Preview: Kings, Warriors face off again for preseason tune-up

Malik Monk said it best on Tuesday when asked what his thoughts were about the Sacramento Kings facing the Golden State Warriors for a second-straight preseason game on Wednesday night.

“I think out of our last 18 games, we’ve played [the Warriors] 16 times or something like that. It’s crazy,” Monk laughed following Tuesday’s practice at Golden 1 Center.

While the two NorCal rivals haven’t met as often as Monk laid out, he has a point: The Kings and Warriors have met often since the end of last season, especially on Sacramento’s side of things.

If you factor in the end of the 2022-23 regular season, NBA Playoffs, and this preseason, the Kings have played 10 of their past 13 games against Golden State. These two will only get more familiar with each other in the coming weeks, as Sacramento will face the Warriors twice within their first four games of the upcoming regular season (and three times before the end of November).

On the heels of Sunday’s exciting overtime thriller in Sacramento, these two Pacific Division foes will run through one more dress rehearsal against one another before looking ahead to their first regular season matchup on October 27th.

Sacramento Kings vs. Golden State Warriors Game Info

When: 7:00 PM PST

Where: Chase Center – San Francisco, CA

TV: NBA TV

Radio: Sactown Sports 1140 AM – Coverage starts at 5:30 PM on Game Night

Be sure to tune in right here on Sactown Sports 1140 for all of your Kings vs. Warriors coverage, beginning at 5:30 PM PST on Game Night before a 7:00 PM PST tip-off from downtown San Francisco.

How long will starters play?

When these two teams met on Sunday, there were two glaring absences in Golden State’s lineup:

Stephen Curry and Chris Paul.

Both players are expected to suit up on Wednesday, and you can expect to see plenty of the Warriors’ starting group that features Curry, Paul, Andrew Wiggins, and Klay Thompson.

Steve Kerr said the Warriors will crank up the usage for their starters the final two preseason games. Near 30 minutes. Said it’s a dress rehearsal week. Regular season like prep, scouting, shootaround.

— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) October 16, 2023

As for Sacramento, starters will likely play in a similar fashion to Sunday night’s game (25-30 minutes), but it’s possible head coach Mike Brown lets some players stretch out a little longer seeing that the Kings are playing in the first night of a back-to-back.

It’s unknown if Brown plans on playing his core guys in both games of the back-to-back, so it makes sense if we see, as Steve Kerr put it, a dress rehearsal on Sacramento’s end as well.

Kevin Huerter is back in the starting five

Preseason hasn’t come without (an albeit, minor) controversy.

Brown inserted recently acquired wing Chris Duarte into the starting lineup for Sunday’s game against the Warriors, moving Kevin Huerter into a reserve role for the first time since ‘Red Velvet’ was acquired last summer.

When asked about the decision to shake up the rotations, Brown said there is reasoning behind the changes and that the coaching staff is always evaluating how they can make the team better.

“There is reasoning behind everything that we do,” Brown said on Tuesday. “Even against the Lakers when we started Sasha [Vezenkov]. There is reasoning behind it. It’s real, and we feel like we have more depth this year than we did last year, so we want to give different combinations looks at different times. There is a realness behind it. There’s realness behind everything that we’ve done so far.”

Is it possible that Kevin Huerter will lose his starting spot?@FCartoscelli3 & @BrendenNunesNBA shared their thoughts on Sacramento’s recent lineup changes:https://t.co/xMLxFEqRjk

— Sactown Sports 1140 (@Sactown1140) October 18, 2023

While Huerter was moved to a reserve role on Sunday, he will be back in the starting group for Wednesday’s action in San Francisco.

Outside of De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis, Brown would not commit to naming any other players that have secured starting roles thus far. While it’s safe to assume that Keegan Murray and Harrison Barnes will start during next Wednesday’s season-opener, it will be intriguing to see if Brown sticks with Huerter or goes with Duarte in Game 1.

How will Huerter respond to being put back in the starting five? Keep an eye on how the guard performs against a Warriors team that gave him fits (20% from 3PT) during the NBA Playoffs in the spring.

Injury Report

Sacramento

Chris Duarte (left knee bone bruise) will miss the final two games of the preseason before being reevaluated following Thursday’s game against the Utah Jazz.

Duarte’s injury isn’t considered serious, but the Kings will hold their new guard out of action to give him a better chance of being available for next Wednesday’s season opener.

Golden State

Draymond Green will not play on Wednesday as he works his way back from an ankle sprain. Green is considered questionable for the Warriors’ first game of the regular season, per Steve Kerr.

Kevon Looney (rest) has been ruled out of Wednesday’s game.

Former Kings guard Cory Joseph (back) is questionable for Wednesday’s game.

Sacramento Kings 2023-24 Preseason Schedule

• Wednesday, October 18th – Sacramento Kings @ Golden State Warriors – 7 PM PST
• Thursday, October 19th – Sacramento Kings vs. Utah Jazz – 7 PM PST

Sacramento Kings 2023-24 Regular Season Schedule

• Tuesday, October 24th – NBA regular season begins
• Wednesday, October 25th – Sacramento Kings @ Utah Jazz – 6 PM PST (Season Opener)
• Friday, October 27th – Sacramento Kings vs. Golden State Warriors – 7 PM PST (Home Opener)
• Sunday, October 29th – Sacramento Kings vs. Los Angeles Lakers – 6 PM PST
• Wednesday, November 1st – Sacramento Kings @ Golden State Warriors – 7 PM PST

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