The Golden State Warriors’ 2023-24 NBA season was on the line Tuesday night against the Sacramento Kings. It was the first round of games in the NBA Play-In Tournament in a do-or-die matchup.
The winner would go on to face the New Orleans Pelicans for a chance to earn the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference for the 2024 NBA Playoffs. The loser would begin their offseason and officially be eliminated.
The Warriors are going to be starting their offseason, as they were blown out by the Kings, 118-94. It was a very surprising result as all of the games during the regular season were competitive. The final three contests were all decided by a single point.
Alas, it was not meant to be for Golden State on Tuesday night. They seemed a step slow throughout the game in what could have been the final time their Big 3 of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson suited up together.
If it was the final time, there are a lot of good times to look back on. That trio helped the franchise win four NBA Championships, setting countless records and earning several accolades along the way.
Their legacies are all cemented together, but for rookie point guard Brandin Podziemski, it was the 2023 NBA Playoffs that sealed it for him. Prior to Tuesday’s game, he spoke about the 50-point Game 7 performance Curry had to eliminate the Kings last season as the moment that solidified his belief in Curry being one of the best to ever do it.
“That’s for me kind of what solidified Steph as one of the best players ever, just watching his performance, specifically in Game 7,” Podziemski said, via NBC Sports Warriors. “Crazy stuff. But I know it gets loud in that building. I know the fans are gonna be crazy on Tuesday night, and I think we’re ready for it.”
Unfortunately, Curry was unable to replicate that success this time around. The Kings did an excellent job of taking him out of the game, focusing all of their defensive effort on him and daring his teammates to beat them.
It was a wager Sacramento won, as no one else stepped up enough to compensate for a relatively quiet game from Curry. Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody scored 16 points apiece off the bench, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Kings.
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