Kings not interested in moral victories after loss to Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO — What ended up being another frustrating loss to the Golden State Warriors perhaps was the Kings’ most encouraging defeat at the hands of their Northern California rival.
With superstar guard De’Aaron Fox sidelined due to an ankle sprain, the Kings needed their starters to elevate their games and for the bench to pick up the slack.
For the most part, they did exactly that. The difference? A game-winning jumper from Warriors star Klay Thompson with 0.2 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter which sealed a 102-101 loss on Wednesday at Chase Center.
There were bright spots for the Kings, but none that helped ease the sting of yet another loss to their rivals from the Bay Area.
“There’s a lot of positives, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to come out with a win. There’s not really moral victories,” veteran forward Harrison Barnes said postgame. “We’ve seen this team I feel like 20 times since the end of last season to now. For us, it’s a matter of getting over the hump.”
If the Kings were in the business of moral victories, perhaps the biggest would be how the team’s defense against Warriors superstar guard Steph Curry. After scoring 50 and 41 points respectively in each of the previous two meetings dating back to Game 7 of the first-round playoff series last season, Curry was limited to just 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field and 4 of 10 from 3-point range.
With no answer for Curry in previous matchups, Kings coach Mike Brown turned to second-year forward Keegan Murray against the future Hall of Famer.
“We haven’t been able to do anything with Steph in the … I don’t know how many games we’ve played them,” Brown said postgame. “We’ve tried to double-team him, we’ve tried to single-cover him and he’s kind of had his way. Keegan’s growing a lot on both ends of the floor and I was like ‘Hey, let’s see if we can throw some length on (Steph).’
“You’re really not going to stop a Hall of Famer like Steph, you just hope to make him work for it. I felt like Keegan tried to make him work for it.”
And despite having one of the worst shooting performances of his young career in Wednesday’s loss, Murray matched up with Curry well and did exactly what Brown and the coaching asked of him defensively.
“You’re not stopping Steph Curry, but the reality of it is, this is the best job I think we’ve ever done on Steph,” Brown shared. “And he was probably off or tired, I don’t know. But you’ve got to give Keegan some credit for trying to step up and make Steph work for whatever he got.
“I’m proud of the effort Keegan tried to give on that end of the floor and the results from it.”
The Kings’ offense had to improvise without Fox and his 31.3 points per game. They turned to third-year guard Davion Mitchell, who started in place of Fox and provided a jolt offensively and defensively. Mitchell scored 13 points with three rebounds and four assists while collecting three steals and helping out on defense against Curry.
“I thought he did a phenomenal job,” forward Harrison Barnes said of Mitchell’s performance. “I think being able to step up, obviously Fox is a huge part of our offense, a big part of our defense and for him to kind of step into that role tonight with the bigger role having to guard Steph 94 feet. I thought he did a great job.”
There’s no question Sacramento missed Fox’s impact, especially on offense, but even offensively the Kings felt like they did enough to put themselves in a position to win.
“I was happy, I was pleased,” Domantas Sabonis said of the Kings’ offense operated. “We moved the ball. We probably didn’t shoot as well, but the ball was moving and guys came out confident.”
Even without Fox, the Kings were mere seconds away from beating the Warriors on the road. They also held Curry in check for the most part, something that has seemed impossible.
There are no moral victories, but the Kings’ latest loss to the Warriors was one they can build on for when the the two teams play again on Nov. 28 at Golden 1 Center.
