Draymond Green says Kings are going to be a ‘force to be reckoned with’

The Golden State Warriors defeated the Sacramento Kings on Friday night 130-125 after a hard-fought fourth quarter. The Kings took a 123-113 lead with 4:23 left in the game, but the Warriors would come storming back, finishing the game on a 17-2 run.

Following the game, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said he knew the Warriors could get back into it if they were poised and patient on offense. They did just that because, as Kerr said, this Warriors team has played in the NBA Finals multiple times and there isn’t anything they haven’t seen in the league so pressure doesn’t get to them.

Despite the Kings losing, the Warriors offered a lot of praise for the 15-13 Kings.

Steph Curry

“They’re in good shape, they have a lot of talent, young guys seem to have figured out a style of play that fits their skillsets. Obviously, great coach. The west is tough, they made that jump though so they’ve got to feel good about what they’re building in the future and kind of plans that they have in terms of becoming a playoff team and kind of going from there.”

Draymond Green

“Them guys are fast, man. [De’Aaron] Fox and Willie Cauley-Stein gotta be two of the fastest people in the league, like it’s ridiculous how fast they are.”

“They’re playing well right now. I’m sure at some point with a young team like that, they’ll hit a rough patch, probably lose three or four in a row, but having a leader like, a guy who has won a championship like [Iman Shumpert] Shump, you know, [Zach Randolph] ZBo, those guys to kind of help pull those guys through is going to be important, but man they’re going to be a force to be reckoned with soon in this league. They’re already tough, and De’Aaron’s confidence is sky high, Willie is playing with tremendous confidence, [Bogdan] Bogdanovic, Buddy [Hield] – they’re playing with a lot of confidence, so they’re going to be a force to be reckoned with for sure, and sooner rather than later.”

Steve Kerr

“They’re good. They’re playing with a lot of confidence, they’re playing fast, they’ve got a lot of shooters, they put a lot of pressure on you and they don’t quit either. We were in control of that game most of the way and then it just completely collapsed on us, but it had to do with their pressure and their execution. I was really proud of our guys for finishing the game the way we did given what had happened over the previous 10 minutes or so.”

Kevin Durant (before the game)

“Sacramento has usually been a team that’s always tried to build through the draft and they always had some young pieces, some young assets, but I feel like this is the first time since I’ve been in the league that they’re starting to come together even more and present a great product of basketball on the floor. So, hopefully guys start looking at this place as somewhere they want to go, I mean new arena, fan base is pretty excited about the team, so anything can happen in the NBA – all you need is just one guy.”

Durant had more praise for the Kings here.

It was a tough loss for the Kings and the fans in the Golden 1 Center, but the game also served as a good measuring stick for where the team currently is at and what needs to be worked on, and based on comments like these from the Warriors, things are certainly headed in a positive direction.