Back to the future: Warriors vs. Kings keys revisited

The Golden State Warriors put together their best all-around game on Monday, in the second game of a back-to-back. They dominated the Sacramento Kings from start to finish, won 137-106, and will take a two-game winning streak into a baseball series against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Let’s see how the Warriors did with their pregame keys to victory against Sacramento.

No letdown

The key: Don’t have a letdown on a back-to-back after Curry’s performance.

The outcome: Golden State came out of the gates firing, with an inspired defensive effort from the opening tip and a 37-point first quarter.

When a player explodes for the kind of performance that Steph Curry had on Sunday, it’s common for the team to come back in their next game and just go through the motions. But the Warriors did the opposite: they looked like Curry’s 62-point outing had made them realize how good they could be.

And then they built on it.

Grading the key: 10 out of 10.

Dray’s energy

The key: Draymond Green has to play with the energy and defense that he had on Sunday.

The outcome: After the game, Steve Kerr was asked about the impact that Green had in the victory. The coach took a few moments then said, “Yeah ... well ... he’s the best defensive player in the world.”

And he certainly had energy.

He played defense at an all-world level. He directed traffic, saying, “In reality, guys don’t know where to go. There are times I don’t know where to go.”

He had five assists despite playing just 21 minutes. He repeatedly found Curry, and the wings. And he brought the energy big time.

Grading the key: 10 out of 10.

Keep Fox in the half court

The key: Keep De’Aaron Fox from doing tons of damage in transition.

The outcome: The Kings had 19 fast-break points, which is a nice number, but the Warriors mostly kept Fox from finding his rhythm. He didn’t do a bunch of damage in transition, and never found his footing in the game. He finished with 18 points on 7-for-17 shooting, and 2-for-4 from the free throw line.

He had a fine game, but the Warriors kept him from being a star, and that started in transition.

Grading the key: 7 out of 10.

Use Steph’s gravity

The key: Have players knock down the open threes that Curry creates.

The outcome: It’s hard to quantify how much people are scoring off of Curry’s gravity, and the spacing he creates by gathering all the defensive attention.

But Curry’s teammates shot 18-for-31 from beyond the arc and that is a sensational number.

Grading the key: 10 out of 10.

That was fun.