SACRAMENTO -- Stymied.
The Kings fell to 0-2 against the Warriors this season, after Golden State prevailed 130-125 in Sacramento on Friday night.
The Warriors closed the game on a 17-2 run to secure the victory, erasing a 10-point deficit in the process, and leaving a frustrated Kings team to wonder what might have been.
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It wasn't the typically joyous locker room in Sacramento, but a loss like this builds character and has seemingly left the group hungry for another bite at the apple. That rematch will come Jan. 5, when the Kings host the Warriors in the third meeting of what is becoming a must-watch NBA series.
Sacramento currently stands at 15-13 on the season after the frustrating loss. Here are a few positives and negatives from the game:
POSITIVE
NBA
The backcourt
Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are the gold standard of NBA backcourts. The duo will likely go down as No. 1 and No. 2 all-time in 3-point field goals and both are capable of dropping 50 points on any given night.
The Kings have a pair of young guards that have been taking major steps this season. De'Aaron Fox put on a show in the third quarter on Friday. Buddy Hield took over late. While they aren't Steph and Klay quite yet, the tandem has Sacramento in almost every game this season.
Fox turned on the jets coming out of the intermission, scoring 12 of his 25 points in the 12 minutes following halftime. He added nine assists, six rebounds and a pair of steals, but he turned the ball over four times and couldn't get his jumper to fall with the game on the line.
Hield scored a team-high 27 points on 5-of-13 shooting from long range. He is now averaging a career-best 18.9 points per game on the season and his 3-point attempts are on the rise.
Curry and Thompson outscored Fox and Hield 62-52, but the gap between the two tandems is getting smaller.
NEGATIVE
Four minutes of hell
The Kings couldn't do anything right in the final four minutes. A lot of that has to do with the team they are playing. Over their four straight trips to the NBA Finals, the Warriors have played more games than any other team in the league outside of the Cleveland Cavaliers. They also sport a lineup with four All-Stars.
After Willie Cauley-Stein gave Sacramento a 10-point lead at the 4:23 mark of the fourth quarter, the Kings were outscored 17-2 by Golden State. Sacramento shot just 1-of-7 from the field over the stretch and turned the ball over twice.
The Kings play at an incredible pace for a reason -- their inexperience reveals itself when they are put in halfcourt situations. The most telling stat from the final minutes of the game is that the closest shot the Kings attempted was a 15-foot jumper, which Fox hit. Everything else was either a long two or 3-pointer.
Golden State dictated when and where the Kings would shoot. That is because they are a great team that has been in pressure situations countless times, and the Kings are still learning how to finish games off late.
NEGATIVE
Durant
Kevin Durant is one of the greats of the game. He has an MVP trophy and four scoring titles. He's a nightmare for most NBA teams because of his combination of size, length and athleticism.
The Kings don't have anyone remotely like Durant on either side of the ball, which is why he has done major damage against the them throughout his career.
Durant finished the night with 33 points, including 13 in the deciding fourth quarter. He also added eight rebounds and eight assists in the win.
The Warriors have three elite scorers that can almost single-handedly defeat you, but Durant is the one player the Kings have no answer for.
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POSITIVE
Accountability
Mistakes happen. With 39.6 seconds remaining and the Kings up 125-123, Sacramento left Thompson wide open on the perimeter. Thompson is perhaps the second greatest shooter in the history of the NBA behind Curry. An open look from 27-feet for him is like a dunk for most 7-footers.
Following the game, Hield took responsibility for the mistake. He got mixed up in who he was covering and allowed Thompson a gift.
There was plenty of time for the Warriors to get another opportunity, but the fact that a young player would raise his hand and acknowledge that he was out of position on a crucial play late in a game is a sign of growth.