The major shock of the NBA 2023 Playoffs has to be the Golden State Warriors going 2-0 down to the Sacramento Kings. The defending champions have started the first round on the back foot and have looked second-best throughout the first two games.
The Kings have an excellent roster with talented players like De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis and they have fired on all cylinders for Sacramento. However, the series isn’t over and the Warriors are known for their fighting spirit.
The Warriors were impressive in the regular season but they struggled to win matches on the road. They looked too dependent on Stephen Curry’s brilliance to bail them out of the situation. However, the Kings looked like an energetic bunch of players, who were playing in sync.
During ESPN’s ‘First Take’ podcast former NBA star and analyst JJ Reddick highlighted that the Warriors are suffering from the same problems that they went through during the regular season. “The Warriors game plan has been good. I think they’ve executed it… But the same issues; the foul trouble, the turnovers, all that stuff—That’s who the Warriors are this season, and the Kings are exposing that,” Reddick shared.
The Sacramento Kings are in the playoffs for the first time in 17 years and they had a tall task of beating the defending champions and going forward. However, till now they have played like a very strong unit. Apart from Fox and Sabonis, their deep bench has helped the Kings stay afloat even during rotations. Harrison Barnes has also stepped up. However, the biggest advantage for the Kings has to be the Draymond Green incident which may see him get suspended.
Green and Sabonis got entangled with each other in the fourth quarter of the second match. But the altercation ended with Green stomping Sabonis’ chest. Both the players claimed their innocence after the game and have found support from different groups of people associated with the sport.
But the Warriors may pay a very heavy price for this as Green might be suspended for the upcoming game and that will be a major blow on their title defence. With the score already 2-0 and if Green gets suspended, there’s a major chance of Kings taking that opportunity and increasing their lead even further ahead.
Overall it will be tough for the Warriors and the likes of Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins, Klay Thompson and others will have to step up big time and win this next game.
