Californian rivals are set to meet in the eliminator of the Play-in tournament. 9th-seeded Sacramento Kings will host 10th-seeded Golden State Warriors at the Golden 1 Center. The Kings and the Warriors clashed in the first round of playoffs during the 2022-23 season when the Warriors prevailed in an enthralling seven-game series. Adding the series from the last two seasons, the squads have met 15 times in one and a half years, which Draymond Green pointed out, in the latest episode of his ‘The Draymond Green Show’.
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Green quipped about having a home in Sacramento as he is there often. He touched upon the familiarity between the two squads while previewing the Play-in between his Warriors and the Kings,
“If I knew we’d spend so much time in Sacramento since last year. I prolly would have bought a home. That’s how much we’ve been here. That’s how familiar I am with the area which means that’s how familiar they are with us and we are with them.”
Since the two teams are aware of each other’s set plays and tendencies, Green likened this Play-in game to a Game 7 of a Playoffs series. Therefore, it will need something out-of-the-hat to emerge on top. However, the Warriors can have a slight edge in terms of roster health. The Kings will be without their key scorers, Malik Monk and Kevin Huerter, which has hurt them a lot towards the tail-end of the season.
While Keon Ellis has given substantial replacement minutes as a slasher, the Kings would have loved to be with their two sharpshooters. At any rate, the two squads know how to adjust against each other and it was on full display during the season series.
Familiar foes take it to the crunch time
The season series ended up with a 2-2 tie between the two Californian franchises. Three of these games were decided by just a point with the Kings winning two. Thus, when these two meet, things go deep into the final minute. The play-in game is indeed an elimination game so comparing it to a Game 7 makes sense. It is expected that the Kings-Warriors tussle will once again hit the crunch time.
The Kings would have to especially lock down Stephen Curry who has burned them in clutch situations, repeatedly for many years now. He even lodged his playoff-career high of 50 points in Game 7 of the 2023 series against the Kings.
Both teams finished lower in the standings than expected, but will fancy their chances of advancing further. The winner of the game is going to take on the loser of the seventh-seed battle between the New Orleans Pelicans and the Los Angeles Lakers. It implies that the ninth and tenth-seeded squads need to win two in a row to qualify for the eighth seed.
