It has been a long time coming, but the Sacramento Kings are finally back in the NBA playoffs. They snapped a 16-year drought, which was the longest in any of the Big 4 sports in North America, in epic fashion while running away with the Pacific Division title.
Their reward for that success? Having to face off against the defending champion Golden State Warriors. While the Warriors showed more vulnerability this season than they have in years, they are a dangerous team heading into the playoffs.
In the regular season, the Warriors took three out of the four matchups. However, three of them came before Thanksgiving before the Kings got their feet under them. The last one came on April 7th with Sacramento holding out Domantas Sabonis, De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk and Kevin Huerter.
The Warriors are big favorites in this series with -275 odds to win, as the Kings are listed at +225 underdogs. The series spread is Golden State -1.5 games at -150 and Sacramento +1.5 at +122.
What can we expect in this series? Here is all the information you will need to follow the series along with some analysis and predictions as well.
Game Schedule (*=If Necessary)
Game 1: Golden State Warriors vs. Sacramento Kings on 4/15 at 8:30 PM ET, ABC
Game 2: Golden State Warriors vs. Sacramento Kings on 4/17 at 10:00 PM ET, TNT
Game 3: Sacramento Kings vs. Golden State Warriors on 4/20 at 10:00 PM ET, TNT
Game 4: Sacramento Kings vs. Golden State Warriors on 4/23 at 3:30 PM ET, ABC/R
*Game 5: Golden State Warriors vs. Sacramento Kings TBD
*Game 6: Sacramento Kings vs. Golden State Warriors TBD
*Game 7: Golden State Warriors vs. Sacramento Kings TBD
Keys To Series
1. Home/Road Splits
This season was a wacky one for the Warriors. While they remained their dominant selves at home, they were abysmal on the road. They went 11-30 away from the Chase Center, which was the third-worst mark in the Western Conference and fourth-worst overall in the NBA.
The Kings, on the other hand, were middle of the road when it came to winning on the road. 13 teams finished with more than their 23 home wins while six teams tied that total. Something will have to give in this series, and it could come down to games at the Chase Center.
NBA NEWS & PLAYOFFS COVERAGE: Sacramento Kings & Golden State Warriors Updates
Sacramento found success on the road, winning 25 games away from Golden 1 Center, which was tied for the second most in the NBA. On the road, the Kings improve exponentially on the defensive end of the court. H/T to Action Network pulling an intriguing stat from Cleaning The Glass.
The Kings are 29th in defense at home, giving up 119.4 points per 100 possessions. In non-garbage time minutes on the road, that number drops to 114.9, which is eighth-best in the league. Sacramento doesn’t need to win a road game to win the series, but it would certainly help.
2. Warriors Death Lineup
There hasn’t been much continuity for the Warriors this regular season with players being in and out of the lineup because of injuries and off-the-court happenings. But, when you have played together as long as this core has, you know how to turn it on when needed.
Every year there is some version of a Death Lineup that Steve Kerr trots out there. This year, it is the starting five of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney.
While the minutes together this season have been limited to only 331, they are dominant, outsourcing opponents by 21.9 points per 100 possessions. Against Sacramento, that number bumps up to a truly eye-popping 31.4.
3. Sixth Man Matchup
The bench unit is arguably where the Kings have the biggest advantage in this series. Golden State has struggled to find consistency off their bench all season while Sacramento has received solid contributions from a few different players.
The nightly matchup between Jordan Poole and Malik Monk will be on to keep an eye on. Both will be tasked with carrying the offense at times when the starting point guards are resting on the bench and those minutes could be critical to the outcome of the game.
NBA NEWS & PLAYOFFS COVERAGE: Sacramento Kings & Golden State Warriors Updates
If Monk can get going, which he certainly is capable of, it will put pressure on Kerr and his staff to potentially tax the starting lineup a little more than he would like to.
X-Factor: Experience
There are a lot of numbers and stats that can go into figuring out how a series will play out. But, in this matchup, the biggest difference will be the gap in experience. A large portion of the Warriors roster has more individual postseason games played than the entire Kings roster.
Harrison Barnes is the only player on the Kings roster with extensive playoff experience with 64 games played. Domantas Sabonis has 13, while Kevin Huerter has 26. Barnes is the only player on Sacramento’s roster who has played in the NBA Finals.
NBA NEWS & PLAYOFFS COVERAGE: Sacramento Kings & Golden State Warriors Updates
Leading the way is Andre Iguodala, with 177 postseason games under his belt. Green and Thompson have 145 each while Curry has 134 playoff games played. Kevon Looney has 64 and nearly the entire rotation is back from the team that made a run to win the Larry O’Brien Trophy last season.
There isn’t a series that can happen in this year’s playoffs that will have as big of a gap in postseason experience as this one between the Warriors and Kings.
Prediction
This series will be a lot of fun to watch. Golden 1 Center will be rocking for the first playoff game in nearly two decades. If there is a team that won’t be phased by that it is the Warriors, who have seen everything there is to see in a playoff environment.
NBA NEWS & PLAYOFFS COVERAGE: Sacramento Kings & Golden State Warriors Updates
While there could be some early jitters, the Kings earned this spot in the postseason. The Warriors will attempt to exert their will early on, but Sacramento will find its footing and get going eventually.
This will be a long, hard-fought series. And, a change of the guard will start to occur. The Kings will pull off the upset in this series, winning in seven games as both teams will win at least one road game.
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