What we learned as Kings’ skid hits seven games with blowout loss to Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – Good thing the NBA doesn’t award style points, because this would have been a unanimous zero from all the judges. With few exceptions, it was that bad.
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Facing a Warriors team that clearly was playing down to the competition, the Kings still managed to let this one slip through their fingers and came up on the bad end of a 137-103 thumping on Friday at Chase Center that extended Sacramento’s losing streak to seven games and 13 of 15.
The tough part is that the seven-game skid isn’t even the Kings’ longest of the 2025-26 NBA season. They’re first two cracks at ending the streak are at home against the Houston Rockets on Sunday then against the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday, also at Golden 1 Center.
That’s not a lot of time to lick their wounds, so the Kings have to flush this one as soon as possible.
DeMar DeRozan led the way against the Warriors with 24 points. Zach LaVine and Dennis Schröder scored 15 points apiece while Russell Westbrook added 13 points and seven assists.
LaVine and Maxime Raynaud helped the Kings get going early, combining for 13 points and five rebounds in the first quarter, although they didn’t get much defensive help as the Warriors piled up 34 points in the opening 12 minutes.
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Sacramento cleaned things up a little in the second quarter but fell back into its old patterns in the third. DeRozan had 11 points, but the Kings as a team shot 9 of 20 (1 of 9 behind the arc) and fell behind by 13 heading into the fourth.
Here are the takeaways from Friday’s blowout loss:
Smoke and Mirrors
As ugly as this one was at the end, it could have been a whole lot worse all things considered, so credit Doug Christie for that.
Christie goes under the radar a lot of nights, but the Kings coach deserves a lot of credit for the way Sacramento was able to stick close against their Northern California rivals for most of the night before letting go of the rope in the fourth quarter.
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The Kings were on the short end in just about every significant category, a formula that ends with an L more often than not. And that’s what happened at Chase Center, although Christie and the Kings somehow prevented this one from being an even more lopsided loss.
The Kings shot 25 percent from behind the arc, got outrebounded 41-32 and allowed 66 points to Golden State’s bench.
Give It To Me One More Time
The Kings shot the ball fairly well early on, but it was their work on the glass that really kept them close. Specifically, Sacramento’s offensive rebounding.
The Kings have been among the lower-third of NBA teams when it comes to snagging boards on the offensive end for most of the season but turned that trend around against the Warriors. Sacramento outscored Golden State 15-0 in second-chance points in the first quarter and finished the night with 10 offensive boards that led to 19 second-chance points.
Dylan Cardwell led the way with four offensive rebounds, while Raynaud and DeRozan each had two.
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Take Care Of The Ball, Take Care Of Business
Across sports there is one axiom that generally rings true: The team that takes care of the ball the best tends to win.
While the Kings didn’t leave the Bay Area with a victory, they can at least hold their heads high for doing a great job of holding onto the ball and not cough it up carelessly.
Sacramento committed 13 turnovers that Golden State converted into 20 points, still too high for Christie’s liking but certainly better than his squad had been playing. The Kings also had 13 turnovers during Tuesday’s loss to Dallas.
