The Sacramento Kings defense has improved as they held the Golden State Warriors in check for most of the game and ended up getting a one point win in the end at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Tue Dec 15, 2020 (warriorswire.com photo)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

The Sacramento Kings had a rough start to the NBA preseason. They lost the first game of two to the Portland Trailblazers in Portland and won the second game on Sunday to start the preseason schedule. The Kings were looking for a better showing as they returned home to Golden One Center on Tuesday night. They did when they had a good leads against the Warriors and in the end wound up with a one point win 114-113.

The Sacramento Kings welcomed their NorCal rival Golden State Warriors for their third preseason game. The Kings showed grit that had been missing in the first game. They managed to play defense when they had to and score when they had to.

The Kings played their best defense in the first two quarters limiting  Golden State to 47 points at halftime. The Kings managed to put up 62 points in the first half and had a nice pace going to enter the middle portion of the game.

Unfortunately for the Kings and their third-quarter woes, which had been well documented in past seasons came back to bite them just a little bit. Golden State outscored the Kings 34 to 26 in the third quarter. The Kings were able to hold on through in the final quarter, even being out paced by Golden State again. They were outscored 32 to 26 in the fourth quarter but still manage to win the game miraculously. The Kings Kyle Guy hit a game-winning buzzer-beater to give the Kings the win.

Guy finished the night leading the Kings in scoring with 20 points. It was an excellent showing for a second-year player who had been flying under the radar for Sacramento. The Kings hope he can continue this good play into the regular season.

Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 29 points.

Up next: the Kings take on the same Warriors on Thursday night at Golden One Center.