Sacramento struggled to complete the comeback attempt against the Warriors.
The Sacramento Kings came close to pulling one last upset in a torrid year. Plus alter their NBA Draft standing in the process.
But the Kings' bid to erase a 16-point deficit never got completed, with the Golden State Warriors winning 110-105 at the Chase Center.
Sacramento started quick with a 26-25 first quarter lead. Golden State dominated in the second quarter, however, by outscoring the Kings 41-27 to close out the half with a 66-53 halftime lead.
The Kings even fall on Maxime Raynaud's 23rd birthday. The star rookie still dropped 17 points with eight rebounds in the losing effort.
Except Killian Hayes emerged as a big surprise, scoring 18 points to lead Sacramento and delivering these row of fours: Four rebounds, four assists and snatching four steals. The latter stat led all Sacramento players.
Doug McDermott rose as a valuable contributor off the bench. McDermott dropped 16 points and banked four from 3-point land. He also pulled down four rebounds while blocking one basket.
Precious Achiuwa added 13 points through 34 minutes. He grabbed six rebounds while dishing out four assists. He also blocked a shot.
Daeqwon Plowden became the last member of the Kings to finish in double figures. He scored 11 points on the evening while getting his own defensive block in. Dylan Cardwell finished with eight points and tallied a team-high nine rebounds.
Sacramento shot 47% from field goal range. Including hitting 35% from behind the arc. The Kings managed to out-rebound the Warriors 41-39. Sacramento also executed the most blocks on the night with six total. Golden State also turned the ball over 17 times, higher than the 15 Sacramento lost.
The Kings even pounded the Warriors down low by hitting 56 points in the paint. Golden State settled for 36 points. Finally, the Kings even won the fast break battle by getting 10 points compared to the Warriors' six.
But this loss continues to spark theories that the Kings will still land inside the top three of the NBA Draft lottery. Sacramento is currently projected to land at No. 4 and taking North Carolina star freshman Caleb Wilson. They're even called to make this selection over Kansas star freshman Darryn Peterson.
Sacramento (21-59) has one more game against Golden State on Friday before closing against the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday.
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