It wasn't a 50-point blowout, like Matt Barnes had hoped for, but the Golden State Warriors still managed to roll up the Sacramento Kings Friday night at Oracle Arena by a final of 114-100. It was the fourth straight loss for the Kings, but they didn't just lay down and go away. In fact, they even made Steve Kerr bring his starters back in the game late to finish off the win.
"We've got a long ways to go," coach Dave Joerger told media following the game. "We don't quit, we kept playing hard and I think that's positive."
There are no moral victories, but every game is another opportunity for the young Sacramento Kings to learn something new. Against the Western Conference's best team, they got a front row ticket to an amazing team effort. The Warriors handed out a spectacular 37 assists on 44 made baskets.
Passing is contagious and the Kings caught the bug. Despite plenty of off night's by the veterans of the team, two young players stepped out of their comfort zone and helped set up their teammates.
Playing against Klay Thompson, one of the best shooting guards in the NBA, rookie Buddy Hield set new career-highs across the board, including points (22), rebounds (8) and assists (7). He shot 4-of-9 from behind the arc, but assists numbers jump off the page.
"We play with the pass, we're effective," Joerger said. "When we run around and hunt shots and dribble, that's when a lot of our turnovers happen."
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Known for his scoring, Hield had handed out five assists three times in his first season in the league. He's struggled to find the roller in the pick-n-roll, but against the Warriors he showed that maybe he can be more than just a volume scorer.
The second statistical anomaly came from another rookie. 21-year-old Skal Labissiere has shown plenty of wrinkles to his game since getting promoted to the rotation 15 games ago, but no one could have predicted his near triple-double performance against Golden State.
"I've just been watching a lot of tape, the coaches have been telling me to slow down a little bit more," Labissiere told reporters. "Offense is all reads, all about reads and I think I'm getting better at that and taking my time."
Labissiere scored just 10 points, but he grabbed 10 rebounds and handed out a career-best eight assists. Over the last 15 games, Labissiere is averaging 10.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists for coach Dave Joerger.
Despite matching up against savvy veterans in Barnes and Draymond Green, Labissiere found a way to be very productive in his 27 minutes on the floor. Losing isn't fun, but the Haitian-born big has an optimistic perspective on the situation.
"It was a good experience, I call all of those experiences growing pains," Labissiere said. "Those are just things we have to go through. We're trying to get to that level at some point."
Despite the quality ball movement, the Kings moved to 27-45 on the season. They are 3-12 since the All-Star break and they are now tied with the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers for the 5th worst record in the NBA.
