bagley had a really bad night with only 5 points on 2-9 from the field. He did have 9 rebounds, but he was a whopping -27 in the +/- column.
- Richaun Holmes had five fouls, which kept him on the bench and out of the flow of the game.
- James Wiseman looks pretty good and worthy of a top pick in the draft. He is big, athletic and skilled. He finished with 10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks and 1 assist in 17 minutes.
- Kyle Guy got 16 minutes and had 7 points with 5 assists.
- Robert Woodard had 4 points and 6 rebounds in only 5 minutes during garbage time.
- 41 assists for the Warriors. Only 20 for the Kings.
- Get well soon Tyrese!
Next Up
The Kings will take on the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Metu out scores Bagley!
#FreeMetu
DNP coaches decision for Bagley next game, start Bejelica, and give Metu Bagley’s minutes.
Both of these yes. Bags just needs a reset. Or cut bait
I think I find myself agreeing with Bags’ dad (and probably MBIII for that matter) that it’s probably best for him if he’s playing somewhere else.
Honestly, Metu has looked better than Bagley at every opportunity. And he doesn’t look that much smaller, although he’s listed at just 6’9″. He certainly can’t be worse than Bags at this point.
I love how everyone: Mark, Doug, replay editor…EVERYONE straight up ignored Marvin Bagley FACE PLANTING while trying to keep up with Fox on a fast break in the 1st.
It was a hilarious metaphor that they all looked the other way like, Well, I’m not gonna say it.
He flat out tripped over himself as Fox runs by and Marvin disappears off the screen. No mention at all LOL!
This is good
Marvin faceplanting probably defines his week.
Does someone have a video/gif?
The two games without Halli were just not exciting. Small sample size, I know, but I truly believe he can elevate the guys around him.
I hope he’s not two games away from being two games away
I saw a Hornets writer pitching the idea of a Monk + heavily protected first for Marvin trade to their fans. Monks got a year left on his contract. I think I’d do it and then we could run a fox,Hali,buddy, Barnes and Holmes line up and see if Monk can get the Kentucky touch again as a 6th man.
That is too much for Bagley.
Do it yesterday
Oh my god I’d do that in a split second.
Si, for favor.
Hey..you guys had been unfair to me…
I have proposed this trade a few days before, but getting down-voted….
that’s pretty epic
Yikes!!!
Maybe this feels a bit like that season when the Kangz had a good start, Boogie got meningitis, and Joerger got canned.
Instead Hali gets hurt ð and ….. Lose Alton gets canned ð
It’s so Kangsy that it was a different good coach who got fired that season! RIP Kings Coach Malone ð
Lol. Yep
I wonder if Walton and Malone get fired at the same time Malone would agree to return to Sacramento?
It’s our only hope lol
Not with Jazz Hands still as majority owner.
In my dreams I see Coach Malone and Luka Doncic together, elevating this franchise to multiple championships … then I wake up, stare into the abyss and see nothing but Lavar Bagley tweets about his son Pervis.
Sounds like a Charles Grodin line from The Lonely Guy.
Well that was an unexpected reference.
It has some hilarious moments.
That’s what I was going for, exactly that.
You are insane ð¤£ð¤£ð¤£
Yes Haliburton has missed these last two games and it will get better, but the same message will exist after game 40 as it does after game 7. Get rid of the Vlade holdovers McNair and make your own team!
Cojo, Buddy, Bjelica, Bagley.
Probably won’t happen until the deadline, so I can wait. I’d rather see our young guys make mistakes than these veterans and Bagley over and over again. Will it be ugly? Will there be losses? Yes, but I’d be more excited about our team than I am now.
nice to see Fox working the midrange. It was suggested in episode 5 of the herald show podcast (recommended) that he utilize it more often. We all look at his low three point shooting percentage and sometimes forget about his midrange. That might be his bread and butter, and maybe we can forgive his low three point shooting percentage like everyone forgives Doncic’s low three percentage.
It feels like Tyrese is to the Kings what Draymond is to the Warriors (or has the potential to be). The ultimate glue guys who make everyone around them play better.
