Takeaways from Warriors' Loss to Kings: Curry, Dubs Not Ready for Play-In

The Golden State Warriors blew an 11-point fourth-quarter lead, losing 124-118 to the Sacramento Kings on Friday at Golden 1 Center.

In his third game back from a 27-game absence, Stephen Curry had 11 points on 3-of-8 shooting in 27 minutes.

Brandin Podziemski led the Warriors (37-44) with 30 points, while Devin Carter paced the Kings (21-59) with 29 points.

Here are two takeaways from Friday's game.

Curry, Dubs Not Ready for Play-In

With their main play-in rotation playing, the Warriors trailed 63-51 at halftime...to the 59-loss Kings...who were without their five leading scorers.

Woof.

Curry finished the first half 1-of-6 from the floor with three points.

Double woof.

It's nice that the Warriors dominated the third quarter, but the fact that they were that bad in the first half against the Kings says they aren't ready for what's coming.

Golden State will likely be playing the Clippers in the No. 9 vs. No. 10 game on Wednesday at Intuit Dome.

It's understandable that players who have missed some time recently are rusty. That list includes Curry, Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis and Gui Santos.

But that's part of the point I'm making. Three weeks from now, this Warriors team might be dangerous. But right now, it has too many rusty players playing too many out-of-rhythm rotations that its expectations for the play-in tournament should be lower.

Perhaps the most concerning stretch came in the fourth quarter. The Kings were guarding Curry like most teams do—acting like if he even attempts a shot they automatically lose the game—and the Dubs couldn't hit a shot for four-and-a-half minutes.

The Warriors watched a 95-84 lead turn into a 99-98 deficit with a mostly veteran rotation.

Curry probably doesn't have the gear to dominate play-in games, and if his teammates can't take advantage of his gravity, then the Warriors are gonna lose. It's as simple as that.

Podz Puts End to Common Social Media Criticism

If you have been on any popular social media site over the last few months, you've surely seen that people like to remind Podz he's never scored 30 points in a game.

Coming into Friday's game, his career high in 218 games was 29 points.

Finally, he has a 30-point game.

How he got it suggests he really wanted to end the drought. With the Warriors down by seven and less than 10 seconds to go, Podz drove to the basket and got fouled. Some players might have backed it out because it was essentially impossible to come back at that point, but Podz not only tried to score, but also put his body on the line for it.

In any case, Podz played a great game. At the moment, he might be the most reliable Warrior when you combine his caliber of play and the fact that he's totally healthy.

Golden State needs more from a lot of players. Podz, who is averaging 21.1 points per game in his last 10 games, is not one of them.