Kings hope to add to Warriors' slide (Mar 30, 2018)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The visiting team -- the one that normally dominates this series -- comes into the home of its Northern California rival riding its longest losing streak in a year.
The home team -- the one that hasn't won this season series since 2012-13 -- is wrapping up its last and longest homestand of the season, and when it's over few will remember how many it won and lost.
If things seem just a bit off as the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings prepare to face each other Saturday at the Golden 1 Center, it's because they are.
The Warriors (54-21) have lost three straight for the first time since March 8-11 2017. That team rebounded to win 15 of its final 16 regular-season games and 31 of 33 overall en route to its second championship in three seasons.
The outcome for this team seems a bit more dubious. The Warriors, locked into the second spot in the Western Conference and in a waiting game to see who they face in the opening round of the playoffs, are trying to get healthy.
All-Star Stephen Curry (knee) won't play for at least the rest of the regular season. But All-Star forwards Kevin Durant and Draymond Green will be playing for the second time after absences of six and three games, respectively.
Against Sacramento, Golden State expects the return of All-Star guard Klay Thompson, who hasn't played since March 11 (eight games) because of a thumb injury. The Warriors, who haven't been fully healthy since before the All-Star break, won't have guard Andre Iguodala (knee), according to the East Bay Times.
The Warriors have lost two of three to Sacramento, including a 98-93 decision at home on March 16 in the most recent meeting. They've lost seven of 10 overall and they are trying to avoid their first four-game skid since Feb. 26-March 2, 2013.
"Every year offers different challenges. I like where we are right now, even though we're losing some games," Green told 95.7 The Game's Damon Bruce on Friday. "We've been beat up. ... Guys -- not in the way we would like -- are getting a chance to heal up, rest up and get fresh and healthy for the playoffs. So it's not all that bad."
Durant didn't make it through his return, earning his fifth ejection of the season in Golden State's 116-107 home loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday, a matter Kerr hinted to reporters he would address with the star.
Kerr also told reporters Friday that if his players wanted to participate in demonstrations in Sacramento on Saturday, that they could have a conversation about it. The Kings have played nearly the entirety of their six-game homestand in the shadow of demonstrations after the police shooting death of unarmed Sacramento citizen Stephon Clark, 20, on March 15.
Protests have kept a majority of fans out of two of the six games, and demonstrators have made themselves present at the past four.
That background has taken some of the attention away from the fact that Sacramento can win a season series against Golden State for the first time since 2012-13. The Kings had lost 15 of 16 to the Warriors entering the season.
This will be Sacramento's penultimate home game, and its 13 wins there are the second-fewest in the league. The Kings are 2-3 during their homestand and dropped a 106-103 decision to Indiana on Thursday, hours after Clark's funeral.
Indiana's Victor Oladipo drained a 3-pointer with 17.9 seconds left that proved to the biggest shot of the night.
"In a winning-time situation, you've got to have a stop," center Willie Cauley-Stein told the Sacramento Bee, after blowing the defensive coverage on Oladipo and leaving him free. "All bets have got to be off, and you've got to player more up instead of more reserved."
