Kings Trump The Dubs In Sacto
The Warriors have had some less-than-stellar performances of late, and the latest may end up costing them big-time as they blew a terrific chance to put some distance between them and Denver with a 122-105 loss to the dismal Sacramento Kings. The Russian Roulette act they have been playing with some of the league doormats finally caught up to them, as they seemed to lack the will to play the lockdown defense needed to compete. After a well-contested first-half, that saw no leads of greater than four points, the Kings blew things wide open in the 3rd period with a 40-25 quarter that effectively ended the night. Kevin Martin led the way with 34 points, while Ron Artest added 26. Overall, the Kings shot a scorching 58% from the field, and with the Warriors failing to shoot even 41%, the end result was no surprise. The Warrior bench did make a valiant run to cut the lead to six points with less than four minutes left, but neither Baron Davis or Stephen Jackson (3 of 15 from the field) could carry the team over the hump.
A win would have allowed the Warriors to move 2.5 games ahead of Denver, who were torched by the Detroit Pistons, and draw even in the loss column with the current #7 seed, Dallas. Now, the Dubs must travel to their personal house of horrors, the Staples Center, to face the Clippers. The Warriors have dropped 15 straight at Staples, so a win tonight would help right the ship, before the most daunting portion of their schedule begins on Friday against Houston.
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