Warriors fall down 0-2 to Kings thanks to nonstop turnovers and Draymond's ejection

THEY LIT THE BEAM ON US AGAIN?!?

The defending, reigning champion Golden State Warriors are down 0-2 in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs to the Sacramento Kings after fumbling away a second straight winnable contest down the stretch.

The story of this game for me is absolutely the 20 turnovers Golden State coughed up that fueled Sacramento’s great escape. Well that and the bizarre anti-Draymond officiating down the stretch, but I’ll get back to that.

• Golden State outshot the Kings from the field 47% to 45%.

• The Warriors made more threes at a better percentage: 13-of-40 (32.5%) is better than 9-of-38 (23.7%).

• Both teams had 41 rebounds apiece in what was a tremendous wrestling match for missed shots. It seemed like every time a shot went up the Dubs and Kings were colliding in the paint to chase the ball.

And yet the Dubs walked off the court as the Kings lit The Beam for the second straight time this series, their home fans celebrating with vigor. A major reason the champs failed to steal Game 2 is because they had 22 turnovers with only 18 assists.

Turnovers = DOOM

Sacramento’s defense under Coach Mike Brown has to be credited for playing with grit, intelligence, and physicality.

There were several times where they would swarm Golden State’s ball handlers and get the most pass-happy team in the NBA off rhythm, like an NFL defense mucking the opposing receivers routes up to keep the quarterback from being on time.

That’s a big reason why Green and Stephen Curry, the team’s primary decision makers, both coughed up five turnovers each. As the game wore on, the Warriors just had some truly inexplicable giveaways that fed the King’s fastbreak attack and ignited their crowd.

Clean it up champs! I don’t know if it’s because the Dubs are getting old or whatever, but right now they can’t overpower the Kings with preposterous shotmaking to makeup for the miscues like they used to do in previous iterations of this dynastic run.

OFFICIATING WAS TERRIBLE

There was a play in the fourth quarter where the refs tried to give Green a foul for Kings goon Domantas Sabonis trying to run through him out of bounds. Warriors coach Steve Kerr incredulously challenged that shenaniganical call, and the refs were forced to overturn it. That’s when my eyebrows rose up; what the heck kind of unneccessary and game changing call where the refs trying to pull on Golden State’s enforcer?

But the refs got what they wanted later in the quarter, when they ejected Green for WWE bodystomping Kings goon Domantas Sabonis for trying a UFC ankle lock.

Checking In On The Others

Moses Moody was the only Warrior reserve with a positive plus/minus (+1). Jordan Poole was 1-of-7 from the field in 16 minutes, dribbling into no man’s land repeatedly as the Kings surrounded him like prison guards.

Andrew Wiggins played a HELLUVA game for it to be his second game after his extended absence. His defense was aggressive (sometimes too aggressive as his 5 fouls showed), and he seemed to be the only Warrior who could consistently create his own shot from the mid-range. He was 9-of-19 from the field, but still struggling to find that 3PT shot (2-of-8 from deep). He seems to be the Warrior that the Kings can’t really account for.

The Warriors need to win Game 3 at home, it’s just that simple. I’M GUARAN-DAMN-TEEING THEY WILL!