Boxscore
1st Quarter The 1st quarter was indicative of what the Warriors do right all season long. Despite the obvious Defensive shortcomings the offensive explosivness makes up for it. The Dubs shot 60% with Baron going for 12 and 4 assists and Biedrins and Harrington going for 6 each. The thing was Sactown looked every bit as good. Kevin Martin had 10 points, Ron 7 and Niki Moore who had the game of his life with 6. They were only down 2 having shot an all impressive 52%. The key to the Warriors fading away slowly was Jackson. Picking up his 3rd foul for some reason Golden State loses all it's energy and becomes a different team on the court. Not an excuse for the loss by any means but still definitely the key to when the Kings started pulling away.
2nd Quarter This was one for the offensive lovers out there. Even though the shooting percentage went down to 49% the scoring was non stop with 21 lead changes the biggest lead was 4 to Sacramento with a minute left. Even though both teams were medicore at the Free Throw line the Kings just seemed to want it more as the Warriors unravelled
3rd and final Quarter Once the 3rd came around this becamse fugly. Often the Warriors have close wins against opponents they have no business beating. Tonight all the factors that have allowerd us to have countless close games against poor teamsd came back to haunt us as Sactown came out firing. They had a 23 point lead at one point and a 40 point 3rd quarter the Warriors defense as existant as a dodo sighting. Even though they cut the lead down to 6 at one point Niki Moore's dunk put the exclamation point on the game and the Kings ran away to take the game by 17.
Ellis I have to give props to the Kings on this one because it's clear they didn't do their homework. Monta's scary family situation(Our Prayers are with him) probably didn't help but Reggie Theus and his coaching staff knew once you get physical with Monta early as possible his game loses a small bit of it's edge. Once someone like Artest bumps him while going up for a Layup then expect a small dropoff in scoring. Over the next few weeks the Warriors will become ever more reliable on his scoring so without his production they sputter.
Passiveness This is where the game was lost. One of Nelsons famous traits is he pulls a player just for not taking a shot rather then the ones that they do. Tonight he couldn't do that even though Baron was trying to get everyone involved no one was up to the task. Andris was quiet his Free Throw shooting taking him off the court, Ellis did nothing,Jackson shot terribly and Harrington should have been benched much earlier. Though Davis had a unmemorable final few minutes he was the only one who was in tune. For the first time all season a healthy Croshere or Webber would have been welcomed because it needed a Halfcourt game to improvise.
Bright Spots Can't deny the small bright spots Azbuike came off the bench and produced, CJ Watson looked good running the backup Point and we had a Brandon Wright sighting his put backs, free throw shooting, and defense just proved he needs more playing time. However the missed Free Throws, Pietrus turning in a bad performance (first time in a while though) was a game I do not wish to remember any time soon. Baron's look said it all but the minutes clocked up was another source of dissapointment. Boom Dizzle had 39 minutes Monta got 28 and Jackson 31. The negatives overwhelmed the possitives.
Fortunately tonight in LA the Warriors have a chance to redeem themsleves against the Clippers. Even though the Dubs traditionally struggle in the Staples Center tonight offers little excuse the Clippers aren't as good as the Kings so hopefully nows the time to end a streak without starting a losing one. Given the Nuggets proximity to us now would be the awful time to start a losing streak
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