The Golden State Warriors are in a position that they aren’t used to being in. Normally they carry home court advantage in an NBA postseason series and are the ones being chased down by opponents. This year, however, the roles have been reversed.
As the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference, the Warriors don’t have home court advantage. That would belong to the Sacramento Kings this year, who earned the No. 3 seed with an excellent regular season, snapping their 16-year playoff drought.
In a thrilling Game 1, the Kings came away with a 126-123 victory, taking a 1-0 series lead. Trailing in a series certainly isn’t something that the Warriors are used to as they have never lost a series in which Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green have been healthy as they are in this one.
While this is unfamiliar territory, the Warriors aren’t close to panicking according to Curry. This is a battle-tested team with championship mettle; dropping Game 1 in a first-round series isn’t going to rattle them.
NBA NEWS & PLAYOFFS UPDATES: Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors & Sacramento Kings Updates
“That’s what we live for,” Curry said. “We thrive in these situations. It’s so different than the regular season because you’re playing the same team, and that little bit of an advantage mentally, seeing the game making those adjustments, it matters. … It brings the best out of us. And there’s a lot of confidence about what that looks like for us to try to, again, just win Game 2 and get back in the series and take it from there.”
Golden State is looking to avoid their first 0-2 series deficit of the Steve Kerr era when they take the court on Monday night. Losing their first road game of a series isn’t anything new, as this is the 11th time it has occurred. In eight out of the first 10 occurrences, the Warriors won the following game.
NBA NEWS & PLAYOFFS UPDATES: Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors & Sacramento Kings Updates
They have won at least one playoff game in every series they have played in during the Kerr era, which is part of their dominance. They were able to find success no matter where they played, but this season, when away from the Chase Center, they struggled mightily.
“For the most part, I liked the way that we played,” Curry said. “And if we can do that again — just with that level of execution, shore up some of our defensive kind of rotations and looks to try to slow those guys down. I know we can shoot the ball better and rebound the ball better. So if we can do those things, I like where we’re at … we’ve got to win one in this building at least, so, why not Game 2?”
NBA NEWS & PLAYOFFS UPDATES: Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors & Sacramento Kings Updates
Curry shot 11-of-20 from the field and 6-of-14 from 3-point range in Game 1. The rest of the team struggled on 3-point attempts, shooting a combined 10-of-36. If the Warriors can shoot their normal percentage from deep in Game 2, they could very well come away with their first win of the series and even things up at 1-1.
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