After three consecutive wins, and with a chance to close out their first-round series at home against the Kings, it would have been fair to expect the defending-champion Warriors to take a businesslike approach in eliminating Sacramento in Game 6 on Friday night.
The reality turned out to be much different than many people’s expectations, though.
With the Kings’ surprisingly breezy 118-99 victory at Golden State, Sacramento punched its way to a winner-take-all Game 7 on Sunday afternoon. The result puts the Warriors’ backs against the wall, not only because they were absolutely terrible on the road this season—Game 7 will be in Sacramento, in front of what figures to be a raucous crowd—but also because a loss would mark the first time the trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green were defeated in a series prior to the NBA Finals round. And that would prompt fair questions about whether the club’s dynastic run is effectively over.
