Golden State Warriors guard Damion Lee (1) reacts after taking a finger to the eye while being defended by Sacramento Kings guard Josh Jackson (55) second quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Sun Apr 3, 2022 (AP News photo)

Warriors Win Critical Games Over the Weekend defeat Kings 109-90

By Barbara Mason

Saturday night the Golden State Warriors clinched a playoff berth after winning a thriller against the Utah Jazz 117-113. The Warriors did not even take the lead in this game until late in the fourth quarter and turned the table on Utah to win the game.

Sunday night the Warriors (50-29) took on the Sacramento Kings (29-50) they played for the win and for the best possible spot in the playoffs. It’s all about Western Conference seeding right now. The Jazz and the Mavericks are threatening to pass the Warriors who currently reside in third place in the conference.

The Mavericks trail Golden State by a half game and so Sunday’s game had a lot of importance especially with the Mavs winning an earlier game against the Bucks. The Warriors had a good arms distance lead for most of the game over the Kings in the 109-90 win at the Golden One Center in Sacramento.

The Warriors played Sunday without Klay Thompson who they rested after the 36 point performance against Utah Saturday night. The tenacious Gary Payton II started in the game. Throughout the first quarter Green and Poole played limited minutes after their play Sunday.

This gave the young guys a chance to play with Jonathan Kuminga, Juan Toscano, Damion Lee and Nemanja Bjelica playing some of the first quarter. The Warriors led after one 28-14.

The Warriors would extend their lead to 62-42 at the half. The bench was doing a great job in the second quarter. Both Bjelica and Kuminga finished the second quarter with 12 points apiece. Bjelica also had nine rebounds so the depth of the Golden State roster was on parade with Lee turning in five points and three rebounds as well.

The brilliant play of the bench allowed Draymond Green and Jordan to get some rest after the tough matchup against the Jazz. Golden State had displayed some great defense as well as offense. Not a single King player had double digits after two quarters of play.

At the end of the third quarter the Kings had made a bit of a push trailing 81-67. Former Warrior Harrison Barnes was the only King with double digits having 16. The Kings were playing hard but were no match for Golden State.

The Warriors had to watch out for Sacramento in the fourth quarter. The Kings continued to push and pulled within seven points with six minutes left in the game. Turnovers and missed shots were giving the Kings some life. After the scare Golden State pulled it back together and extended their lead back to 14, 102-88. The Warriors win the game.

Wiggins would be the high score for the Warriors with 25 points and Poole had his 17 game in a row with 20 plus points. He finished with 22 points. The Warriors certainly answered the call over the weekend winning two critical games and showing up offensively and defensively Bjelica had 19 points and 12 rebounds in this game in one of his best games all season. The Warriors will get a nice rest not playing again until Thursday night.

As mentioned above the Warriors will be taking on the Los Angeles Lakers Thursday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 PM.