The Warriors came up short Friday night in Sacramento, but a strong third-quarter showing gave head coach Steve Kerr some encouragement heading into the play-in tournament, according to Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area.
Golden State outscored the Kings 38-19 in that period and even built a seven-point lead before Kerr opted to rest most of his key players late in what was ultimately a meaningless game.
Earlier in the week, Draymond Green admitted it was difficult to get excited about the play-in format, prompting Kerr to challenge him to bring more energy and leadership.
On Friday, Green responded with his usual intensity, making impactful plays on both ends and getting involved in several heated moments.
“We were not good defensively,” Kerr said. “We had one good stretch in the game, third quarter. I thought we set a tone defensively. Obviously, Draymond got things stirred up a little bit. We needed that, that fire, that edge.”
Down by 12 at halftime, the Warriors quickly shifted momentum with a 12-2 run to start the second half.
During that stretch, they limited Sacramento to just 1-of-9 shooting, while Green’s physical play helped raise the intensity, including drawing a Flagrant 1 foul on Devin Carter.
Tensions escalated further as Green got into a brief altercation with Maxime Raynaud, and Gary Payton II later picked up both a Flagrant 1 for a hard screen on Carter and a technical foul for tossing the ball at him.
Despite the chippy moments, the energy seemed to spark the team after a challenging second half of the season.
“I mean, I was just laughing at a lot of it, pretty funny stuff going out there,” Brandin Podziemski said. “Everyone was just kind of having fun with the game.”
Pacific Notes: Green, Clippers, Allen, Williams https://t.co/PZll6g1TqT pic.twitter.com/gz8oE1QPZo
— Hoops Rumors (@HoopsRumors) April 12, 2026
