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SACRAMENTO – And thus, the Warriors' 2023-24 NBA season has come to an end.
A year after playing the villain and leading the Sacramento Kings into the offseason with a seven-game first-round NBA playoff series victory, Golden State finds itself on the other end of the ball in Tuesday's play-in game at Golden 1. I realized that. center.
Stephen Curry scored 22 points but committed six turnovers, which plagued the entire Warriors roster, and Golden State fell into an early hole and couldn't catch up, losing 118-94 to the Kings.
This is the first time the Warriors have missed the playoffs since the 2020-21 season.
The Kings will play the No. 8 seed New Orleans Pelicans on Friday at 6:30 p.m. PT at the Smoothie King Center, and are scheduled to face the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Klay Thompson, who missed the entire year with an Achilles tendon injury, was held scoreless in what may have been his last game in a Warriors uniform. The 34-year-old five-time All-Star has not received a contract extension from the only NBA team he has ever played for and is set to become an unrestricted free agent.
Jonathan Kuminga overcame a slow start and recorded 16 points and 7 rebounds. Andrew Wiggins had 12 points but was minus-25. Draymond Green had 12 points, three rebounds, six assists and two steals.
The two Northern California rival schools split four regular-season games and finished with the same record, but the Kings won the tiebreaker because of their superior division record.
This was important because the Warriors fell behind early, which caused the pro-Kings crowd to get loud all night.
The frustrated Warriors were serenaded with chants of “Light the Beams” as they left the court after the game.
It was a far different atmosphere from the Golden Center last season, when the Warriors won a thrilling seven-game series as the Kings made their first playoff appearance after an NBA-record 16-year drought.
Golden State entered the day with momentum, winning 10 of 12 games. However, all good feelings quickly disappeared once Sacramento took control in the first quarter and never looked back.
Here are our takeaways from Tuesday's game.
Splush brothers dry up
On a night where the Warriors were out of whack offensively for much of the game, their two best scoring options didn't do much.
Many times, Curry appeared to be in a hurry to get the shot, while other times he appeared to be doing everything he could to get the shot. The two-time NBA scoring leader went a respectable 8-of-16 from the field overall, but missed the mark on 3-of-7 attempts.
Embodying the theme of the Warriors' ups and downs in 2023-24, Thompson missed all 10 shots he attempted, including six attempts that fell short of the arc.
This is the second time this season that Thompson has been held scoreless. He also failed to score against the Minnesota Timberwolves on November 11, 2023.
one step late
The Kings established a blistering pace early in the first half, but the Warriors struggled to keep up.
Golden State, the NBA's top rebounding team, was crushed on the boards during the regular season, opening the door for Sacramento to pick up some much-needed second-chance points.
This brought even more energy to the already super excited crowd at Golden 1 Center, and the Kings thrived on that energy.
The Warriors committed 16 turnovers, leading to 20 points for the Kings. The Kings also held a 37-15 advantage in second-chance points and fast-break points.
Too many open looks
Many times, the Warriors left the Kings' shooters wide open, especially in the corners. Sacramento had similar issues all year, but they made the most of it and converted almost every time Golden State's defense fell asleep.
Early on, Keegan Murray started to get better as the Dubs couldn't get a proper shutout. Murray, one of the Kings' best perimeter shooters, dropped 14 points in the first quarter and made four threes.
The trend of allowing Sacramento to stay open continued in the second half, which contributed to Golden State's inability to really develop its transition game. This was extremely important as Golden State was doing a pretty decent job of scoring and defending in the paint. On the perimeter, it was a completely different story for both teams.
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