Now that the Warriors and Kings are confronting each other in the NBA playoffs for the first time, the list of storylines is as long as the drive from San Francisco to Sacramento on a Friday afternoon.
The first is the potential to create a Northern California rivalry. That, however, will require time and meaningful games to generate actual loathing.
Immediate in this first round Western Conference series, with Game 1 set for 5:30 p.m. PT on Saturday in Sacramento, is a clash of prominence. The nouveau riche Kings against aristocrats of the Warriors. Experience vs. energy. Kids vs. adults, relatively, and most of you know that equation is always ripe for conflict.
“They’re a very good team, and obviously very well coached,” Draymond Green told reporters in Portland. “They have a lot of young talent. They play with great pace, with great force, getting downhill and kicking to shooters.
“It will be a tough challenge. But every playoff series is.”
Yes, this is the NBA playoffs. And the Warriors of recent vintage have been better than any team since the new-millennium Lakers at turning the postseason into their personal party. Six trips to the NBA Finals in eight years, coming away with four championships.
Even last season, after struggling over the final three months, Golden State was a different team rolling into mid-April. Mental engagement kicked in and carried the team all the way to the top. Green, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevon Looney were in their comfort zone. It showed.
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From CEO Joe Lacob at the top and throughout the payroll, the Warriors are playoff regulars. They know the terrain.
The Kings are, by contrast, neophytes to the postseason experience. Though coach Mike Brown is familiar with the perils and rhythms of April and beyond, most of the players have no earthly idea.
Kevin Huerter and Domantas Sabonis have a combined 36 games of playoff experience, and Harrison Barnes is seven years removed from his last postseason game. De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk are making the postseason debuts and Keegan Murray is a rookie.
The Kings will be taking the court as strangers in a foreign land.
They are a quality team, though, finishing as the NBA's highest-scoring team. Moreover, a 48-34 record four games to the north of Golden State’s 44-38 further illustrates the Kings’ rise from the ashes. They have earned proper respect from the defending champs.
“That’s a team we greatly respect,” Thompson said in Portland. “They won our division. They have a great coaching staff, great young players. So we’ll give them our utmost respect and play our hardest.”
There will be a clash of coaches. There is zero animus between Brown and Warriors coach Steve Kerr, but what’s fascinating is the prospect of Brown taking six years of lessons from Kerr – effectively applied this season – and trying to use them to beat the teacher.
There also will be motives for seeking revenge, or at least satisfaction. Barnes is a former Warrior facing them for the first time in the playoffs. Donte DiVincenzo is a former King in the same situation. Vivek Ranadivé, the governor of the Kings, once was a member of Lacob’s ownership group with the Warriors.
Much of the allure stems from the geography. Chase Center in San Francisco and Golden 1 Center in Sacramento are roughly 90 miles away – with dramatically different fan bases.
“That’s going to be fun,” Thompson said. “First time in NBA history. It’s going to be really special. I know the Kings’ fans will be excited. They haven’t been the playoffs in a while.
“That’s just great. Great for the NBA. Great for Northern California. And great for us. We don’t have to travel too far.”
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Still, it’s the road, where the Warriors’ 11-30 record landed them in the bottom five of the NBA.
Can they turn it around?
The first opportunity to answer comes on Saturday. In the words of the late Mills Lane: “Let’s get it on.”