warriors vs kings preview: golden state looking for the 5-0 sweep of sacramento with david lee, andrew bogut out, andre iguodala questionable (Photo: CowbellKingdom.com)
Golden State Warriors (46-29) vs. Sacramento Kings (27-48)
Tip-off: Friday, April 4th, 2014 – 7:30PM PDT
Location: Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA
Spread: TBH
TV: CSN Bay Area | Radio: KNBR 680 AM
Livetweet: @LetsGoWarriors (by @BeeRyry)
Last Game / Streak:
SAC – Won 107-102 vs LAL in Los Angeles, Won 2 games in a row
GSW – Lost 90-111 vs SAS in San Antonio, Lost 1 game in a row
Probable Starting Lineups:
Warriors:
PG: Stephen Curry (23.9 PPG, 8.9 APG, 4.4 RPG)
SG: Klay Thompson (17.9 PPG, 2.4 APG, 3.1 RPG)
SF: Andre Iguodala (9.4 PPG, 4.3 APG, 4.9 RPG)
PF: Draymond Green (6.0 PPG, 1.8 APG, 4.9 RPG)
C: Jermaine O’Neal (7.7 PPG, 0.5 APG, 7.2 RPG)
HEAD COACH: Mark Jackson (46-29)
Kings:
PG: Ray McCallum (5.4 PPG, 1.9 APG, 1.6 RPG)
SG: Ben McLemore (8.3. PPG, 0.9 APG, 2.8 RPG)
SF: Rudy Gay (7.4 PPG, 2.2 APG, 7.4 RPG)
PF: Reggie Evans (2.7 PPG, 0.2 APG, 5.0 RPG)
C: DeMarcus Cousins (22.2 PPG, 3.0 APG, 11.6 RPG)
HEAD COACH: Mike Malone (27-48)
[UPDATE: Per Coach Jackson’s pregame announcement, Iguodala will play tonight.]In twenty-two years, the Warriors haven’t swept the Kings. As Friday night approaches, Golden State will try and do just that, sweep the Kings.
The Dubs lost to the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday, 111-90. Thompson scored 15 points and Curry added 11 points and 10 assists.
Curry then sat out the whole fourth quarter. The Warriors were without Iguodala, David Lee, and Andrew Bogut. Iguodala missed the back-end of back-to-back games to rest his knee tendinitis. Lee has missed four straight with a strained right hamstring, while Bogut has been out with a pelvic/groin contusion suffered last week in the home victory against the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Kings have won two straight games despite being without their point guard Isaiah Thomas, who has missed five games due to a right quad contusion. In the absence of Thomas, the rookie McCallum is averaging 17.6 points per game. McCallum scored a season high against the Los Angeles Lakers two nights ago, scoring 27 points.
The Warriors are going to have stop McCallum and the post presence of Cousins. O’Neal must try to contain Cousins, who is averaging 27.5 ppg in his last two games.
Curry said today at practice that playing without Lee, Bogut, and possibly Iguodala is just an adjustment he has to make.
“It’s just basically knowing who’s on the floor and knowing where they like to get the ball,” Curry said, “I’ve got to be a lot more aggressive to try to create angles, get to the paint, be there to make plays for myself and others, but knowing where guys like the ball, how different D.Lee is from Draymond (Green), JO (Jermaine O’Neal) and ‘Bogues’ (Bogut) are kind of similar.”
The Warriors have a relatively easy schedule to close out the season, with the only opponent that is in playoff contention the Portland Trail Blazers.
“We’re in a good situation where we can control our own destiny when it comes to getting a good seed in the playoffs and be playing our best basketball,” Curry added, “That’s a good situation to have, we could be on the outside looking in at this point, but we have to seize the moment.”
From the Associated Press:
Golden State (46-29) fell 111-90 at league-leading San Antonio on Wednesday. Thompson scored 15 points and Curry had 11 and 10 assists, but neither played more than 32 minutes and Curry sat out the entire fourth quarter.
.
“I would have preferred a close ballgame and a win but when they increased the lead and it became obvious, it was important to shut those guys down,” Jackson said.
Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area:
And starting small forward Andre Iguodala, who has missed four of the last seven games with right knee tendinitis, is listed as questionable, so he’ll be hurting if he’s able to play at all.
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“We have some guys banged up, a short-handed lineup, but the mission still says the same,” point guard Stephen Curry said Friday, after the team’s morning shootaround. “We all have that kind of confidence. So, hopefully, sooner or later we get everybody full strength and keep pushing.”
Jonathan Santiago of CowbellKingdom.com:
…Will Ray McCallum play more than 40 minutes?
.
Over his last five games, McCallum has played major minutes for the Sacramento Kings. He’s playing close to 46 minutes a game due to the injury to Isaiah Thomas. Michael Malone talked yesterday after practice about giving Jared Cunningham more of an opportunity if the moment presents itself. But at the same time with McCallum playing so well, it’s been difficult for Malone to go away from the proven product. That once again might be the case tonight in Oakland.
From the Sacramento Bee:
Rough up front: With Andrew Bogut and David Lee dealing with injuries, the Kings have a physical advantage in the paint with DeMarcus Cousins, Reggie Evans and Jason Thompson. All are capable of 10 or more rebounds. But the Kings might start Derrick Williams instead of Evans if the Warriors start a smaller lineup.
[NOTE: Poor Man’s Commish contributed to this report.]
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