As much as I like Burt, I suggest that we temper our expectations of his influence on the team. The sample size is small.
It is, but… it’s the way he looks when he’s out there. It goes waaaaaaay beyond the box score. Unless his IQ somehow gets worse, I don’t know why he won’t continue to be an asset.
I’ll also add that a lot of very smart basketball folks are losing their minds over him and I don’t remember the last time that happened with a Kings prospect. I’m not sure it’s happened once during the playoff drought. That gives me hope that he’s the real deal.
The last Kings draft pick people lost their fucking minds over was Luka Doncic.
I wish we could fire Valde again.
I agree, I don’t think that Burt will get worse (although his shooting percentages may drop) and I think he’s the real deal.
But I wrote about his influence on the team, not his individual play.
He obviously helps ball movement, but that effect will be minimized if others have sticky fingers or don’t move without the ball. He is excellent on D, but what is that worth if others are caught ball watching or don’t know when and where to rotate? He can run plays, but will they break down if others don’t know how to set a proper pick?
How much can Burt do to make others play smarter and better? Not that much, I fear. The onus is mainly on other playmakers, especially Fox but also Buddy, CoJo and Barnes, to start to play better team ball (on both sides of the court) consistently.
It’s all we got. Let us fans fan. Way to go Eeyore.
I’m just hoping for a good draft pick.
Me watching this game with Curry and Oubre on my fantasy team:
The team I’m playing agaist has Buddy and Bagley. I have Brogdon.
I had Holmes against Embiid.
Doh!
I watched Marvin pretty closely tonight. His off-ball contribution could best be described as a pothole. I feel like an entire article could be written about it. I’m not sure what they’re building over there, but Vivek got his four on five.
Sadly his horrendous showing tonight might not be called out, due to the overall poor play from everyone
opposing guards just get a switch onto Bagley, and attack him relentlessly.
I think he had more offensive fouls than points. For fucks sake, Pervis, figure it out!
Let’s be clear here: Pervis was a fundamentally sound player with injury issues. Bagley is only halfway to that description.
Coming out of Duke (and left handed), I’ve always thought of Bagley as Okafor 2.0. Now, even that’s a stretch.
Massive fart noise.
Things were moving in the right direction until someone tweeted something they should have kept to themself. Walton needs to get his team back on the same page before this situation gets out of control.
Your boy Draper said the same thing after the game. No they weren’t. The Kings were a few shots away from two additional losses and if Murray had of showed up to start the season it’d be a different story.
I like Draper keeping it real
What does “your boy” mean? I don’t understand.
Because he always say “hey Kings fans, it’s your boy Kyle Draper” on the commercials and it sounds goofy.
lol. I’m in the military and the part of the world I’m in I live stream the games when I can and don’t get to see the commercials.
On the bright side; DeMarcus Cousins was tossed in the first 3 minutes of the game tonight for Houston. At least we’re not dealing with that still…
ð¤·ð»ï¸
I got nothing.
I would much rather have Dearest DeMarcus over Bagley
OHHH! Foley was involved!
Does Foley not like Cousins? That double tech was weak. So was that BS second tech.
That’s at least entertaining to watch. Way better than this game.
Agreed, say what you will about DeMarcus, he was never boring.
That’s not at all how the narrative went while DMC was still here, y’all need to just stop that nonsense. And the “Foley”, the guy who coined that deserved the ban hammer if for nothing other than it should be FOLLY. Just dumb. Stop. Please.
Does this surprise anyone?
Once a POS..,
This going to sound really dumb, BUT the Kings are actually doing fairly well, from a four factors perspective, as long as you exclude the shooting efficiency discrepancy (-6.4% net eFG%). That’s the type of thing that should balance out as the season goes along.
Takeaways:
In Haliburton we trust.
Bagley needs to take a step back for a week or two and clear his head. He is just not playing NBA basketball. Literally every big we play > Bagley. I don’t know if this is the coaching staff, his dad, or what. But he is writing checks his body can’t cash right now.
