Warriors vs. Kings: Final Norcal battle

Game Information

Golden State Warriors (57-14) vs. Sacramento Kings (27-44)

How to watch

Date: Friday March 24, 2017

Time: 7:30pm PST

Location: Oracle Arena — Oakland, CA

TV: CSN Bay Area

Radio: 95.7 THE GAME

Team comparison

Injury report

Last updated 3/23/17

Warriors: Kevin Durant; Andre Iguodala

Kings: Malachi Richardson

With a couple days of rest under their belt, the Golden State Warriors welcome their neighbors to the north, the Sacramento Kings.

Lottery bound Kings

The Kings’ record heading into the All-Star break was 24-33. Not great, but they were in the conversation for the eight seed. Their last game before the break was a blowout loss to the Warriors. It was also the last game that DeMarcus Cousins played with that struggling franchise.

Despite all his troubles, Cousins was the Kings’ best player by far. Since trading him away, the Kings have gone a hard-to-watch 3-11 — including a horrendous eight game losing streak. They come into tonight’s game with a three game losing streak.

Sitting in thirteenth place in the Western Conference, Sacramento is headed for another lottery summer. Unfortunately, the Kings can’t seem to get out of their own way as one of their three post-Cousins era wins happened to be against the Phoenix Suns, who occupy fourteenth place.

Warriors rising

Thankfully, the Warriors have put together a good string of wins since their much maligned slump earlier this month. They should try to punch Sacramento in the mouth right out of the gate and put away another win before their upcoming mini-stretch of tough opponents — the Memphis Grizzlies, Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs.

Tonight’s game is a perfect scenario for the Warriors. They’re playing an inferior team that has no superstar and that has, intentionally or not, been tanking since the All-Star break. With the return of Stephen Curry’s and Klay Thompson’s jump shots, the Warriors should make easy work of the Kings so long as they don’t play down to the competition, which they sometimes are apt to do in stretches.

While his recovery is progressing, Kevin Durant is still out, and Andre Iguodala is nursing an injured hip — a fitting injury for one of the team’s elder statesmen. With just a few weeks left in the regular season, getting everyone healthy is going to be a top priority.

Predictions

I’m getting killed here. Is there a crystal ball in the house I don’t know about? Follow our picks on twitter! (@ForTheWs)

He Lee (7.5 points)

Winner: Golden State by 8

High scorer: Stephen Curry

She Lee (14 points)

Winner: Golden State by 7

High scorer: Klay Thompson