The Warriors still wear the crown as the defending NBA champions, but they're far from a flawless team.
Golden State, the No. 6 playoff seed in the Western Conference, is preparing for a best-of-seven series against the No. 3 seed Sacramento Kings, its Northern California rival. Despite not owning home-court advantage in the first-round series, with Game 1 on Saturday in Sacramento, the Warriors are heavy favorites to advance.
So, is there a way the Kings could pull off the upset?
"If [the Warriors] don’t play defense on the road," NBC Sports Bay Area's Monte Poole told Kerith Burke on the latest "Dubs Talk" podcast. "It’s been the same thing all season. If they don’t defend on the road, and if they start giving the basketball away, the Kings will play fast and they will score fast.
"[Sacramento] can play four shooters. If you’re going to give the ball away, they’ll hit 3s on you."
The Warriors were one of the worst teams on the road this season, going 11-30. Four of those 11 wins occurred in Golden State's final five contests away from Chase Center. Only the Detroit Pistons (8-33), Houston Rockets (8-33) and San Antonio Spurs (8-33) -- the worst three teams in the NBA -- won fewer road games.
It's not difficult to find where the Warriors went astray. Golden State was the highest-scoring road team (118.2 per game) this season but notched the third-worst defensive rating (118.3) and led the NBA in turnover percentage (16.2) and turnovers per game (16.8) as visitors.
Golden State Warriors
"It’s the fundamental stuff," Poole said. "If they defend, and if they take care of the basketball in live-ball situations, they will win this series. If they don’t, they could lose it."
The Warriors-Kings collision is one of, if not the most intriguing first-round series because of two offensive attacks oozing with talented scorers, led by point guards Steph Curry and De'Aaron Fox.
"I think whoever wins that matchup over the series, that team probably wins the series," Poole said.
Curry averaged 29.4 points, 6.3 assists and 6.1 rebounds in 56 games this season while finishing just shy of his second career 50-40-90 season by percentage points.
Fox had a breakout 2022-23 campaign. He was named to his first career NBA All-Star Game in February, and logged 25.0 points, 6.1 assists and 4.2 rebounds on a career-high 51.2 percent shooting from the field.
Fox also is expected to be named the first annual NBA Clutch Player of the Year after leading the league in total points in clutch time.
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"If Steph doesn’t play well and De’Aaron does, it could swing toward the Kings," Poole said. "I think the Warriors still have enough to get by.
"But if Steph plays really well, and De’Aaron plays not quite as well, I think the Warriors win -- it won’t go seven games [in that scenario], I don’t think.
"[Fox] needs to play great to keep the Kings in the series."
Fox versus Curry. A historic Kings offense against the defending champion Warriors.
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