The Sacramento Kings put together a fun, competitive first half against the Golden State Warriors, but were unable to recover from a third quarter barrage and eventually lost 109-86. The Kings actually led at the half 50-47 after a fiery second quarter than saw Draymond Green get ejected after two quick technical fouls. For a brief moment, there was hope. But hope is a stupid thing, and the Warriors absolutely decimated the Kings in the third quarter to the tune of 42-15. The Kings were never close again.

DeMarcus Cousins started the game well, but only played 23 minutes. With the contest clearly out of reach, Dave Joerger wisely chose to rest Cousins the majority of the second half. Boogie finished the game with 13 points, six assists, and four rebounds. Cousins has averaged of six assists per game for the month February.

One advantage to a blowout it you get to see the young guys play. Malachi Richardson played heavy minutes in the game, including some big plays in the more successful first half. Skal Labissiere and Georgios Papagiannas both saw action in the fourth, but neither showed much to indicate that they’ll see an uptick in minutes after the All-Star break.

The one other bright spot was the continued improved play of Willie Cauley-Stein. the second year big man continued to show the variety of ways he can impact a game on both ends of the floor. We wondered how he might fare with Ty Lawson out of the lineup for a stretch, but Willie has shown no signs of slowing down.

The Warriors were led by Klay Thompson, who finished with 35 points. Kevin Durant finished with 21. The Warriors starters sat for the fourth quarter.

For the opponent’s perspective, visit Golden State of Mind.

Update: Malachi Richardson was helped off the floor with an injury with about a minute left in the game. Ugh. Hopefully it’s nothing serious, and obviously we will provide an update as soon as we know more.