This team is full of streaky shooters. We need to dominate the paint in order to give ourselves a puncher’s chance at victory.
I think Bagley has taken enough steps back. He should take a step or two forward.
Lol that is true.
I agree with rey. Bagley needs to play within himself and some pine maybe good for him. As Eastwood says… a man must know his limitations I am feeling lucky for the kid he just needs to step out of that shadow or as said above…cut bait
Just make sure he doesn’t trip and faceplant when he takes two steps forward.
He tried adding the “step back” to his arsenal, but he clearly misinterpreted what that meant
All this Bagley noise’n’bullshit is making people forget how Buddy Hield is a terrible basketbal player.
He have the wosrt contract in the NBA.
You haven’t seen Al Hoford played these days have you?
He’s hot and cold. You can sort of predict it just looking at his energy level and body language. I was thinking, if he’s looking sluggish or aloof, do you just yank him for 10 minutes? I’m normally a believer in a consistent rotation pattern, but if he’s not dialed in … sort of a dilemma …
“All this Bagley noise’n’bullshit is making people forget how Buddy Hield is a terrible basketbal player.”
Is it, though…?
Did Bagley play in the fourth quarter?
That should tell you the state of this team then
I mean, it would be a great troll job by Walton if he would let him play the entire 4th quarter in a blowout loss.
Don’t worry. Luke Walton will fix this!
How did we get so lucky?
Screw Bagley.
We should play Woodard & Metu and maybe some Ramsey and Guy. Next game, I’d do this:
Fox
Hield
Barnes
Bjelica
Holmes
Haliburton
Joseph
Woodard
Metu
Bagley
And if the other teams have bigger dudes, I’m putting Whiteside in Bagley’s spot. And if this team had a halfway decent ballhandler on the bench, I’d HAPPILY start Haliburton over Hield. But the bench needs Hali. And I’ll let CoJo keep his spot for now, but I’d be looking over at Ramsey give him a go pretty soon.
ooops
In the long run, no
Bagley’s presence is ruining team chemistry
Hali’s absence can’t be overcome
those who want a high pick want Hali taken precaution with
Watching Bagley play is like a daily reminder of how stupid and incompetent Vlade was as a GM. The damage he did to this franchise with his 2018 draft will take years to recover from.
Unretire Vlade’s jersey.
I wonder if we replace divac’s jersey with Luka’s would fix our misery-including that tip rebound to Horry….
ugh too soon…
He deserves so much blame still for the way he built this roster, he spent two high picks on players who can’t shoot well nor complement each other in any way. Fox is not a great PnR player due to players always going under on him and his limited playmaking, Bagley can’t set a real screen nor stretch the floor.
Unfortunately, his tenure as GM has permanently stained my nostalgia of his time as a Kings player.
I didn’t have much nostalgia for him before he was hired. Most of my nostalgia for that time is for CWebb & Peja.
you know what got the Kings out of a funk last season? Moving Buddy to the bench, so they can add a second playmaker to the starting lineup. Imagine the hot streak they’d go on if they moved two underachievers to the bench this time!
Or SF. Buddy is strong enough and a solid rebounder for a Sg
fox/Hali/Hield/Barnes/Holmes is the team’s death lineup
buddy wont accept being benched
team isnt serious about winning til Hali starts
Buddy accepted coming off the bench with Joerger. He said it at least once. No problem at all. Happy with it.
Until Hali comes back they don’t have a another play maker sadly.
Ham acted like Haliburton is close to returning, so I’m banking on a quick recovery.
Gotta be honest he’s really the only reason to watch this year. This is just boring when he isn’t playing.
Can’t wait to see Haliburton in the starting lineup.
The offseason?
We must now un-ironically post this gif.
After sucking for 14 years can you say something else other than again?
We never stopped sucking? We’re a vacuum, basically.
or my ex-wife!
LOL
Lucky you!
Wait. . .
We consistently suck?????
No??
Do the Kings ever get above .500 again this season? After possibly going back to .500 next game, I don’t see them touching it again.