SACRAMENTO -- For the eighth time since mid-April, the Kings came face to face with Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors, and just like the last time the two rivals met in a meaningful game, things didn't go well for the home team.
Sacramento hosted its Northern California neighbors for its 2023-24 NBA home opener Friday at Golden 1 Center, but came out on the wrong side of a 122-114 loss to Golden State.
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It isn’t the Western Conference playoffs and Draymond Green didn’t play, but the anticipation this matchup brought even prior to tip-off is just a preview of the exciting rivalry brewing.
De'Aaron Fox led the Kings with 39 points, but he was outdone by Curry, who scored a game-high 41 points, including 16 in a backbreaking third quarter.
The Warriors led by as many as 18 points in the fourth quarter, but the Kings mounted a rally and got as close as five points in the final 90 seconds before Golden State closed the door.
Here are the takeaways from the Kings’ loss, which drops them to 1-1 on the season.
NBA
Welcome to Sasharamento
Sasha Vezenkov made his highly anticipated Golden 1 Center debut on Friday night, and it was well worth the wait.
The EuroLeague MVP, who signed a three-year, $20 million contract with the Kings this summer, was one of the few new pieces Sacramento added this offseason.
At 28 years old and with plenty of experience overseas in the second-best basketball league in the world, Vezenkov isn’t an ordinary NBA rookie.
So far, he’s shown just that.
Of course, he’s still adjusting to playing in the NBA, and that will take some time, but as he has said plenty of times over the course of training camp: It’s basketball.
The catch-and-shoot forward made the most of his time on the court, dropping a quick eight points in his first eight minutes played. He finished with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and 2 of 4 from 3-point range in 12 minutes.
While Vezenkov was efficient in the first half, coach Mike Brown didn't go to him at all in the fourth quarter.
The Steph Curry Show … Again
The last time Curry stepped onto the Golden 1 Center court, he erupted with a historic 50-piece in Game 7 of the first-round NBA playoff matchup between the Kings and Warriors to advance his squad to the Western Conference semifinals against the Los Angeles Lakers.
One hundred and 80 days later, it still was the Steph Curry Show in Sactown.
In the third quarter alone, Curry had 16 points as the Warriors outscored the Kings 39-27.
The four-time NBA champion and two-time NBA MVP finished with a game-high 41 points on 14-of-19 shooting from the field and 7 of 10 from deep, adding four rebounds, four assists and two steals in 34 minutes.
Once again, the Kings had no answer for Curry.
Back like they never left
Without making many offseason changes, Kings general manager Monte McNair and Co. decided to bring back its core and run with most of the same guys as last season.
That core begins with the All-NBA duo of Fox and Domantas Sabonis, who are playing in their second full season together.
And the dynamic duo picked up right where they left off.
Sabonis, who led the NBA in double-doubles last season, was back at it Friday night, securing his second double-double of the season early in the second half.
The All-Star center finished with 19 points, 17 rebounds, seven assists and five steals in 36 minutes.
Meanwhile, Fox scored a team-high 39 points on 14-of-28 shooting from the field and 5 of 9 from downtown, along with four rebounds, four assists and two steals in 39 minutes.
The reigning Clutch Player of the Year dropped 22 points in the final quarter alone.
A late rally fell short, and the Kings are learning that it will take more than the star duo to win games consistently.