That was as bad as it gets.
For a team that is so used to winning, Friday night was a case study in how not to. Win at home and you’re through to the next round. Lose, and you’re back to Sacramento for Game 7.
The Warriors just did not have it. And now, with a 118-99 loss at home, the dynasty is at risk of combusting in perplexing fashion.
Warriors couldn’t get a stop
The key to the Warriors’ success is commitment on the defensive end. They did not have that.
Malik Monk was a major, major problem for Golden State. In the first half, he got deep into the paint at will and was seemingly incapable of missing around the rim.
In the second, he was a shit-talking menace in the best (from a neutral perspective) way possible. There was one point in the third when he hit a 3 by the Warriors’ bench, then came back and hit another one to force a Steve Kerr timeout. He hit another out of that timeout.
For the game, he had 28 points (8-of-14, 3-of-6 from 3-pt, 9-of-10 at FT line), 5 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal, 2 blocks and 3 turnovers.
The combination of Monk and De’Aaron Fox was a lot for the Warriors to handle.
Fox had 26 points (10-of-18, 2-of-5 from 3-pt, hit all 4 free throws), 4 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 steals, a block and 5 turnovers.
It’s not that the Warriors were incapable of scoring.
It was just that every time they seemed to hit a big shot to get them back in it, the Kings would respond with one of their own. You’d look up at the scoreboard and see a 10-point deficit that never went away.
In addition to Monk and Fox, the Kings got 15 points from Keegan Murray, 12 each from Trey Lyles and Kevin Huerter and 7 apiece for Terence Davis and the fouled-out, not significant Domantas Sabonis.
This young Kings team refused to go away during the moments when many teams have. And now the series is headed back to their place of business.
Sleepy energy, sloppy execution
It’s hard to overstate how poor the energy in Chase Center was on Friday night. You could tell the slightly early 5 p.m. start was going to throw a wrench into things, with the building still slowly filling up around tip off.
It felt like a regular season matinee for most of this game.
For a Game 6 that could potentially end the dynasty, it took the crowd until the second half of the third quarter to realize the stakes involved.
The Warriors, as is common, seemed to match that. They were sloppy as ball-handlers, couldn’t get into their normal rhythm offensively, and struggled to secure routine rebounds.
Every single element of the game that should have been clinical in a close-out game was decidedly not.
Even their free throw shooting was horrific. At one point in the fourth quarter, Andrew Wiggins missed three-straight free throws.
The Kings hit seven more 3-pointers than the Warriors. They out-rebounded them by 10 and by six on the offensive glass. Meanwhile Golden State missed 10 free throws despite a 10 free throw attempt advantage.
It was a dreadful performance from the get-go, and a well-earned loss.
Kings go small, it works
Sacramento made some interesting personnel decisions in Game 6. Terence Davis, who had logged *checks notes* 23 minutes before Friday night, was injected early and often. He played nearly 11 minutes in the first half alone after peaking at 11 minutes in the second and fifth games of the series.
He played 19 minutes on Friday, offering 7 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and fouling out after playing some relentless defense.
It was a clear effort by the visitors to go with switchability and wing defense as opposed to the size normally provided by Alex Len in those minutes.
The strategy gave Golden State some first half trouble. They struggled from the outside, going 5-of-18 from 3-point range. But their ability to penetrate and get to the free throw line kept them in it. They out-shot the Kings 19-to-9 at the free throw line in the first half.
Even with Sabonis picking up a fifth foul in the third quarter, they were able to give the Warriors serious trouble defensively. It seemed like a blessing that they did not have to deal with some of his wretched offensive possessions.
And their speed was too much for the Warriors to handle.
They were consistently able to collapse the defense and kick out to shooters.
When you hit your shots, and get a ton of extra chances — Sacramento had 17 offensive rebounds — while your opponent collapses, you’re going to win an overwhelming majority of the time.