San Francisco – The Warriors suffered their worst loss of the season, falling to the Sacramento Kings in an embarrassing 129-99 defeat. The loss was particularly surprising given how well Golden State performed just yesterday, even without Stephen Curry. However, tonight’s game was marred by sloppy play, with the Warriors committing a staggering 22 turnovers.
“Just right from the start, we were turning it over,” said Steve Kerr. “The turnovers didn’t feel forced either, more decision-based. That’s what was disappointing, knowing Sacramento likes to play fast and get up and down the floor. You have to come in with a purpose, and that purpose has to be based on connecting the game, offensive execution, and taking care of the ball, which leads to transition defense. Then you can play a game. But right from the start, 36 points in the first. I don’t know how many turnovers we had in that quarter, but it felt like a lot. Our transition defense was bad, and they were hot right from the beginning.”
Curry led Golden State with 26 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 turnovers. Andrew Wiggins contributed 18 points, but the rest of the roster struggled to make an impact. After last night’s hot shooting, the Dubs went cold and couldn’t find their rhythm, especially from beyond the arc.
The Warriors never led during the game, starting sluggishly with missed shots and an inability to secure offensive rebounds. Their defensive struggles compounded the problem, allowing Sacramento to seize the momentum and extend their lead to 51-36 after Curry had briefly cut it to just four points in the second quarter. Curry scored an impressive 15 points in that period, but it wasn’t enough to counter Sacramento’s surging offense.
“I don’t know, I think nobody likes to get embarrassed like that, especially the way we started the first quarter,” Curry said. “I know everybody’s on a back-to-back. Obviously, I didn’t play yesterday, and the Kings have a very fast-paced offense that they pretty much had every option they wanted and every offensive rebound in the first quarter. So when you’re looking up, and it’s a double-digit lead before the first timeout and 36-21. We’re not really built for–especially with the situation like to have that crazy comeback. I don’t want to overreact to it, but you also have to address the execution that we didn’t do, obviously. I had a couple of turnovers in the first quarter; we were gifting them possessions. So just kind of a mindless first quarter that established their dominance, and we had no answer for it.”
The absence of Jonathan Kuminga as an energizer off the bench was also keenly felt. Kuminga, who left last night’s game with a sprained right ankle, underwent an MRI today. The results confirmed a significant lateral ankle sprain, and he will be reevaluated in three weeks.
“Definitely. Turnovers killed us,” Kevon Looney said. “Sacramento played a great game. We helped fuel their offense by turning the ball over. They were able to get out and run, make shots, and doing what they do. So turnovers were definitely a huge factor.”
The Warriors matched their season high with 22 turnovers (previously set on 12/6 vs. MIN), including 13 in the first half, tying their season high for turnovers in a half (achieved three times prior). These miscues led to an opponent season-high 34 points off turnovers (previous high was 31, reached twice).
Golden State faced a 24-point halftime deficit, their largest at home this season (previously 12 on 11/27 vs. OKC) and the third-largest overall. Tonight also marked the Warriors’ third wire-to-wire loss of the season.
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