Warriors’ 3-point frenzy exposes early concern for Kings

Warriors’ 3-point frenzy exposes early concern for Kings originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SACRAMENTO – If this was the regular season, the Kings would have been on the wrong side of history Wednesday night.

The Golden State Warriors made 28 3-pointers in their 122-112 preseason win against Sacramento at Golden 1 Center, surpassing their franchise record of 27 in the regular season.

A good sign for the new-look Warriors hoping to get back to their sharpshooting ways without franchise icon Klay Thompson in the mix. A bad one for the Kings still searching for their defensive mojo.

“Thank goodness this is preseason because I think we’d be in the record books for 3s made,” Kings coach Mike Brown said postgame. “Obviously, that’s where it started for us. We did not do a great job communicating, we did not do a great job with our ball pressure, we did not do a great job with our physicality, and so they got open looks from the 3-point line because we were bad with all of those things.

“When you’re not up guarding your man and you’re watching the ball, if he doesn’t have the ball, if he moves, he’s going to beat you because he knows when he’s moving, you’re reacting to him. And so our physicality has to be better. Our communication and screening situations, whether it’s on the ball or off the ball, has to be better.”

Former Kings guard Buddy Hield was 6 of 7 from deep off the bench. De’Anthony Melton and Jonathan Kuminga each added four 3s. Steph Curry and Lindy Waters III added three.

Golden State, a known high-velocity 3-point team, shot 28 of 52 (53.8 percent) from deep. But the Kings didn’t do much to challenge those efforts.

Brown estimated of the 52 3s the Warriors attempted, about 30 of them were “wide open,” leaving them no other choice but to punish the Kings’ defenders and put the rock up and in.

Here are a few examples:

“We got cracked too many times,” Brown said, “and then we wouldn’t talk, and two guys would go with the guy that’s diving to the rim and leaving a guy open or vice versa.”

Kings third-year forward Keegan Murray, a true student of the game who has bought in to…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/warriors-3-point-frenzy-exposes-064623346.html

Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2024-10-10 06:46:23

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