Golden State Warriors guard Donte DiVincenzo (0) defends against Sacramento Kings guard Davion Mitchell (15) during the first quarter at the Golden One Center in Sacramento on Fri Apr 7, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO–The Sacramento Kings were back in action on Friday night at the Golden One Center. The Kings were coming off a day off on Thursday after they finished up back-to-back on Wednesday night. On Friday, the Kings didn’t have much to play for in the regular season.

The Kings had already secured the third seed in the Western Conference. On the other hand, the Warriors were fighting for the sixth seed in the standings to avoid a play-in-game scenario and move to a playoff series. On Friday, the Kings fell to the Warriors 119-97.

In the first quarter, the Kings played a terrible quarter. Granted, the Kings sat De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, and Kevin Huerter. However, the Kings didn’t put up much of a fight at all. In the first quarter, the Kings only scored 16 points against the Warriors defense.

In addition, the Kings couldn’t hit any of their shots. On the flip side, The Warriors offense started solid. The Warriors scored 32 points in the first quarter to jump to an early lead.

In the second quarter, the Kings showed significantly more effort. The Kings scored 32 points in the second quarter to make it a ballgame again. The Warriors could only score 21 points as the Kings defense stepped up. It was a positive sign for the Kings reserves, who did not play well in the first quarter.

The Kings got eight-point first-half performances from Harrison Barnes, Terence Davis, and Trey Lyles. Stephen Curry led the way for the Warriors with 13 points in the first half. The Kings trailed 53-48 going into the second half.

In the third quarter, the Warriors started to pick up the pace again. The Kings were outscored in the third quarter 33-25. The Warriors offense began to fire on all cylinders after taking a break in the second quarter. The Kings offense couldn’t match the output from the Warriors. The Kings would go into the final quarter trailing 86-73.

The final quarter was much ado about nothing. The Kings and the third-string players could not match the output from the Warriors. The Warriors played their starters almost the entire game to ensure no opportunity slipped away from them.

At the end of the day, practically no starters played for the Kings, and the result was as expected. The Kings were outscored in the final quarter 33-24 as the Warriors would win. Klay Thompson led the way for the Warriors with 29 points. The Kings best performance came from Trey Lyles, who scored 15 points.

Up Next: The Kings will travel to Denver to take on the Nuggets in the final regular season game of the year on Sunday at 12 PST.