SAN FRANCISCO -- Warriors coach Steve Kerr believes that the first home game after a long road trip is a hard one to get dialed in for.
As a player, you want to show out for the crowd, but at the same time, you're usually still adjusting from jet lag, getting caught up on sleep and reacclimated to being home. Now, these aren't excuses, just observations. And on Monday night, they all seemed to apply to the Warriors for the first three quarters on their way to their 113-98 win over the Sacramento Kings.
At the start of the night, the energy in Chase Center was electric. It was the first time the home crowd saw the Warriors and Steph Curry since he became the NBA's all-time 3-point king. But as the night went on, and the Kings stuck around, the energy faded, both from the Warriors and the crowd.
In the fourth quarter, the energy levels increased, but that's what happens when Curry starts raining shots from deep. He finished the night with 30 points, three rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
That lit the spark for the Warriors and washed away all of their Monday blues.
Here are three takeaways from the night:
D. Lee bounces back
It was D. Lee night at Chase Center...well, David Lee night as the former Warrior was honored, but, on the court, the current D Lee -- Damion Lee -- showed out, putting up 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting, including 5-of-5 from 3-point range, and five rebounds.
Starting in place of Jordan Poole, who is out in the NBA's health and safety protocol, Monday's game was Lee's second game in a row finishing in double-digits, which warrants a little sigh of relief for both Lee and the Warriors. Since missing four games in late November for the birth of his child, Lee has been in a bit of a shooting slump.
During the teams' five-game road trip, Lee got good lucks, and nearly made several big shots, but the ball continuously popped out of the hoop.
Golden State Warriors
Draymond's first triple-double of the season
Without two of the Warriors' best 3-point shooters and floor-spacers in Poole and Andrew Wiggins, Golden State was working with a lot less room on Monday. Curry was probably impacted the most.
But, Draymond Green did his absolute best to limit the impact.
Early on, Green and Curry's two-man game was on full display, as Green read the play seconds before it happened, perfectly teeing Curry up for the shot.
Green did the same with Lee -- collecting his own deflected pass to feed it out to Lee again, who drained the three. Green finished the night with 10 assists.
But his role against the Kings reached beyond just being the facilitator. Green secured a triple-double before the start of the fourth and finished the night with 11 rebounds and 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting. He also had two steals and two blocks.
All in all, it was the quintessential Green performance. And on a night where the Warriors were missing two of their usual starters, it's exactly what they needed.
Bursts off the bench
The Warriors' depth went to work against the Kings -- and keep in mind, this is with two usual bench players subbing in the starting lineup.
Each player off the bench had an impact on the game.
Andre Iguodala, Otto Porter Jr. and Gary Payton II, in particular, gave the Warriors energy boosts when they needed it most. But that's almost because a usual for those two.
In the offensive possession after the Kings tied the game with just over two minutes left in the third quarter, Porter pulled up from the upper right portion of the arc to drain a three. He finished the night with 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including two threes and also recorded a season-high four blocks.
With 14 seconds left in the third, Payton followed his own miss for a tip-in. Not to mention the several dunks he had throughout the night that amped up the crowd. Payton had 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting and six rebounds.
Iguodala once against balanced his facilitating role with his scoring one, finishing with 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting with all but one bucket coming from beyond the arc, and six assists -- including a behind-the-back bounce pass to Porter in the fourth quarter.