Kings-Warriors preview: Tactical adjustments, Draymond Green returns for pivotal Game 4
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Sacramento Kings in the Playoffs
Kings playoffs have arrived! Here’s everything you need to know.
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The difference between winning and losing Game 4 for the Kings is taking a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Golden State Warriors or being tied with the defending champions, making the rest of the series a best of three.
Which is to say Sunday’s contest at Chase Center in San Francisco will be the Kings’ biggest test in a season where they’ve passed many.
“The more games you drop,” Kings coach Mike Brown said after practice Saturday, “the more games you give your opponent hope, life or whatever. That continues to go up the more they win.”
The Warriors took Game 3 on Thursday in commanding fashion, beating Sacramento 114-97 behind 36 points from Stephen Curry. Golden State, of course, was missing two of its best defenders in Draymond Green (suspension) and Gary Payton II (illness), who practiced Saturday and are likely to play Sunday.
“I feel like, if anything, they’re going to be way more aggressive,” Kings center Domantas Sabonis said of Green. “They’re getting one of their best players back, so it definitely changes, so they have a chance to tie the series. So they’re gonna come out just like in Game 3.”
For the Kings, their focus leading into the game has been retaining the physicality that slowed the Warriors during Games 1 and 2 in Sacramento. Brown and his players noted Golden State brought the fight to them — while the Kings’ statistically great regular-season offense has sputtered early in the series.
The Warriors’ defense has pressured the Kings on the perimeter, forcing them out of rhythm. Their 3-point shooting has suffered because of it. The Kings have shot just 27% from distance in the series.
Which could lead to Brown making adjustments both schematically and with personnel.
Brown and his coaching staff have discussed finding ways to create more open, in-rhythm shots for the team’s 3-point shooters while working off Sabonis, who has just 10 assists in three postseason games after averaging a team-high 7.3 during the regular season.
For Brown, there’s a balance to find between sticking with what got the team to this point and adjusting to what the Warriors have taken away.
“I don’t think you ever overhaul anything in the playoffs,” Brown said, “but what you do is you do make adjustments. We expect to be a playoff team going forward, so for us, this is fantastic because we need to learn in a lot of different situations.
“Again, in the Warriors’ locker room, there’s every situation that they’ve experienced multiple times. And so they don’t need to make a ton of adjustments, because they have a feel already of what they need to do. And when the adjustments do come, they’ve already been through that before in the past.
“So, for us, making an adjustment here, making and adjustment there, throwing a lot or a little too much at them, throwing not enough at them, it’s all a feel thing. It’s all brand new for us, so it’s good to go through to see how our guys respond.”
One player the Kings are expecting to respond is forward Keegan Murray, who set the rookie record for 3-pointers made during the regular season with 206 while shooting 41%. In the playoffs, he’s 1 of 8 and has a total of 10 points over three games.
Murray felt he got off to a more aggressive start in Game 3 than the first two in Sacramento, but he picked up three fouls in six minutes in the first quarter and played just 21:49, scoring six points and finishing with five fouls.
“I’m fine,” Murray said Saturday. “My confidence is fine. I got people around me that are confident in me, so that’s just my mentality going into Game 4 is just keep being aggressive and I know my time will eventually come.”
The No. 4 overall pick in last June’s draft was asked if he feels like a breakout game is coming.
“I feel like I’m due,” Murray said. “I feel like I know I can play a lot better than how I have so far.”
Said Brown: “He knows he’s gotta keep shooting the ball. And when he doesn’t, that’s when I’m going to cuss him out.”
If Murray’s play doesn’t improve Sunday, the Kings could try putting Kessler Edwards back into the rotation. The second-year forward could give the team more defensive versatility and physicality than what Murray has provided.
“We’ve talked about possibly playing Kessler,” Brown said. “We’ve talked about possibly playing even (Chimezie Metu). There’s a lot of things you talk about when it gets down to the game. We’ll see what happens.”
This story was originally published April 22, 2023 at 4:06 PM.
