Golden State Warriors failed to win against the Sacramento Kings Thursday night at Golden 1 Center without versatile defenders Draymond Green and Stephen Curry.
Green felt unwell so he was out due to an undisclosed illness.
“Draymond did not come to shoot around,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “He’s just not feeling well.”
The Warriors enter the court without their star defender Draymond Green.
And also without star offensive player Stephen Curry tonight against the Kings.
So missing guard Stephen Curry and forward Draymond Green, the Warriors lost 141-119 to the Sacramento Kings.
GSW’s strong offense but poor defense
Golden State was already without guard Stephen Curry, who missed his fourth straight game with a bruised tailbone.
Likewise, the Warriors came to the court even without Draymond Green.
Warriors played strong offense against the Kings but lack in their defensive play. Sacramento scored at least 34 points in every single quarter.
Offensively, the Warriors managed to shoot 51.1% overall and 53.1% from the 3-point range.
Andrew Wiggins paced Golden State with 26 points while Kelly Oubre Jr. dropped 19 points.
And, rookie Nico Mannion managed to score 19 points and second-year guard Jordan Poole chipped in 17 points.
But the Warriors were not able to stop the Kings’ point guard De’Aaron Fox, who scored his career-high 44 points.
He shot 44 points on 16-for-22 shooting with seven assists. And rookie guard Tyrese Haliburton scored 21 points on 7-for-11 shooting.
He scored from everywhere from the court no matter who guarded him.
Fox was a big obstacle for the warrior’s team and could not stop him from scoring.
Golden State rotated through Wiggins, Oubre, and rookie point guard Nico Mannion as the defender.
But none could stop Fox from making the basket. His speed in making it to the basket or stepping back for an open 3-pointer created more chances for him to score.
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“We had no answer for Fox, he was tremendous,” head coach Steve Kerr said.
“He got anywhere he wanted, knocked down 3s got to the foul line. Disappointing defensive night for us.”
Added Oubre: “They had more force than us, they played with a little bit more pace. Fox is obviously on a tear right now.
He’s the fastest point guard in the league so it’s hard to stop that when we’re all playing on our heels the whole game.”
The warriors missed Green on the defensive end.
Without Green, the Warriors’ defensive end was clearly a mess. They allowed the opposite end to shoot about 60% from the field.
The warriors missed the aggressive defense and playmaking ability of the Green. That was clear with the way kings made the shot.
Green’s playmaking ability was even more important for the Warriors in Curry’s absence. But he too was unavailable due to sickness.
In 38 games this season, Green is averaging 6.1 points, 8.4 assists, and 6.6 rebounds.
If there was any possible replacement, it was forward Juan Toscano-Anderson, who filled in for Green in the starting lineup, and continues to make a play to be a core part of the rotation.
He finished with 15 points on 6-for-6 shooting (including making all three of his 3-pointers), six rebounds, four assists, and two steals in 26 minutes.
Without Green even though the warriors took lead in the first quarter but soon lost their lead all the remaining three quarters.
They ultimately lose to the aggressive Sacramento Kings by 22 points.
Despite the loss, the Warriors are still in 10th place and are able to make it to play in the tournament.
And Warrior’s Coach Steve Kerr too believes that the team can pull off this stretch.
With the trade deadline in the past, they look ahead to making the most of the final 27 games.
“It’s always a relief when the trade deadline passes just because it’s tough on all the guys. So at least they can settle in,” Kerr said.
“We have to put our heads down and get back to work. We have another game (against the Hawks) tomorrow and I really believe that this team is going to make a run down the stretch.”
De’Aaron Fox was unstoppable.
Even after a busy trade deadline, the Sacramento Kings came prepared to play on Thursday against the Warriors.
They impressively beat the Warriors 141-119 with De’Aaron Fox career-high night.
Fox scored a career-high 44 points where he made 25 points in the first half on an efficient 16-22 shooting from the field.
Fox wasn’t the only one who had an impressive night. Four of Sacramento’s players finished the night in double figures and two of them scored more than 20 points.
One of them is Tyrese Haliburton who scored 21 points playing 34 minutes. Similarly, Richaun Holmes scored 25 points, 11 rebounds, and 1 assist in 32 minutes.
The Kings were aggressive in both the offensive and defensive end and kept the Warriors on their toes.
They made great runs in their win against the Warriors.
After a win over the Warriors on Thursday, the Kings are only three games back of a play-in spot.
They are trying their best to make the plays and get more wins to make within the 10th spot to make to play-in tournament.
