Preview: Kings welcome Warriors back to Sacramento

The Golden State Warriors are in arguably the toughest division in basketball, as they are one of five teams that made the playoffs last year. They started their season off with a tough loss to division rival Phoenix Suns, and now they have another divisional test on their plate as they face off against the Sacramento Kings in Chase Center.

These two teams battled in a grueling seven game series that only ended after Stephen Curry poured 50 points on them in the closeout game. How will the Kings strike back?

How to watch Golden State Warriors at Sacramento Kings

When: October 27th, 2023 | 7:00 PM PT
TV: NBC Sports Bay Area, NBC Sports California, and ESPN
Radio: 95.7 The Game

The Kings are supposed to be a young team on the rise. They have the clutch player of the year De’Aaron Fox. They have the league’s top rebounder with Domantas Sabonis. And they have Coach of the Year in Mike Brown, a beloved former Golden State assistant. They also have one of the most raucous home crowd environments in the Golden One Center, with a very intimidating beam they launch after every win.

But how many young, up-and-coming teams have tried rise during the Golden Empire’s era, only to be burnt down to the root by the raging heat that is Golden State’s dynastic greatness? I remember when the Oklahoma City Thunder, New Orleans Pelicans, Portland Trail Blazers, and Utah Jazz all were young and bright-eyed about the prospect of taking down the Splash Bros.

They’ve never recovered from the eliminations they received at the hands of the Dubs; will Sacramento be the same?

Sacramento won their season opener in emphatic fashion, bashing Utah 130-114 behind an emphatic 33 points from former Warriors champion Harrison “Black Falcon” Barnes. Is this his year to finally prove the Warriors were wrong for pursuing Kevin Durant over him back in 2016?

The Dubs will have to play airtight defense in order to survive the Sacramento buzzsaw, something the Warriors put on display in their loss to Phoenix. Golden State held Phoenix to 44% shooting even without the presence of defensive enforcer Draymond Green. We’ll see how the Warriors match up this time, with particular interest in the Kevon Looney-Sabonis and the Andrew Wiggins-Fox matchups.