After an 0-3 road trip to start the season, the Sacramento Kings finally return to the capital city for their home opener. Tonight, they face the Golden State Warriors, their Northern California rivals from the bay area.
The Kings went 1-3 against the Warriors in four meetings last season. With the exception of a 115-89 blowout win by Golden State, each game between the two teams was decided by single digits. Following morning shootaround, DeMarcus Cousins was asked why the contests have been so evenly matched between them over the last few years.
It’s always a good game every time we play them. Like you said, it always does go down to the wire. And usually we end up breaking down at the end and doing something crazy and let them take the game. Hopefully tonight, it’ll be the other way around.
Former King Carl Landry currently leads the Warriors in scoring, averaging 20 points over their first three games. Cousins says the key to slowing down his former teammate is getting him frustrated.
Take away his go-to-moves. We know his go-to-moves; take away those. Once he starts missing shots, he gets down on himself.
Like the Kings, the Warriors have formidable depth at point guard. Isaiah Thomas knows that pressure will be important when it comes to slowing down Stephen Curry and Jarrett Jack.
They’re bigger guards so me, I just want to pressure them, make things tough for them and make them work the whole game. That’s going to be my mindset going in tonight, just pick them up full court and just make them work. Don’t let them get anything easy and contest all their shots.
The Kings have had their struggles on offense early this season, especially around the rim. According to Thomas, a reason for their lack of success near the basket has been their inability to play consistently on both ends of the floor.
Probably just dialing in and concentrating. And also we’re working our butts off on the defensive end, which we haven’t done that in a few years here and it takes a toll on you. So once we get used to that and just concentrating when we’re tired and going up and going strong to the hole and concentrating on finishing (at) the basket, we’ll be alright.
Tipoff between the Kings and Warriors is set for 7 pm at Sleep Train Arena. Follow Cowbell Kingdom for continued coverage of tonight’s game.
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