OAKLAND – A frenetic finish in Oakland, as the Sacramento Kings lose to the Golden State Warriors, 111-108 at Oracle Arena.
“Growing pains, growing pains,” said Kings Head Coach Keith Smart after the loss. “Down the stretch (in a) close game, we did everything that we could…The mistakes that we made (late) were growing pains, but we’ve got to go through them and I hope that these games will help us as we go forward.”
Finishing with 28 points and 18 rebounds, DeMarcus Cousins recorded his 28th double-double of the year. The second-year big man also dished out five assists in the losing effort.
In front of a sellout crowd, Klay Thompson had a standout evening. The Warriors rookie guard scored career-high 31 points on 10-of-20 shooting and connected on four-of-nine from deep in the three-point victory.
Losers of two straight, the Kings fall to 17-31 overall and 4-21 on the road. They head to Texas for a meeting with the Houston Rockets on Monday.
Notes and Analysis
- He racked up 26 points through the first three quarters, but Cousins scored just two points and attempted only two shots in the fourth. Why did the Kings go away from him in the final period? Smart said the Warriors 3-2 zone made them weary of feeding him the ball. “He dived in deep into the middle of the zone and we were reluctant to make that pass over the top.” Smart also added: “One thing I (try to) get our players to understand – if you throw the ball up high to a big guy, I’ve yet to see one let it sail over his head and not go get it.”
- After scoring 31 points on 10-for-16 shooting (4-of-7 from beyond the arc), Thompson went scoreless in the fourth quarter and attempted only four shots. Smart on the adjustments the Kings made defensively on the rookie. “All you needed was a guy who was willing to get up into his body. A good jump shooter, you gotta get into his body and you gotta make sure you don’t get picked. And I thought in the second half, our guys did that.”
- In his debut, Terrence Williams scored five points in seven minutes. His playing time came late in the game and he played solid defense on Thompson in the final quarter.
- Smart on why Williams got heavy minutes during a critical stage of the game: “I thought that we needed to have the floor semi-spaced because we would’ve had two guys on the floor that were not three point shooters…I was a little reluctant, but he’s new to the fold. I like what he did tonight.”
- Marcus Thornton had rough evening shooting the ball. He scored just 16 points on 6-of-15 shooting from the field.
- Back to his role off the bench, John Salmons came alive as the Kings’ second-leading scorer. In 33 minutes, Salmons scored 17 points on 7-of-12 shot attempts.
- The Kings once again recorded 20-plus assists. However in the deciding quarter, Sacramento dished out only four assists – their lowest total of the game.
- Five Kings players scored in double-figures. Evans (16), Thomas (12), Thornton, Salmons and Cousins all scored more than 10 points in the loss.
- With no Jason Thompson, David Lee poured in a double-double effort for Golden State. The Warriors power forward scored 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in the three-point victory.
- Stat of the Night: The Kings shot just 7 percent from beyond the arc tonight. They made only 1-of-15 attempts.
Injury Report
Due to injury, Jason Thompson did not play. He sat out tonight’s game, still nursing the left-ankle sprain he suffered in Thursday night’s loss to the Utah Jazz.
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