A Royal Pain
Fansided

Highs and Lows: Sacramento Kings Get Outmatched By Warriors

By Rafe Wong

January 8, 2017; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings forward DeMarcus Cousins (15) dribbles the basketball against Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) and forward Draymond Green (23, center) during the third quarter at Golden 1 Center. The Warriors defeated the Kings 117-106. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
January 8, 2017; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings forward DeMarcus Cousins (15) dribbles the basketball against Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) and forward Draymond Green (23, center) during the third quarter at Golden 1 Center. The Warriors defeated the Kings 117-106. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /
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The losing continues for the Sacramento Kings as they were defeated by the Golden State Warriors today by a score of 117-106.

Listed down below are the highs and lows that happened tonight pertaining to the Sacramento Kings.

Highs

Fast Start: Outscoring the Warriors 33-24 in the first quarter helped the Kings immensely in contending in tonight’s game. Rudy Gay was the main contributor for Sacramento as he scored 15 points in the quarter. Without that quarter, it would have been tough for the Kings to remain competitive as the Warriors outscored the Kings 93-73 in the remaining three periods.

Stopping the Three: The Warriors are notorious around the league in being a sharpshooting team, but the Kings made sure that perimeter shooting wasn’t going to be the main reason why Golden State won tonight. For the game, the Warriors only made 34.5% of their three-point attempts and the only player on Golden State to make more than two three-pointers was Stephen Curry.

Ty Lawson: Lawson was a spark plug off the bench for the Kings today. For the game, Lawson recorded 15 points, 3 assists, and 2 rebounds. For the last couple of weeks, Lawson has played well for Sacramento. In the month of January alone, Lawson has averaged 15.6 points and 5 assists per game while shooting 54.9% from the floor.

Lows

Turnovers: The turnovers were an issue for Sacramento. Recording 18 turnovers for the game, it decreased the number of possessions in which the Kings attempted a shot, therefore decreasing the number of points the team scored. This proved to be an issue tonight as the Warriors attempted a whopping 15 more field goal attempts than the Kings for the game.

Stopping the Big 3: Although the Warriors’ bench was restricted to just 22 points, their starting lineup, primarily their big three, played an incredible game. The trio of Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, and Klay Thompson finished the game scoring 76 points while shooting 50% from the floor.

Rebounding: The Kings needed to dominate the interior in order to win this game. Unfortunately, they didn’t. Golden State finished tonight’s game outrebounding Sacramento 46-31. The Warriors also outrebounded the Kings 13-1 in offensive rebounds which created more second-chance points for Golden State.

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