Shotless in Seattle. The Kings couldn’t find the basket Friday evening at Key Arena, shooting just 34.7 percent from the field in an embarrassing loss on the road. In Seattle’s first glimpse of NBA hoops in a decade, it was all Warriors, as the champs thumped the Kings by a final of 122-94.
Former Seattle SuperSonic Kevin Durant took center court wearing a Shawn Kemp jersey in pregame. He was the man everyone came to see, but a former Washington State star, Klay Thompson, stole the show with 30 points in 22 minutes of action.
With Sacramento going young, there will be nights like this once the regular season starts. Here are three quick takeaways from the game.
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Fight the good fight
All the cards were stacked against the Kings Friday night. They weren’t the main attraction and, for stretches, they looked like more like the Washington Generals than an NBA team. The Warriors can do that to a club.
The Kings looked tired after playing in Los Angeles on Thursday. They looked overwhelmed playing in a foreign environment. They looked outmatched by a team of the Warriors' caliber. You get a few games like this throughout the season, but it can’t become the norm.
Don’t stop playing
NBA
No matter how bad the score got, a couple of Kings players continued to battle. Harry Giles struggled with his shot early, but still managed to score 17 points and grab six rebounds in 20 minutes.
Frank Mason has quietly had a very strong first three games of preseason. In a battle for minutes, Mason is averaging 11 points, five assists and turned the ball over just twice in 59 minutes. He’s shooting 80 percent from the field and 60 percent from behind the arc.
Wenyen Gabriel has a motor. He didn’t hit a shot, but the rookie two-way player from Kentucky played defense and hustled the glass for eight rebounds and added a block in 10 minutes of action. He’s taken advantage of every minute he’s played so far this preseason.
Justin Jackson is struggling
After starting and going scoreless in the first two preseason games, Jackson finally got a shot to fall in the late second quarter.
On the defensive side, Jackson struggled as well. Durant is as tough a cover as they come. Judging Jackson on his ability to stay in front of him is unfair, but if he is going to see minutes, he has to do more.
Despite making a couple of baskets, the second-year forward posted a minus-37 for the game. Jackson finished the night with eight points, zero rebounds and zero assists in 27 minutes. He has yet to fill up the stat sheet, but Dave Joerger has very few options at the position, especially with Bogdan Bogdanovic, Nemanja Bjelica, and Iman Shumpert on the shelf.