The Golden State Warriors, who are the reigning NBA champions, have the history, the momentum, and even the season series.
However, when the Northern California rivals meet in the NBA playoffs for the first time in an opening-round series that begins Saturday night in the state capital, the Sacramento Kings will have home court advantage.
The Kings required a 8-2 completion to the standard season not exclusively to keep away from the league’s play-in competition however land in what a portion of their players have conceded is an ideal spot. Instead of taking a flight that can take up to four hours, travelers will be able to travel between the locations via bus for 90 minutes.
The Kings had secured the Pacific Division crown and the No. 3 seed in the West before they rested four central participants, including All-Stars Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox, keep going Friday on the third-to-last day of the standard season. In Sacramento, the Warriors won the game 119-97 to prepare for the upcoming rematch.
The uplifting news for the Kings is that assuming the objective was to keep their stars solid, it worked. Sacramento enters the series with everyone available and jumping into action, which was additionally the case the past time Golden State visited this season.
That was on Nov. 13, when Fox scored 22 points and eight assists in a 122-115 victory while Sabonis had 26 points, 22 rebounds, and eight assists.
The triumph was essential for a seven-game series of wins that vaulted the Lords to the highest point of the Pacific Division while the Champions were going the other way. Not only did Sacramento win its first division title since 2003, but it also qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2006.
Now the question is: Can a young team maintain that level of success in the postseason, especially when they face the defending champions, who have experience in playoffs, in the first round?
Mike Brown, who worked as an assistant for the Warriors the previous season, admits that he is unsure.
The Warriors likewise enter the series in season-best wellbeing, which incorporates the arrival of Andrew Wiggins from a 25-game nonattendance for individual reasons. The key playoff player from last year has been able to work his way back into shape thanks to the five days off that non-play-in tournament participants get. He hopes to return as a reserve early in the series.
The best-of-seven event begins on the road for Golden State, but that hasn’t stopped them from winning in recent years. They have won at least one road game in an NBA record-tying 27 consecutive series and have won 22 of their last 24 overall since the start of their run of four championships in eight years. They’ve prevailed upon 18 straight series Western contest in that range.
Additionally, they have won Game 1 in the first round seven times in a row.
Steve Kerr, the Warriors’ coach, acknowledged this week that, despite the fact that he is rarely pleased with his team’s performance during the regular season, his team has demonstrated the ability to save its best for the end.
