Heading into a home matchup against a Sacramento Kings squad playing without All-Star point guard De’Aaron Fox, the Golden State Warriors were expected to win handily. Not only did the Warriors fail to beat a short-handed Kings squad, they got blown out on their home court.
The Kings led the Warriors by 15 points at the end of the first quarter, and took as much as a 39-point lead before winning 129-99.
Star point guard Steph Curry tried to put the team on his back, scoring 26 points on 8-12 shooting, but it was his first game since March 2018 with zero assists. The Warriors turned the ball over 22 times in Sunday’s loss, a recipe for disaster against a Kings team that likes to get out in transition.
Jan 5, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) controls the ball against Sacramento Kings guard Keon Ellis (23) during the third quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images / Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images
Following the loss, Curry was very honest about how this Warriors squad is not built to come back from large deficits, such as the one they faced on Sunday.
“When you’re looking up and it’s a double-digit lead before the first timeout and 36-21, we’re not really built for it to have that crazy comeback,” Curry said. “We haven’t shown [the ability to come back], and it’s just one of those things where you don’t want to be in that situation, especially in a back-to-back… We would have loved to have started the game a lot better to give ourselves a chance.”
Here’s Steph Curry on the 30-point loss to the Kings. He mentions that the Warriors “aren’t built” to be a team that can come backfrom large deficits. pic.twitter.com/1upptoaCxs
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) January 6, 2025
It is hard to imagine any team with Curry does not have enough firepower to climb back from big deficits, as the star point guard is known for having one of the hottest shooting hands in NBA history.
Of course, the Warriors need to prevent any need for a comeback by not falling behind in the first quarter, but it is hard to hear a team’s leader say they are not built to fight back from large deficits.
