The Golden State Warriors close out the regular season Friday night in Sacramento, facing the Kings for the second time this week with a playoff spot within reach and several regulars set to return. Tip-off is 7:00 p.m. PT, with the game airing on NBC Sports Bay Area.
Golden State beat Sacramento 110-105 on Tuesday, then fell 119-103 to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night in a game they played without Steph Curry, Kristaps Porzingis, Gui Santos and several others. The Lakers seized control with a 13-2 run to open the fourth quarter, and LeBron James finished with 26 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds.
The Warriors now enter the final game of the regular season at 37-43 and already locked into the 10th seed, but coach Steve Kerr said the team still has a chance to get into the playoffs and can use the next two games to build rhythm. That matters because the Play-In game is next week, and Golden State is trying to arrive there with more than just survival mode in place.
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There is also a boost coming from the injury report. Al Horford is expected to return in Sacramento after missing the last month with a calf strain, while Curry and Porzingis are both listed as probable. The Warriors also listed De’Anthony Melton, Gui Santos, Draymond Green and Porzingis; Sacramento listed Devin Carter, Nique Clifford, Daeqwon Plowden, Precious Achiuwa and Maxime Raynaud.
The matchup is the second night of a back-to-back for Golden State, but the schedule has worked in the Warriors’ favor in one sense: they are expected to be closer to full strength after resting most of their regulars against the Lakers. The Kings, meanwhile, had not played since Tuesday when the game was published, leaving the teams on different legs of the same sprint toward the finish.
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Golden State has just finished a five-game homestand and now turns to a two-game California road trip that could matter less for the standings than for the shape of the team heading into next week. Kerr’s message was not about drama. It was about getting healthy, getting reps and taking one more swing.
For a Warriors team already pinned to the 10th seed, Friday is not about changing the bracket. It is about whether the pieces coming back can make the final turn into the Play-In look like something more than a scramble.
