Looking back at this season’s previous Kings vs. Warriors matchups

The Sacramento Kings’ long-awaited return to the NBA Playoffs will occur on Saturday night when they face the Golden State Warriors at Golden 1 Center in a game that will receive plenty of national attention.

That’s right–the up-and-coming Kings, the NBA’s feel-good story of the year, get to face one of the greatest dynasties in this league’s 76-year history as a “welcome back” present.

While a matchup against the defending champion Warriors might seem daunting, Sacramento has proven that they can run with the best after finishing the season with the greatest offensive season in the history of the NBA.

Golden State also continues to pose as an offensive juggernaut, as they finished the year averaging 118.9 points per game, good enough for second in the league–right behind the Kings (120.7).

High-powered offense. Future Hall of Famers. Young talent. This series will have it all. The stage is set for an entertaining series–one that will unfold in two arenas that are located just 87 miles apart.

These two NorCal foes will meet in the postseason for the first time EVER come Saturday, but before we start diving into the playoff previews, let’s look back at this season’s Kings vs. Warriors head-to-head history.

Sacramento Kings		Golden State Warriors
1	Wins	3
114.3	Points/G	120.0
44.8	Rebounds/G	43.8
27.5	Assists/G	28.8
13.3	Turnovers/G	17.5
.445	FG%	.501
.327	3PT%	.390
.736	FT%	.784
9.3	Steals/G	5.8
1.8	Blocks/G	5.3

The head-to-head aspect of this season’s Kings vs. Warriors numbers is slightly skewed due to the result of Friday’s game between the two teams at Golden 1 Center.

Over the first three matchups of the season, Sacramento and Golden State were nearly neck-and-neck in several categories. For one, the Warriors held a slim 361-360 advantage in points scored. The most recent matchup between the two teams featured a Kings team without De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, Kevin Huerter, and Malik Monk.

With most of Sacramento’s offense sidelined, the Warriors held the Kings to just 97 points while shooting 16-of-36 (44%) from three-point range–their best performance from beyond the arc over the four-game head-to-head series.

Stephen Curry is that man.
Watch that again.

📺 @NBCSAuthentic pic.twitter.com/zKBeGaRSYT

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) April 8, 2023

While Friday’s game ended up being a laugher for the Warriors, let’s look back at the rest of this season’s Kings vs. Warriors action.

October 23rd | Chase Center | Warriors 130, Kings 125

As the new-look Kings tried to navigate through an 0-2 start to the season, a 28-point-first-half performance from Steph Curry put Sacramento in an 89-71 hole at the break.

The Warriors led by as many as 26 points, although Sacramento’s second unit got the best of Golden State’s bench during the final two quarters of play as both teams sat their starters for most of the second half.

Sacramento trimmed the deficit to four points with one minute remaining, but the damage had already been done as the Warriors pulled out the five-point win.

Although the Kings took the loss, Mike Brown’s squad recovered from an atrocious first-half defensive performance.

• First half: allowed 89 points on 31/46 (67%) shooting from the field
• Second half: allowed 41 points on 14/41 (34%) shooting from the field

You can read a full recap of this game by clicking here.

November 7th | Chase Center | Warriors 116, Kings 113

Ah, the infamous Kevin Huerter-Klay Thompson game.

Sacramento and Golden State battled it out in their second matchup of the season, and the Kings even entered the fourth quarter with a nine-point lead.

Curry, who nearly scored 30 points during the first half of October 23rd’s meeting with Sacramento, did most of his damage during the fourth quarter of this one as he scored 17 of his 47 points in the final period.

Golden State shot 14-of-21 (66%) from the field in the fourth as the Kings’ offense struggled (40%), but Sacramento had a chance to tie the game during the final play of regulation.

Kevin Huerter’s game-tying three-point attempt at the buzzer was affected by contact from Klay Thompson, but the officials didn’t make a foul call, which gave the Warriors a 116-113 win.

Looks like Klay fouled Huerter to uspic.twitter.com/xoCveFKr8i

— Sactown Sports 1140 (@Sactown1140) November 8, 2022

The NBA Two Minute Report later stated that the officials missed the foul and that Huerter should have been awarded three free throws after being fouled by Thompson.

Would the Kings have pulled out a win in overtime? We’ll never know. What we do know, though, is that the Kings were in control of this game and were on its way to a win until they let Curry go nuclear in the fourth.

The one player that Sacramento needed to ensure was in check got free, and because of that, the Kings were in a three-point hole late in the game instead of getting ready to celebrate the win.

Missed calls and a huge fourth quarter from Curry sum this one up, but this game made one thing clear:

The Sacramento Kings can compete with the Golden State Warriors.

You can read a full recap of this game by clicking here.

November 13th | Golden 1 Center | Kings 122, Warriors 115

In a game that started with the Warriors jumping out to a 13-point lead after the first quarter, Sacramento went on to outscore Golden State by 20 points during the final three quarters of play.

Even when things got tight late in the fourth, Fox (11 points in the fourth) and the Kings knocked down big shots while holding Golden State to 38 percent shooting from the field and four-of-16 (25%) from three-point land.

Domantas Sabonis was a nightmare in the paint, as the All-Star scored 26 points on 10-of-17 shooting, grabbed 22 rebounds, and handed out eight assists during the win.

Over three games against the Warriors this season, Sabonis holds averages of 21.3 points, 16.7 points, and 6.0 assists per game on 52 percent shooting.

Domas muscles the ball in 💪 pic.twitter.com/1UOgQsvYNX

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) November 14, 2022

Keegan Murray also got going from beyond the arc in Sacramento’s win, as the rookie scored 21 points on five-of-nine shooting from three-point land.

It’s hard to believe that this was the final time these two teams played each other at full strength, as five months have passed and the narratives have changed regarding the third-seed Sacramento Kings.

The Kings aren’t to be taken lightly, and they made that clear during a 48-34 season that included a Western Conference-best 25 road wins.

You can read a full recap of this game by clicking here.

April 7th | Golden 1 Center | Warriors 119, Kings 97**

As previously mentioned, Sacramento sat De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, Kevin Huerter, and Malik Monk on Friday against Golden State.

Even without its core scoring unit, the Kings remained close with the Warriors until Golden State pulled away in the fourth quarter.

Upcoming Sacramento Kings Schedule

NBA Western Conference Playoffs – First Round

• Saturday, April 15th – Sacramento Kings vs. Golden State Warriors – 5:30 PM PST

Upcoming NBA Postseason Schedule

NBA Play-In Tournament takes place April 11-14th

• Tuesday, April 11th – Atlanta Hawks (8) vs. Miami Heat (7) – 4:30 PM PST
• Tuesday, April 11th – Minnesota Timberwolves (8) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (7) – 7:00 PM PST
• Wednesday, April 12th – Chicago Bulls (10) vs. Toronto Raptors (9) – 4:30 PM PST
• Wednesday, April 12th  – Oklahoma City Thunder (10) vs. New Orleans Pelicans (9) – 6:30 PM PST
• Friday, April 14th – Matchups TBD

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