The Golden State Warriors defeated the Sacramento Kings 117-113 Sunday night.
The first half the game remained close and not a lot of defense was played. Harrison Barnes and Buddy Hield were good, Steph Curry was better. Barnes and Hield did their best to shoulder the scoring load in the first half with De’Aaron Fox out.
The Warriors expanded a lead late in the third as Steph hit some wild shots and displayed his court vision. Yet it remained a tightly contested battle down the stretch in the fourth quarter with Tyrese Haliburton making several clutch shots, and getting into a groove following a rough shooting performance in the first half. Curry and the savvy of Draymond Green, however, were too much for the Kings to overcome. It was impressive the Kings were so competitive in this game with Fox not playing , however. And they even had a chance for the win at the buzzer with a Barnes step-back three, but it rimmed off.
Quick Stats
Sacramento Kings 113 points, 47% from the field, 37% from three, 38 rebounds, 22 assists, 8 steals, 5 blocks, 12 turnovers
Golden State Warriors 117 points, 48% from the field, 38% from three, 52 rebounds, 30 assists, 6 steals, 3 blocks, 17 turnovers
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
THE GOOD:
Richaun Holmes back It was good to see Holmes starting and back on the floor. He played in limited minutes, but was the strong interior presence we have become accustomed to when he was on the floor. He did miss two free throws though with 1:25 left though with the Kings down 1.
Hield Buddy was really good tonight for 3 quarters. Aside from the 25 points and 6 rebounds, he only had 1 turnover (more on that in a bit). He was clearly taking it upon himself to try to match Steph and pick up his scoring with Fox out, so that means handling the ball more. So good on him for protecting the ball for most of the game. He went 6-8 from three.
Barnes Barnes was also good. He finished with 23 points and 7 rebounds.
Steph Curry This guy has a chance in this league 37 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists.
Tyrese in the second half Haliburton was struggling in the first half from the field, both with his floater and three, but cleaned it up in the second and made several clutch shots down the stretch. He finished with 24 points, 8 assists, 3 rebounds and a steal. He also only had 1 turnover in 37 minutes.
THE BAD:
Bench scoring The Kings bench got outscored 23-40. Delon Wright had a productive night with 7 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals, but the bench as a whole needs to bring more.
Damian Jones Jones only saw 8 minutes of action, but totaled 0’s across the stat sheet other than 1 turnover.
Offensive Rebounds The Warriors won this category 16-6.
THE UGLY:
Buddy Hield in the final seconds of the fourth Can a guy be in both the good and ugly categories? I think Buddy can. We’re going to do it. In the waning seconds of the fourth in a close game, Hield tried to isolate dribble against Draymond Green and that didn’t go well as the ball rolled out of bounds. (His teammates should have been running out for screens though.) A couple of seconds later on the Warriors inbound he got a steal and lost the ball out of bounds on a clear path to the basket with the Kings down 1.
The King of Kings
Tyrese Haliburton impressed in his role as the lead guard with Fox out. As I mentioned earlier, he struggled with his shot in the first half, but still racked up assists when that was happening. The Kings would not have been in the game late if it wasn’t for his scoring picking up. Controlling the ball for 37 minutes against Steph and only having 1 turnover is impressive. Nice game for the rookie.
Up Next: Monday, April 25 v. the Dallas Mavericks 7:00 PM.
FREE TYRESE!
Who would have thought Tyrese gets better with more time on the floor?
Everyone but Walton.
How can I know/see that Hali gets more comfortable with more minutes, as the game goes on. Is better in clutch/end than any other time, and doesn’t turn the ball over…..but coachless Walton can’t?
Never less tan 30. Haliburton is a player.
Oh I don’t know, because Walton is terrible?
Down votes brought to you by Walton? Down voting the truth.
Tank on.
Buddy and Barnes should be very tradeable this offseason.
Keep increasing those lottery odds.
Should be a different looking team next season, truly built around Fox and Hali.
I hope you are right but Monty has me scared shitless
It’s Monte folks. Come on. Get his name right! It’s not that hard!
Lol says the guy who has been misspelling the word “Lose” wrong for months. It’s “Lose” not “Loose”. It’s not that hard!
Luke IS Loose.
Loose is who Luke THINKS HE IS.
If he does anything to make this team better I’ll likely get the spelling correct.
also, you can just say… Its Monte with an E not a Y and leave out the rest.
It’s actually Vlonte … Vlonte McDivac until proven otherwise.
I hear you. I’ve been overly criticized in the same manner here at TKH. I’ll try to be nicer.
Barnes for sure. Buddy who knows. I watched the warriors broadcast bc DVR recorded their version of the game. Entire time they were saying Buddy is a 1 trick pony (giving him credit for that trick, ie 3pt shooting). They said what the league thinks. He had a great game (in general), but he misses that bunny layup and then the turnover at the end of the game. While a volume sharp shooter, how do you trade $20+ mil per year for 1 skill? That’s the problem Monte/we have.
Yup, and that one trick is becoming less and less rare. To me, Buddy falls in line with players like Joe Harris and Davis Bertans and he is the most expensive shooter in the league when it comes to his one trick pony skill. If Buddy had some other elite skill like defense, much like Klay Thompson, then he’d be worth the money.
Adding… 20 years ago, when Peja was considered an elite shooter, there were 16 qualified players shooting over 40% from 3. Peja was right at 40%.
This season, there are 47 qualified players who are shooting over 40% from three. Buddy isn’t one of them. He is currently shooting 39% from three.
Maybe that one trick isn’t a trick after all.
Well, to be fair he’s shooting 39% on a very high number of attempts. To put it in perspective, he’s shooting a higher % than Dame – on more attempts from three.
He’s a one-dimensional guy, certainly…but he’s still an elite shooter in the league.
