Golden State Warriors - Sacramento Kings
Usa - NBA, Playoffs, Western conference first round
The Golden State Warriors had a very poor start to the playoffs this season. They lost first two games in Sacramento and now have a mountain to climb. Steph Curry never been 0-2 down in a series before and this will be a special challenge for him. The job would be even more difficult in game three as Draymond Green will not play due to suspension. He stepped on Domantas Sabonis in the last match for which he was ejected, plus he was punished by not playing one more game. This definitely means that all the Golden State Warriors players will have to put in an even bigger effort in order to reduce it to 1-2 to begin with.
Mike Brown is the NBA Coach of the Year. With a reason. He brought the Sacramento Kings back to the playoffs for the first time in 17 years, and the previous two games confirmed that it was not by accident. Even when the Sacramento Kings were trailing, they never doubted themselves for a moment. De'Aaron Fox is the most clutch player in the entire league. He also hit a key three-pointer in the last game. Domantas Sabonis won a lot of duels under the basket, and Malik Monk hit everything he needed to hit. A big role was also played by the fact that coach Brown was associate head coach to Steve Kerr in the Golden State Warriors for the previous six seasons and he obviously exploited all their weaknesses.
Never in NBA history has a franchise overturned a 0-3 deficit in the playoffs. This practically means that this is a kind of "win or go home" game for the Golden State Warriors. Although the job will be more difficult without Green, it is definitely not an impossible mission. To begin with, the defensive intensity must be good for all 48 minutes. In game two, the reigning NBA champions played solid defense in the first quarter, but then completely fell apart in the second quarter. Home court factor will play a role and it's a little crazy to even imagine that they can be down 0-3 against the Sacramento Kings. They probably won't allow drama, and in the worst case, a home team to win with two or more possessions is the only logical outcome.