Warriors vs Kings Preview: Final Elimination Showdown

Warriors Ready for One More Battle

The Golden State Warriors will once again lean on their veteran battle-tested leadership as they prepare for a Game 7 on the road in Sacramento. Here’s a look at our Warriors vs Kings Preview as both teams look to advance to the second-round of the Western Conference playoffs.

The Kings shocked the world when they won Game 6 on the road in rather convincing fashion and Malik Monk believes they can continue to execute their game plan to close out the series. Sacramento’s run-and-gun approach is starting to wear down the Warriors veterans and the short turnaround for Game 7 will certainly play into the home teams hands.

Meanwhile, Steve Kerr was quick to admit that the better team won in Game 6 and has challenged his team to be better in every facet – including his own coaching. No team in the current NBA landscape is better prepared for these situations and that certainly has to play a part in the current NBA betting lines.

The Warriors are currently 1.0 point favorites on the road for Game 7, while the total has been heavily bet down to its current number of 229.0 points.

Young Legs Looking Fruitful

The Kings shot just 40% from the field but still managed to escape with a 19 point win on the road and coach Mike Brown has credited his teams willingness to push tempo and play their brand of basketball.

But pace isn’t the only thing that helped this young team to victory in the Bay Area. The Kings moved the ball as well as they have all season and finished with 25 assists despite shooting poorly.

Forcing the Warriors to defend against a spaced floor and a motion offense puts extra strain on their backcourt to chase bodies. That showed big on the other end of the floor as well and highlighted that Sacramento’s best form of defense is offense.

Golden State shot just 10-for-32 from deep and were 71% from the free throw line as they struggled to keep their legs against a team that was constantly pushing off misses. Despite being atop the NBA standings 2023 in both categories they still struggled to overcome the very visible fatigue.

The approach will be the same in Game 7 and the Kings will look to feed off the energy of the home crowd in order to find the extra energy in an early start time.

The only other point of emphasis for Sacramento will be to again crash the offensive glass and pile up the additional pressure of having extra possessions against a team that will very much be trying for the opposite in order to let their stars shine.

Warriors Facing Lineup Dilemma

Steve Kerr has a decision to make as to how to best position his team for success in this matchup; continue with the three-guard lineup that looked to have swayed momentum in the series, or revert back to the tried and tested lineup that will insert Draymond Green back into the starting lineup.

The Warriors have the issue of trying to balance their best defensive lineups with a five-man rotation that still allows them to space the floor and execute their motion offense.

Andrew Wiggins and Gary Payton II remain their best options to stop the point of attack from De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk, but having Payton reduces their offensive spacing and using Wiggins at such a rate has a direct impact with his ability to be at his best in the midrange on offense.

Their other defensive lineups leave them devoid of consistent scoring, but their high octane offense simply isn’t able to keep pace with what the Kings are doing on offense right now.

Game 7’s are often won with defense and through experience, but the landscape of the league right now has shown itself to leaning more towards offense being the primary initiator due to how defenders are officiated at the moment.

In a game of this magnitude it’s hard to bet against the Warriors but the value on the Kings at home can’t be ignored. Coach Brown will have his team ready to execute and implement their style, which is a more known commodity than a Warriors team who might not know what their best lineup is in this matchup.

Take the Kings as the home underdog here. While Golden State showed themselves capable of winning on the road in Game 5 the changes made my Mike Brown have certainly pushed things back in their favor.

That’s all for our Warriors vs Kings Preview. Make sure you check out all our NBA best bets and analysis for the rest of the playoff action before placing your next wager.

For NBA betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.

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