Wierdest thing. I Had tv on in my bedroom and livingroom both turned to the King’s game. During the end of game roll up I had the Dubs feed in my bedroom and the Kings feed in the living room. I turned them both off.
Good team game. Buddy assistant tank commander
https://twitter.com/James_HamNBCS/status/1386541671677001728?s=20
I was hoping for a Haliburton/Holmes PnR with motion for Buddy/Barnes on that last play. Ball in Hali’s hands.. but TANK ON!
The Kings have one of the bottom 5 rosters in the league. When you evaluate rosters you have to consider the entire roster and the Kings have perhaps the worst bench in the league. The two most used lineups on the Kings both which have logged more than 400 minutes maintain a positive 7 net rating. So while our starting lineup may not be bottom 5, when you also consider the bench I don’t think there are 5 NBA rosters worse than the Kings.
Coaching is a bigger problem than roster talent. I do think bench depth is a big problem, but coaching is much more glaring
My favorite part of the game (aside from not hurting our chances at gaining on Cleveland) was hearing an emotional Draper saying “he was pissed…I don’t know if I can say that”.
When Bagley is healthy and wants to play he is guaranteed a starting spot. Not allowed to play in the fourth though.
Haliburton can play and he sits because he actually wants to win. When they need somebody to play Halliburton is allowed in the game.
I hear you, but I don’t think Bagley is guaranteed anything past this season. If he’s still on the team, I think he’s going to have to actually earn a starting spot next season, and even if he wins the job, he’ll be in constant danger of losing it to an average starter via trade.
Steph Curry really missed three free throws in a game? No way
I am not sure where to ask this directly so I am asking here. Perhaps you can answer in the next Chainmail. What was the upshot behind the weird comment glitch a couple weeks ago? What caused it and how did y’all fix it?
Hi Joe,
Thanks for asking a great question. Here’s your two part answer: 1) Who cares; 2) Fire Walton.
Trade Walton for Robert Pack.
I hope you are just being sarcastic and not dissing me for asking.
Greg ruined free speech
Yupjust ask the few remaining commenters over at that nameless site where we used to gather! A couple of them seem to have begun frequenting TKH as well, but lament that they have to put up with Greg.
That’s some bullcrap. Only WE are allowed to complain about putting up with Greg.
And Greg will be the first one to tell you “He knows nothing”
The more Hali runs the team the better it can become ! Fox is better and more valuable as an off the ball scorer especially in the half court ! Hali better at getting all involved ! Too bad the coach does not see it !
I think the league has proven it is perfectly fand and in fact better to have two lead guards who can run the team on the floor at the same time. Se: Dame/McCollum, CP3/Booker, Harden/Kyrie, Conley/Mitchell.
It seems to me teams with two lead guards are pretty good, but you know, “we don’t want to take the ball out of Fox’s hands.”
This is true on a number of fronts. I think in general when it gets down to crunch time, to often teams abandon ball movement and their offensive schemes and resort to isolation basketball with their star. That’s to your comment about the ball having to be in Fox’s hand. Expanding on another point, simply put you play your best players and you don’t worry about traditional positioning. The stats show pretty clearly that the 3 guard lineup of Fox, Haliburton, Buddy along with Barnes and Holmes has been very effective. Whenever you hear people making claims that two stars with similar skill sets or physical dimensions can’t play together know that is complete BS and has been proven false. They used to say two bigs couldn’t play together until Tim Duncan and David Robinson slammed that theory. Bottom line focus on skill sets not traditional positioning. Figure out which combination of players shoot, facilitate, defend, rebound, and compete this best and put them on the court.
The other thing I will add, whenever you hear someone start analyzing whether a player is a 1 or a 2, or 3 or a 4, you should immediately know that person is talking about a superfluous distinction. Try and figure out what position Durant, Green, Thompson and others played on the Championship Warrior teams. I don’t think Kerr and the coaching staff cared one bit what label you gave them. Bottom line for the Kings Fox and Haliburton need to be on the court together a lot and move the basketball, space the court, cut after passing, screen away, ball screen, set back picks away from the ball and avoid the temptation of isolation basketball.
What if your 5 best players =/= your best 5-man lineup combination?
I do notice that Haliburton actually kicks it out on some drives and Fox never does. Part is Puke Walton’s ISO ball bullshit and part is Fox is more of a Westbrook, drive to score and pass only if stuck. Haliburton is more PG, pass first, sees options.
I definitely think the O would be much better if they share responsibility and Fox learns to play off ball more.
George Karl says Steph Curry will be in the NBA for a ‘couple years’
D. Jones did not impress me tonight….as he also got Butterfingers……he missed two passes to him, and could not handle the ball properly………..
He got a wide body…but I would still play Metu over him…………….
p.s. Guy was given few mins to play, and I think Walton should play Ramsey in the next game..maybe few minutes ?
I think Jones may have a window to be and end of the bench big, as in really only getting minutes due other’s injuries, but that is about it. There is a reason he’s bounced around the league over the last 5 years and was a free agent all season until the Kings picked him up.
Free Metu!!!
5 yr 163 mil. Free Metu!
Haliburton still makes it worthwhile to watch this team even without Fox playing. Not exactly a newsflash but Luke Walton’s decision to send him to the bench just proves how completely out of his depth he is as a coach.
Yep, that was pretty much the Buddy Showcase. If you’re a GM thinking of acquiring him in the offseason (please!), just watch last night’s game. You’ll get the whole picture.
On another note … LOL, it was about midway through the third quarter when I realized Pervis wasn’t playing ¦ wasn’t he supposed to?
Pretty sad when one of your stars or core pieces is supposed to be coming back from (yet another) injury and you forget for most of the game.
I don’t think daddy wants his meal ticket to play.
Buddy:
Badge Legend