Kings vs. Warriors Preview: Steph Up or Step Out!

The Kings have returned home to California after their stay out in Texas and after chalking up two more moral victories, they’re ready to get back to winning actual ones. Standing in their way? Fathers on Twit- I mean, The Golden State Warriors! Steph Curry is in his bag, Draymond Green is slowly regaining the use of his limbs and rookie center James Wiseman looks every bit as good as advertised. While rumors of their demise might not be as premature as previously thought, the Warriors still have the greatest shooter on planet Earth and as long as he’s healthy and breathing, they’re never out of a game. Let’s talk Kings basketball!

When: Monday, January 4th, 7:00 PM PST

Where: Chase Center, San Francisco, CA

TV: NBCSCA –  Mark Jones on the call.

Radio: KHTK Sports 1140 AM

For Your Consideration

The Rumors of My Demise : Let’s get this out of the way – Steph Curry scored a career high 62 points last night in a barnburner against the Portland Trailblazers. With various Twitter loudmouths and blog boys basically advocating for Curry’s retirement after a disappointing start to Golden State’s season, it was just a matter of time before that small gathering of loose hay and Twigs that comprise Curry’s body from Davidson felt enough pressure to combust. Boy, did he ever. I was paying light attention to this game when I looked down at my phone and saw he had climbed over the 40 point mark and had played something like a total of 28 minutes. At that point, all there’s left to do is shake your head and wait for the final results and if I’m being honest: 62 points, 18-31 from the field, 8-16 from three sounds like a pretty decent message that the man isn’t done doing things quite yet. Sure, he has to wait for Andrew Wiggins narcoleptic talent to come around every other game and yes, Kelly Oubre Jr. has proven that giving the rim “The Smoulder” doesn’t improve shooting performances, but the Warriors aren’t finished with anything yet. Sitting at .500 with the key support pieces either injured or slumping is nothing to laugh at and games like Sunday night’s against the Blazers are sometimes all other players need to re-energize themselves and breakout of whatever funk they’d started their season in. Coach Steve Kerr seems intent on sticking with the same offense that got him to The NBA Finals five times and while it might be due some simplification just because of the random new parts and change in skill levels over the last few years, his team is still at .500, in the West and getting more and more comfortable moving the ball the way it’s asked of them.

So let’s talk good news vs. bad news. Good news first! The Warriors give up the highest points per game of any team in the league at an average of 123.7 points a contest. They’ve got the fourth lowest defensive rating in the league, they give up the most three point attempts in the league and allow teams to shoot the second highest percentage from deep, while also allowing the most free throw attempts as well because, well, they foul more than any other team in the league. If you’re expecting the Warriors defense of old, you are sorely mistaken. One last ray of sunshine – while they do have Steph Curry shooting ungodly hot on occasion, he’s only one guy and as such, the rest of the team are pretty dependable on denting rims and chipping backboards – they have the second lowest field goal percentage in the league and outside of Curry’s 32 points a contest, they have Wiggins averaging 17.8 and only rookie James Wiseman and Eric Paschall averaging over ten points a contest, at 11.7 and 10.2 respectively.

All this to say that the Kings are going to have a great chance at extending their current three game winning streak against the Warriors. Buddy Hield is going to have room to shoot all night. De’Aaron Fox is going to have room to drive. The Kings will be encouraged to play fast (something they’ve been allergic to so far this season) and will be encouraged to chuck the ball, all they have to do is accept the challenge. I mourn the missed opportunity to see Tyrese Haliburton out there against bad defenders or lazy defenders in a game that was designed to be a statement game for him and his heady style of play, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Can the Kings play more than six games this season without being unnecessarily dramatic off the court? Find out next on … One Hand to Give? The Old and the Pitiful? The Kangz of Our Lives? Ah, hell, you pick one.

Oh, real quick.

Today marks the 5th anniversary of this crew asking me to officially come on and write for you all. I tend to get very mushy and spend far too much time on it, so I’ll keep it short today. I just want to say thank you for these last five years and how much I appreciate every single one of you. I couldn’t have done any of this if it weren’t for your encouragement and engagement, regardless of the quality I put out. I feel very blessed every day to have you all, but especially today.

Prediction

Buddy Hield goes off for 40 and De’Aaron Fox records a triple double while also ringing up three long balls. Draymond Green reminds us all why he so much fun to hate. Steph Curry scores less than 62.

Kings 128, Warriors 121